Low capacity, second-hand cars: Ruto decries logistical woes in Kenya-led Haiti mission

President William Ruto on Monday bemoaned severe logistical and resource challenges hampering the Kenya-led Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS) in Haiti.

At a high-level event on Haiti co-hosted by Kenya and the United States on the side-lines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Ruto said the mission has been operating at only 40 percent capacity.

“Initially, it was expected that 2,500 security personnel would be made available. Unfortunately, they were not,” he told delegates about the mission deployed in June 2024 after endorsement by the U.N. Security Council.

“It was also expected that there would have been force multipliers, that we would have armoured personnel carriers, and we would have enough logistical support to make this mission successful.”

Kenya leads the mission with 735 out of a total 989 officers, supported by contingents from Guatemala, El Salvador, Jamaica, The Bahamas, and Canada.

But while Ruto commended the United States for providing logistical vehicles, he said most were second-hand and prone to breakdowns, exposing Kenyan officers to danger in hostile areas.

"Most of the vehicles were second-hand vehicles, and therefore, they broke down a lot many times. And in fact, it put our personnel in great danger when they broke down in very dangerous places," he said. “At least they stepped up. We didn’t, however, get any useful support from any other quarter.”

Ruto stressed that Haiti’s crisis required consistent international backing, saying, “I believe that the situation in Haiti can be solved; it is not Mission Impossible. What is going on in Haiti is unacceptable, indefensible, simply wrong.”

With the MSS mandate set to expire on October 2, the U.S. and Haiti on Monday called for transforming the mission into a more robust force to target powerful gangs, per a dispatch sent to newsrooms by Ruto’s office.

United States Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau said the U.S. and Panama had worked with Haiti to introduce a U.N. Security Council resolution to establish a larger force with a broader mandate.

The new force would consist of 5,500 personnel, more than five times the size of the current MSS, Landau said, and a U.N. support office for Haiti previously suggested by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to provide the necessary logistical and financial support.

Amid these discussions, Ruto has called for clarity in planning a successor mission and urged the international community to urgently step up support to stabilise Haiti.  

At Monday’s high-level event, he outlined three priorities: a clear mandate, a predictable resource package, and reliable logistical support, warning that without correcting past mistakes, future efforts risk failure.

“It cannot be what Kenya has gone through — a game of guesswork, depending on people’s goodwill or attention. If we are serious about solving the matter of Haiti, it must be predictable, and I don't understand why we cannot be serious,” Ruto said.

The U.N. Security Council is expected to vote soon on strengthening the security force. A Security Council resolution requires at least nine of the 15 votes in favour and no vetoes by the U.S., Britain, China, France, or Russia.

“Unfortunately, adopting this resolution is not a given. Despite the majority support of the Security Council, some might try to prevent its adoption or slow down our response to Haiti," Landau was quoted by the AFP news agency as saying on Monday.

Russia and China have reportedly so far not fully participated in negotiations.