Nearly 20 Kenyan police officers in Haiti have filed their resignation letters to the government over delayed salaries and poor working conditions, Reuters has reported.
The officers who have tendered their resignation letters are however yet to receive a response from the government.
According to the National Police inspector general Douglas Kanja, the about 400 officers working in Haiti had been paid up to end of October 2024.
However, Reuters reported that officers on the ground have disputed this and states that they were last paid in September.
Each Kenya Police officer in Haiti pockets a monthly salary of over Sh. 300,000. This salary includes their allowance for partaking in the Haiti mission and their normal monthly salary earned as police officers under the Kenya Police Service.
The Haiti mission is being funded by the United States government.
It is not the first time that the officers are complaining about delayed salaries. In August, the officers lamented that they had not been paid for two months since they landed in Haiti.
400 Kenyan police officers were deployed in Haiti as the first tranche of an international force in June 2024. In mid-July, another contingent of 200 officers arrived in the troubled country.
Details of over Sh. 300,000 monthly salary each police officer in Haiti is earning
According to the United Nation’s migration agency, over 500,000 Haitians have been forced from their homes by gang violence and instability in the Caribbean nation. In some parts of the main city, schools and hospitals have been converted into shelters for the displaced people.
Currently, it is estimated that the Haiti police force is made up of just 9,000 officers. Yet, about 8,000 Haitians are estimated to be members of about 200 gangs.
