What you need to know:
- Court rules planned deployment of 1000 police officers to Haiti illegal.
- Court say president has no power to deploy regular police outside of the country.
The High Court of Kenya has termed the deployment of 1,000 Kenyan Police officers to Haiti illegal.
High Court Judge Chacha Mwita ruled that the National Police Service (NPS) and the National Security Council, which includes the President, do not have the power to deploy regular police outside of the country.
The judge underlined that Kenya’s offer to help mitigate a humanitarian crisis in Haiti was noble, but he maintained that such deployment needed to be undertaken per the Constitution of Kenya.
“An order is hereby issued prohibiting the deployment of police officers to Haiti or any other country otherwise than any compliance with part 14 of NPS Act,” he stated.
Mwita made the ruling after Third-way Alliance Party leader Ekuru Aukot challlenged the decision by the government to deploy 1000 police officers to security mission in Haiti.
Aukot in his application termed the government’s decision nconstitutional.
Parliament had approved the deployment of 1,000 Kenyan Police officers to Haiti, despite the High Court blocking the Interior Ministry from approving a proposal for the operation.
