Deployment of police officers from Kenya for a peace keeping mission in Haiti will not in any way compromise the national security.
Interior and National Administration Cabinet Secretary (CS) Prof. Kithure Kindiki speaking during a fundraising event at Kunene Day Secondary school, Meru County, said Kenya had enough police officers and what called for improvement is the deployment and mixing of skills from the various specialized units.
“Even if there are some young officers, we will take them to Haiti so that they can gain international knowledge and skills, it doesn’t mean that they are not capable of securing our country as required by the law,” he said.
The CS added: “I am very confident with the skills and capabilities of our police officers and this is also the same reason that the United Nations has requested Kenya to contribute to the number of officers who will join others from member countries to have a troop that will go for peacekeeping in Haiti.”
Prof. Kindiki said this was not the first time the country was doing this, considering that previously troops have been sent to countries like Namibia, Eastmoor, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Croatia and Cambodia, among other countries.
At the moment, he added, we have other officers working with their colleagues from other countries to keep peace in Congo and Somalia.
“We are doing all this because when other countries have problems, we will also experience the same in one way or the other, since we are all one shared humanity,” said Prof. Kindiki.
The CS said the national Security Council had already approved the request to have deployment of 1000 police officers to Haiti and the motion will be taken to parliament where it will be debated.
“We are therefore going to follow the constitution of our country in respect to the procedure of deploying our officers in Haiti and therefore the security council has already concluded on the request and we are asking parliament to debate the matter soberly, patriotically and in the best interest of the country and give us an okay so that our officers can go with the full blessings of the people and the government of the republic of Kenya,” said Prof. Kindiki.
By Dickson Mwiti
