Interior CS Murkomen hails Kenya-led Haiti mission as ‘huge success’

Interior and National Administration Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has described Kenya’s peacekeeping mission in Haiti as a huge success, crediting Kenyan officers with helping restore order in a country long crippled by gang violence and instability.

Speaking in Garissa County during the Jukwaa La Usalama tour, Murkomen said the Multinational Security Support Mission (MSSM) had transformed daily life in Haiti, where gangs are now in hiding, schools have reopened, and for the first time in years, children are sitting their national exams.

He added that vital infrastructure such as airports, communication masts, and the Government Square are once again fully operational.

“Many naysayers expected failure, but our men and women have helped to restore order,” said Murkomen. “This mission, and its success, has once again affirmed Kenya’s leadership, which has been demonstrated over the years.”

The CS noted that the Haiti mission was a conscious decision, endorsed by the National Security Council under President William Ruto and by Parliament, and built on Kenya’s long tradition of global peacekeeping.

“Today, Namibia’s and South Sudan’s flags are similar to Kenya’s because of the role we played in their struggle for independence. Our gallant officers were in Kosovo and East Timor too.

Kenya has now shown the world that Haiti can indeed be liberated,” he said.

Murkomen added that the lessons and experience gained by Kenyan officers in Haiti would be invaluable to the country’s own security operations, while also calling on the international community to honour its pledges to strengthen the mission further.

“This is something we should be very proud of. Indeed, if all the pledges by the international community were kept, the success would even have been greater,” he said.

Even as he praised the mission, the CS mourned the loss of a third Kenyan officer who died in Haiti under “unfortunate circumstances.”

He said the Government had immediately dispatched a team to the officer’s family and assured them of full support.