Biden Calls Ruto Ahead of Kenya Police Haiti Deployment

by Washington Mito on Wednesday, 4 October 2023 – 7:31 am

President William Ruto and his US counterpart Joe Biden on separate phone calls in 2022.

US President Joe Biden phoned his Kenyan counterpart William Ruto following the United Nation's decision to grant Kenya the greenlight to deploy its police to Haiti.

In a statement by the White House, the phone call was made on Tuesday evening, hours after the UN Security Council authorised the mission.

Biden congratulated Ruto for Kenya's bold step to deploy 1,000 officers to Haiti to restore order to the country that has been marred with violence over the years.

On the other hand, the US President took time to offer support for the Kenya-led mission, which is expected to commence in 2024.

Protestors fill the streets of Port-au-Prince, Haiti on July 20, 2023.

"President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. spoke with President William Ruto of Kenya today to thank him for answering Haiti’s call to serve as the lead nation of the Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission," the White House documented.

Additionally, the duo also conversed over the Africa Climate Summit that Ruto held in September.

"President Biden also congratulated President Ruto for hosting the recently concluded Africa Climate Summit and expressed appreciation for the U.S.-Kenya strategic partnership, which is founded on a pursuit of shared solutions to global challenges.

"Together, they discussed additional opportunities to promote regional security and mutual prosperity by spurring new investments, jobs, and sustainable growth," read the White House statement in part.

In a separate statement, Ruto also highlighted that the partnership between the countries in infrastructure, renewable energy, and green manufacturing also dominated the call, reported to have lasted for close to 30 minutes.

Empowering Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) also formed part of the agenda for the Tuesday call.

Meanwhile, Kenya is set to formalise the Haiti-led operation, which Parliament should authorise before the Police deployment.

The government is expected to table the motion in Parliament in the coming days.

So far, the Kenya-led mission has received a major financial and logistic boost, with the US offering Ksh14.7 billion for the mission. Other logistics include medical support, intelligence, airlift, and communications support.

Visitors gathered at KICC during the Africa Climate Summit on September 6, 2023