Kenyan President Ruto (R) with Haiti's now deposed PM Ariel Henry during the latter's visit to Nairobi late last month
Kenya has decided to put on hold plans to send police to violence-affected Haiti under a UN-backed multinational mission, a top foreign ministry official said on Tuesday.
Korir Sing’oei, the principal secretary for foreign affairs, told AFP there had been a “fundamental change in circumstances as a result of the complete breakdown of law and order and the subsequent resignation of the PM of Haiti (Ariel Henry)”.
Sing’oei’s remarks come a week after Henry witnessed the signing of a police deployment request that Haiti formally made to Kenya. The prime minister was in Kenya for a two-day visit.
On Tuesday, Henry resigned after days of unrest in the country, with a powerful coalition of gangs demanding his ouster, blaming him for economic stagnation in the Caribbean nation, and also accusing him of being a US proxy.
Transitional council
Henry, a trained neurosurgeon, denied the claims.
In a video message announcing his resignation, Henry said he and his government will leave office “immediately after the installation of a transitional council.”
Henry, 74, was selected as Haiti’s prime minister by President Jovenel Moise on July 5, 2021.
Two days later, Moise was assassinated in the capital Port-au-Prince.
Henry, thereafter, took over as head of state, and promised to leave office by February 7, 2024, but delayed elections over alleged unrest in the country.
