Kenyan court halts Haiti deployment

Lawyers sit in court as Kenya High Court Judge Chacha Mwita delivers his ruling, terming the Kenya government's intention to deploy police officers to lead a U.N. approved mission to Haiti as unconstitutional, at the Milimani law courts in Nairobi, Kenya January 26, 2024.
Lawyers sit in court as Kenya High Court Judge Chacha Mwita delivers his ruling, terming the Kenya government's intention to deploy police officers to lead a U.N. approved mission to Haiti as unconstitutional, at the Milimani law courts in Nairobi, Kenya January 26, 2024.
REUTERS/Monicah Mwangi

On Sunday, the US reiterated its support for a Kenyan-led police deployment to Haiti despite Nairobi’s High Court ruling on Friday that the government could not deploy it. The long-awaited decision casts severe doubt on the prospects for stabilization in the Caribbean country.

The court’s reasoning surprised all sides, circumventing the parliamentary opposition’s specific legal objections and focusing on the fact that Kenya did not have a bilateral agreement with Haiti to undergird the police deployment. The decision will prevent Kenyan police (and, more than likely, police from countries that had pledged to support Nairobi) from deploying immediately, but it leaves the door open to a future arrangement if an agreement can be sealed.

That’s easier said than done, seeing as the terms for all of Haiti’s elected officials expired over a year ago. Not to mention, perpetual power player Guy Philippe has been released from an American prison and sent back to Haiti, where he is already attempting to seize power.

He made a splash earlier this week by enlisting the loyalty of an odd force, Haiti’s armed environmental protectors. They attacked a customs office in northern Haiti this week before being repelled by the national police, and say they will support Philippe in his attempt to overthrow acting Prime Minister Ariel Henry.


Ordinary Haitians, meanwhile, are subject to rampant extortion, violence, and rape by the criminal gangs that control the capital and major cities, and impede humanitarian groups’ efforts.

More from GZERO Media

Protesters demanded the ouster of South Korean President Yoon in central Seoul on March 29, 2025.
Lee Jae-Won/AFLO via Reuters

South Korea’s Constitutional Court will tie the legal bow on what has been a tumultuous period for the country as it rules Friday on whether to formally dismiss or reinstate impeached President Yoon Suk-yeol.

After voters elected her to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, liberal candidate Judge Susan Crawford celebrates with Wisconsin Supreme Court Judge Ann Walsh Bradley at her election night headquarters in Madison, Wisconsin, on April 1, 2025.

REUTERS/Vincent Alban

Republicans expanded their lean House majority after a pair of special elections in Florida, but a conservative candidate lost badly in a Wisconsin judicial race — despite a huge cash injection from Elon Musk.

- YouTube

If China, Japan, and South Korea formed a united front, what kind of leverage would they have in negotiating against US tariffs? I think they are heading in that trajectory. The question is, will it be enough to keep Syria stable and away from descending into civil war? Why does Trump want to take Greenland? Ian Bremmer shares his insights on global politics this week on World In :60.

President Donald Trump, seen here on the South Lawn of the White House in February, is set to unveil his "Liberation Day" tariffs.

REUTERS/Craig Hudson

T-Day has arrived. Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs on US trade partners will take effect immediately after a Rose Garden announcement, which is set to begin today at 4 p.m. ET.

A giant screen in Beijing shows news footage about the People's Liberation Army (PLA) joint army, navy, air and rocket forces drills around Taiwan on April 1, 2025.
REUTERS/Florence Lo

Beijing conducted one of the largest and most provocative military drills ever around the island -- but why now?