HAITI: Kenyan-led MSS Mission Faces Another Peace Hurdle
The Kenyan police presence in Haiti is facing a new wave of demonstrations.
Despite Kenya sending hundreds of police personnel to Haiti to spearhead the MSS mission, little has changed in the turbulent Caribbean nation.
On Sunday, May 5, people of the South American country held another round of protests in its capital.
They demanded the resignation of the country’s top officials, including Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé and the transnational presidential council.
Massive protests have broken out across Haiti as people called to arm themselves against organized criminal groups.
— red. (@redstreamnet) April 3, 2025
Protesters declared the Haitian police and US-funded foreign intervention a total failure. Since troops arrived, gang violence has only worsened. pic.twitter.com/z0CqUPTdVA
This threatens to undermine Haiti’s already precarious status.
The transitional team has only been in place for a year, and scheduled elections may be pushed back.
Since June of last year, Kenya has deployed at least 800 police personnel to Haiti as part of the MSS mission to help calm the country.
However, gangs have continued to take control of companies and other essential infrastructure in Haiti, particularly in the capital.
According to recent reports, the gangs are now targeting famous neighbourhoods such as Petion-Ville, which houses some of the country’s most important institutions, such as banks and embassy buildings.
Kenyan police officers deployed in Haiti under the UN-backed Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission are currently operating amid intensified protests and escalating gang violence.
— Cyprian, Is Nyakundi (@C_NyaKundiH) May 5, 2025
Protesters in Port-au-Prince marched through the capital on Sunday, demanding the resignation… pic.twitter.com/asDVf1Prce
The protestors accused the country’s government of being unwilling to address the growing violence and the increasing number of children entering gangs.
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This condition has seriously jeopardized the country’s economic and social soundness.
“Haiti cannot be run among friends. The city is dying because the council is not doing anything to make it better,” one of the protestors said.
In the past four months alone, gangs have claimed the lives of 1,600 people and injured another 580.
In 2024 alone, according to the United Nations, gang violence in the country claimed the lives of 5,600 people in the country and left more than one million people homeless.
HAITI: Kenyan-led MSS Mission Faces Another Peace Hurdle
