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Lawmakers yesterday engaged in a heated debate over the government’s decision to send 1,000 officers to Haiti.

The MPs have since summoned Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki to appear before them to shed light on the matter.

While MPs from the Minority side opposed the decision to send the police officers to Haiti, their counterparts from the Majority side said the country was part of the global community and must participate in such missions.

Their sentiments came just two days after the United Nations  Security Council voted for the one-year deployment of a non-UN multinational force, led by Kenyan officers to Haiti to combat gangs and restore security. With the approval, Kenya will deploy its officers to Haiti by January.

In Parliament, debate on the matter started after Mathare MP Anthony Olouch sought the intervention of Gilgil MP Martha Wangari who was the Speaker to make a general statement on the matter. Oluoch, in his statement said the matter was of national importance and ought to have been well-thought out before a decision was made.

He said Kenya has an obligation to ensure that matters of security internally have been addressed before sending our troops abroad. “As a House we appreciate that as part of the fulfilment of international obligations, Kenya is obliged to make certain measures and it is in this backdrop it is believed Kenya committed to deploy its troops to Haiti,” Oluoch said.

Adequate measures

He continued: “However, it is important that nations and families undertaking this mission must be guaranteed that adequate measures have been put in place to mitigate atrocities.”

Leader of Minority Opiyo Wandayi also accused the government of sending its children to Haiti to be used as guinea pigs.

“It is not clear who made the request for the Kenyan government to send its troops to Haiti. We don’t know whether it is the US Government. We don’t know whether it is the Haitian Government. We also don’t know whether it is the UN, even though the UN Security Council passed a resolution on this, it did not name Kenya to be the leader of this mission,” he noted.

However, Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wa defended the government, saying Kenya is part of the global community and therefore has an obligation to take part in any global events that occur.

“Being part of the global community we must be patriotic enough to support our men and women in uniform. If we are sending our sons and daughters to a faraway country we must encourage them not to instil fear in them,” Ichung’wa stated.