US President Joe Biden's administration has rejected plans to send their troops to Haiti in the Kenya-led peacekeeping mission. As per a National Security official who spoke to McClatchy, an American publication, on Monday, March 4, the US is urgently mobilising all possible assistance, including from the international community, to aid the Caribbean nation. 

Meanwhile, after Haiti declared a state of emergency, John Kirby the White House National Security Communications Advisor emphasised that the White House was working to expedite the deployment of Kenya police officers.

"Through the weekend, senior US government officials remained in close contact with senior Haitian government officials and members of the international community to help stabilise the situation and to move quickly toward an enduring political solution," Kirby remarked.

He emphasised that the US was working with international partners to offer Haiti immediate support. The decision to not send US troops to the Caribbean nation was made despite requests from Haitian officials who argued that Kenya's deployment had been delayed leading to more chaos. Haitian officials called for the emergency deployment of the US special forces. 

Haitian diplomatic officials raised these concerns during a 72-hour communication with their US officials. The US has been among the global nations advocating for the deployment of 1,000 Kenyan police officers, alongside personnel from various other countries, to address the widespread violence in Haiti.

The Biden administration had pledged to support the mission with Ksh28.7 billion (USD200 million). However, this allocation faced opposition from Republican lawmakers in Congress.

Meanwhile, Kenya was among four nations who are set to deploy officers to the war-torn nation. Some of these countries are Jamaica, the Bahamas, Antigua and Barbuda. Last week, Benin pledged to send 2,000 troops to the mission.

Kenya's deployment was however blocked by the High Court in January and termed as unconstitutional. Despite the ruling President William Ruto pledged to deploy the officers after talks with Haiti officials. On Friday, March 1, Ruto and Haiti Prime Minister Ariel Henry signed an agreement to deploy the police officers.

"We are offering the experience and expertise of our police officers in the Multinational Security Support Mission in Haiti as mandated by the United Nations Security Council and as guided by our courts," Ruto stated. By Maureen Njeri, Kenyans.co.ke