There is hope of more operations and impact after at least 739 Haitian police officers graduated from a college managed by Kenya police.
This was after a five month training.
The National Police Academy in Haiti, once under threat from the notorious Kraze Baryè gang led by Vitel’Homme Innocent successfully reopened and celebrated a milestone event.
Despite fears that the academy might remain closed indefinitely due to gang control in the surrounding area, a bold decision by Director General of the Haitian National Police Normil Rameau and Multinational Security Support (MSS) Force Commander Godfrey Otunge led to its reopening in July 2024.
They established the first MSS Forward Operating Base (FOB) at the academy, paving the way for the training of a new batch of officers.
On Friday, January 10, 2025, the academy held a spectacular passing-out parade for 739 newly trained officers, including 213 women.
The officers had undergone rigorous training since August 2024 and the event was a powerful symbol of resilience and progress, officials said.
Although there were initial attempts by gangs to disrupt the ceremony, with isolated gunfire reported far from the academy, specialized units of the HNP and MSS swiftly neutralized the situation.
The Chief Guest for the graduation of the 34th HNP class, named “Vertières,” was Leslie Voltaire, President of the Transitional Presidential Council (TPC).
Other notable dignitaries included Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, Minister of Justice and Public Security Patrick Pélissier, Rameau, Otunge, Maria Isabel Salvador, Head of the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti, and Ambassadors Dennis B. Hankins (USA) and André François Giroux (Canada), a statement said.
Voltaire emphasized that the graduation of the officers symbolizes the government’s commitment to restoring security in Haiti and creating conditions conducive to holding a national referendum and elections.
The Director of the National Police School Sem Prédestin, highlighted the comprehensive training the recruits received to address current challenges.
He urged them to foster positive relationships with the public and uphold professionalism, honesty, and respect.
Rameau reminded them of their duty to combat insecurity and acknowledged the vital role of the MSS Kenya contingent in supporting the academy.
He also noted the success of the HNP-MSS collaboration, particularly in the West and Artibonite departments.
The new officers are expected to join special units within the HNP to strengthen and enhance police operations.
This development is a significant boost in the fight against gang violence.
The MSS also plans to establish new FOBs in the two most affected regions, further consolidating efforts to restore law and order in Haiti.
The Kenya police in Haiti are upbeat with the arrival of troops from Guatemala and El Salvador to reinforce a long-delayed United Nations-backed mission tasked with restoring security amid a bloody conflict with armed gangs.
The team also said the posting of their former police boss Gabow Noor as Kenya’s Consul-General to Haiti will help address their demands.
“We hope to address the menace progressively. This is a good step forward,” said one commander who asked not to be named.
Other officers on the ground said they have more hope now.
A contingent of security forces from Guatemala and El Salvador arrived in Haiti’s capital on January 3 and 4.
A first group of 75 soldiers arrived on Friday and another 75 on Saturday, all drafted from the military police, according to Guatemala’s government.
The others were eight Salvadorans.
A state of emergency has been in place across the Caribbean nation for months as the government battles violent gangs that have taken control of much of the capital Port-au-Prince.
The mission is being led by Kenya, which deployed nearly 400 police in the middle of last year, far short of the 1,000 it had promised.
The police were later joined by 24 Jamaican personnel and two senior officers from Belize.
The forces are in Haiti to boost a United Nations-backed security mission led by Kenya that has so far failed to prevent violence from escalating.
This was the first tranche of a UN-approved international force that will be made up of 2,500 officers from various countries.
In March 2024, armed gangs stormed Haiti’s two biggest prisons, freeing around 3,700 inmates.
Chronic instability, dictatorships and natural disasters in recent decades have left Haiti the poorest nation in the Americas.
In 2021, President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated by unidentified gunmen in Port-au-Prince.
Since then the country has been wracked by economic chaos, little functioning political control and increasingly violent gang warfare.
However, the mission has failed to prevent gangs from taking new territories and committing several massacres as violence dramatically escalated in the last months of 2024, causing thousands more people to flee their homes.
Haiti’s national police have meanwhile shed thousands of officers in recent years.
Some 10 countries have together pledged over 3,100 troops for Haiti, but few have so far deployed to participate in the Kenyan-led Multinational Security Support (MSS).
Kenya will send 600 more police officers to Haiti to bolster an international anti-gang mission.
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