Attempts by Kenya to deploy a battalion of peacekeeping officers to problem-plagued Caribbean island Haiti was served severe blow on Friday (January 26), as the Kenya High Court blocked the move.

The court cites that the deployment of the police officers to fight criminal gangs in Haiti would be illegal, as the National Security Council lacks the legal authority to send police outside Kenya. According to the court, the council can only deploy military, not police, for peacekeeping missions such as Haiti.

Last year, Kenya had volunteered to lead a multinational security force in Haiti to quell gang violence. The presiding High Court judge contends that Kenyan law only allows the government to deploy police officers to another country if a reciprocal agreement exists between Kenya and the host nation.

The government has vowed to appeal the ruling. Kenya decided to send the peacekeeping force after Prime Minister Ariel Henry last year asked the United Nations to urgently deploy a multinational force saying what remained of the Haitian government had been overwhelmed by gangs who controlled 80 per cent of the capital, Port-au-Prince.

The UN Security Council backed Kenya’s offer to lead the force and Kenyan lawmakers went on to approve the deployment. In Haiti, the possible deployment had received mixed reactions from community members who have suffered at the hands of gangs.

Laurent Uwumuremyi, the country director of Mercy Corps, told the BBC the mission had the potential to facilitate access to public infrastructure and address the humanitarian crisis. Nicole Widdersheim, deputy Washington director at Human Rights Watch, also explained to the BBC that they had documented Kenyan police violence, including murders, going back to 2013.

She added that there has been a long history of international armed intervention in Haiti really doing “a lot of terrible things” but the Kenyan government has denied any allegations of human rights violations by its officers.  

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