Politics

Kenya’s Ruto receptive to turning Haiti mission to U.N. peacekeeping

Published

2 months ago

September 23, 2024

In his latest visit to Haiti on Saturday, Kenyan President William Ruto revealed that Kenya’s anti-gang mission to the troubled American country may become a United Nations peacekeeping operation.

Ruto visited Haiti to inspect the Multinational Security Support (MSS) deployment, where Kenya is leading the fight against gang violence that has caused political upheaval and enormous displacement.

The United States of America and Ecuador have published a draft resolution requesting that the UN start preparing for a U.N. peacekeeping operation. The Security Council reportedly started drafting a resolution to extend the MSS mandate and order the UN to plan for its formal peacekeeping operation.

Since June, around 400 Kenyan police have been deployed as part of the UN-backed mission.

“On the suggestion to transit this into a fully U.N. Peacekeeping mission, we have absolutely no problem with it, if that is the direction the U.N. security council wants to take,” Ruto said on Saturday in Port-au-Prince.

A draft language that would have asked the U.N. to start planning to convert the MSS mission into a U.N. peacekeeping operation as well as extend the MSS mandate for an additional year was circulated by the United States and Ecuador.

The 15-member council is scheduled to cast a vote on the mandate renewal on September 30.

Kenya dispatched approximately 400 police personnel to Port-au-Prince in June and July out of an anticipated 1,000 after the Security Council authorised the MSS mission. Together, a few more nations have committed at least 1,900 additional troops.

However, in light of the delays in the deployment of personnel and essential equipment required to combat violent gangs, the effectiveness of the MSS mission has come under fire. The state of affairs has gotten worse, according to the UN specialist on human rights in Haiti, who stated on Friday that there are currently roughly 700,000 internally displaced persons.

After months of pleading for help from external forces, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres finally relented and provided 1,000 police when Haiti requested an international force in 2022 to combat gangs.

It is expected that police from the Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Benin, Chad, and Jamaica will join the Kenyan troop, bringing the total number of police worldwide to 2,500.

Related Topics:Haiti Kenya United Nations

Click to comment

Politics

Mauritius’ Prime Minister to double as Finance Minister

Published

5 minutes ago

November 23, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

In an effort to maintain a tight eye on the economy, Mauritius’ Prime Minister, Navin Ramgoolam, who took office this month following a resounding election victory, said on Friday that he would retain the position of finance minister for himself.

“We are doing an audit of the economy to see to what extent the outgoing government has destroyed it,” Ramgoolam told reporters in the capital Port Louis after he presided over the swearing-in of other ministers.

Ten years after he stepped down as prime minister, the seasoned politician returned to the position when his Alliance du Changement (ADC) alliance won 60 of the 62 seats in the national legislature.

The 77-year-old Ramgoolam said earlier this week that he would be auditing governmental finances. Before this, he was prime minister from 1995 to 2000 and again from 2005 to 2014.

Ramgoolam started a campaign in 2006 to streamline taxes and reduce bureaucracy to diversify the $10 billion economy beyond exports of sugar, textiles, and tourism.

Since then, the 1.3 million-person nation, which positions itself as a bridge between Africa and Asia, has developed into a major offshore financial hub and has been rated by the World Bank as the easiest location to do business in Africa regularly.

Politics

Mali’s junta names spokesman Abdoulaye Maiga new Prime Minister

Published

20 hours ago

November 22, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

A day after dismissing Choguel Maiga for criticising the government, Mali’s governing junta named its spokesperson, Abdoulaye Maiga, as Prime Minister on Thursday, according to state broadcaster, ORTM.

A source close to Choguel Maiga told Reuters that the ruling generals were incensed by Maiga’s remarks over the weekend denouncing the junta’s inability to hold elections within the 24-month timeframe given for the return to democracy.

After promising to hold elections in February, the military authorities, who took control in two separate coups in 2020 and 2021, have put off the poll indefinitely, citing technological difficulties.

Choguel Maiga’s firing coincides with indications of growing discontent and disarray among Mali politicians, even those who first supported the coup and collaborated with the junta.

As the wait for elections continues, Choguel Maiga, a civilian prime minister who was installed by the military junta in 2021, is the most recent to lose support.

He was cited on Saturday as claiming he learnt of the junta’s decision via the media and that there had been no discussion regarding the delay of the elections inside the cabinet.

“It’s all happening in total secrecy, without the prime minister’s knowledge,” Choguel Maiga told reporters.

Before then, he had frequently stood up for Mali’s junta against criticism from foreign friends and neighbours in West Africa who denounced its repeated election delays and military collaboration with Russian mercenaries.

As government spokesperson, Abdoulaye Maiga, the new prime minister, has also made strong public remarks against France, the previous colonial master. One such speech was demanding French President Emmanuel Macron to stop his “neocolonial” and “condescending” behaviour.

Abdoulaye Maiga and Assimi Goita, the leaders of the junta, announced they had kept all of the important cabinet ministers in their portfolios in the new administration in a statement that was broadcast on state television ORTM.

The announcement said that Abdoulaye Maiga will remain minister of territory administration.