'Haiti mission was misadvised,’ Kalonzo slams Ruto over his laments at UN General Assembly

Wiper Patriotic Front (WPF) party leader Kalonzo Musyoka has once again criticised President William Ruto over Kenya’s role in the Haiti peacekeeping mission, saying the deployment was “misadvised from the word go.”

Speaking during an interview on Citizen TV’s JKLive show on Wednesday night, Kalonzo faulted the President for lamenting at the UN General Assembly about underfunding, saying the mission was doomed from the start.

He questioned the credibility of the mission, saying it lacked a proper UN Security Council mandate and was unlikely to succeed without global backing.

“The mission was misadvised and it did not even in its initial stages get a nod of the UN Security Council, and without it, it was a mission impossible,” Kalonzo stated.

“The Haiti mission is a failed and misadvised mission. As the opposition, we said from the word go that we should not have taken our boys to Haiti. When we attended the burial of one of the soldiers in Kitengela, we even called on Ruto to make sure our boys come home. He didn’t listen and now he is complaining to the whole world.”

Kalonzo also accused the government of disregarding the rule of law by deploying the first batch of officers despite a court order halting the mission.

“On the day the Gen Z visited Parliament is the day that the first batch to Haiti actually left, against a court order that was very clear that the mission was misadvised. That tells you that the administration has no regard for constitutionalism, for rule of law, blatant — and now they have been unmasked at the world level; it is a failed mission,” he said.

The former Vice President questioned the level of international support for Kenya’s leadership of the mission, pointing to the low turnout at the ongoing high-level UN General Assembly in Washington, which he claimed President Ruto used to push the Haiti agenda.

“How many Heads of State attended Ruto’s convened high segment on Haiti? In fact, you will be surprised to find that it is he alone. You will find only secretaries and him lecturing people who are not interested in the mission. When Donald Trump took over (as U.S President), they said they are not interested in the mission, and so without the support of UN members with vital power, it is literally speaking hot air to the world,” he added.

“You will be amazed, the whole thing is a disaster. We insist that our boys should come back home.”

According to him, Kenya risks being isolated internationally due to what he described as Ruto’s unilateral approach to foreign policy.

Kalonzo argues that Kenya’s credibility at the global stage was at stake, insisting the country should not be used to “fight other people’s wars.”

“This is Ruto’s problem because he has not consulted with his colleagues at the level of the AU. There is an AU resolution and he should be referring to the African Commission for the need of Africa to get to the fore,” Kalonzo said.

“Nobody is listening to William Ruto and to the Kenyan story because you want to reform the UN Security Council, to ensure international peace and security, and you are involving yourself in regional conflicts. The world is watching what the Ruto administration is doing in Sudan for example.”

He added: “We seem to be sending Kenyans (black) who look like Haitians to go and kill each other, that in itself looked very bad. You remember Haitians in US demonstrating and saying the puppet Ruto; it has come out to be true.”