Violence breaks out in Kenya

The UN deploys international police forces to impose law and order in beleaguered countries. But nobody in their right mind thinks Kenyan police have a snowball’s chance in hell of doing that in Haiti.

The Kenyan police landed yesterday. But nothing betrayed the folly of their mission quite like Kenya descending into disorder simultaneously. The world watched as Kenyans rioted, looted, and even stormed their parliament, setting it ablaze. Frankly, the lawlessness of ordinary Kenyans made the violence Haitian gangsters perpetrate seem genteel.

Still, how a small contingent of 1000 Kenyan police plans to tame the gangsters’ paradise Haiti has become is a mystery worthy of Sherlock Holmes. But this deployment gives new meaning to the blind leading the blind.

Incidentally, America had its Jan 6; Brazil had its Jan 8, Kenya has now had its June 25; and France seems doomed to have its July 7 after looming elections next month. Given how political violence is plaguing the world’s leading democracies, is it any wonder its leading autocracies are looking so appealing to so many people?

Kenya’s misguided intervention

Simply put, Kenya can’t even control its own riots. Now, it thinks it can succeed where US-led international forces have failed?

Historically, thousands of troops from the Caribbean, Brazil, and the US have tried to restore order in Haiti, only to retreat with little to show for their efforts. The situation in Haiti has remained dire, with gangs controlling most of Port-au-Prince and indulging in widespread killings, kidnappings, and sexual violence.

Even worse, long-suffering Haitians will have reasonable fears that these Kenyan police might repeat the misdeeds of previous UN peacekeepers — like committing sexual assaults and introducing cholera, which killed nearly 10,000 people.

That’s why this deployment smacks of doing the same thing and expecting a different result. Indeed, on the eve of deploying a UN intervention force 20 years ago, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan delineated the categorical imperative to intervene under the title “Haiti: This Time We Must Get It Right.” He began his clarion call, presciently enough, with the forlorn exclamation, “Not again!” Yet, here we are, again.

Adding to the farce, the Haitian gangs have far more manpower and firepower. US sanctions have prevented the Haitian government from importing weapons, while doing little to deter gangs from trafficking them.

The idea that 1000 Kenyan officers, facing their own domestic crises, can subdue these heavily armed gangs is laughable. It’s like sending mall cops to break up a mafia convention.

Put another way, Haitian gangs are bound to treat these Kenyan police as nothing more than Keystone Cops — outmatched, outgunned, and out of their depth. This misguided mission only underscores the hapless and tragic reality of international interventions that promise much but deliver little.

Haiti, a chronic mess and menace

Of course, the reason for repeated interventions is that countries in the Americas cannot afford to leave Haiti to its own devices. And it’s not just the moral imperative that would prick their consciences. It’s the Haitian migration that would destabilize their countries.

Yet, in the wake of the devastating earthquake in 2010, former US President Bill Clinton headed an international team with billions at its disposal to rebuild Haiti.

They promised competent local governance, comprehensive economic development, and community policing. They promised to empower local leaders and institutions, invest in infrastructure and job creation, and reform the judicial system to provide the foundation for lasting stability.

None of it worked. Haiti might be a lost cause. Indeed, I’ve often lamented that

Haiti seems fated to loom amidst the islands of the Caribbean as Africa does amidst the continents of the world – as a dark, destitute, diseased, desperate, disenfranchised, dishonest, disorganized, disassociated, dangerous, and, ultimately, dysfunctional mess.

How best to deal with Haiti

Given that, it might be time to revisit a more drastic measure: send in the US Marines! Unlike previous interventions, this one should have:

• A clear mandate: The Marines should operate under a clear directive to dismantle and eliminate gang networks comprehensively, rather than merely stabilizing the situation temporarily.
• Long-term engagement: Unlike past interventions, which were often short-term and reactive, this should be a sustained military presence with a commitment to long-term stability and rebuilding efforts, ensuring gangs do not re-emerge once the Marines withdraw — you know, like the Taliban in Afghanistan.
• An integrated development approach: This intervention should be coupled with a simultaneous and coordinated push for economic development, infrastructure improvement, and institutional strengthening, ensuring that security efforts are matched by socio-economic progress.
• International collaboration: The intervention should involve collaboration with regional powers and international bodies to ensure a unified approach and legitimacy.
• Local involvement: This intervention should engage local communities and leaders to ensure that it does not reek of occupation but seems like a genuine effort to restore peace and security.

Again, history suggests that this intervention cannot guarantee success. However, renewed and focused military intervention is the only viable option left to achieve immediate stability and create a secure environment for sustainable development efforts to take root.