Kenya's pioneering role in the Multinational Security Support Mission to Haiti has been a defining feature of its foreign policy, demonstrating a commitment to global stability. Since first deploying troops in June, and with plans to increase the contingent to 1,000 police officers, Kenya has stepped onto the international stage to aid the beleaguered Caribbean nation grappling with escalating gang violence. However, this crucial mission has now been cast under a sobering light, as the family of a deployed Kenyan officer demands answers, highlighting the profound human cost of peacekeeping and the imperative for government transparency.
At the heart of this unfolding concern is the perplexing case of Benedict Kabiru Kuria, a 34-year-old Kenyan police officer who "went missing" while serving in Haiti. Kabiru, who joined the mission on July 15, 2024, as part of the second contingent to fly to the Caribbean nation, has become the subject of conflicting and deeply distressing reports regarding his fate.
On March 27, 2025, Haiti’s Presidential Transitional Council made a stark announcement: Mr. Kabiru was fatally ambushed by Haitian gangs. This official statement from Haiti painted a grim picture of the realities faced by peacekeepers in a highly volatile environment. Yet, in a bewildering twist, Kenya's National Police Service (NPS) reported a different status, stating that the officer was merely "missing." Since then, official details of his whereabouts have remained agonizingly unknown to his family and the public. The Director of Operations at Kenya's police headquarters reportedly dismissed Haiti's announcement of death, terming social media reports of the attack as "fake news."
The chasm between these two narratives has plunged Kabiru's family into an unbearable state of uncertainty and grief. Faced with what they describe as a "tight-lipped" and unresponsive government, the family has taken the drastic step of suing several high-ranking state officials. Their lawsuit names Attorney General Dorcas Oduor, Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja, the National Police Service Commission, Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen, and Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi.
The family's legal action underscores their profound anguish, stating that the government's continued silence has caused them "unexplained pain and suffering." They recount their relentless efforts to obtain a clear account of what happened to their son, only to be met with official silence. "Everyone has gone silent since we started pressing them to give us a true account of what happened to our son," the family lamented, expressing a desperate need for closure and truth.
