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The US officials have launched investigations into the sudden death of a senior Administration Police Service officer who was found dead in a hotel room in Washington DC.

Sources said the officer was part of the Kenyan team that was to present a reviewed memorandum of understanding between Haiti and Kenya -over the planned multinational security support mission to Haiti -for signing and fly back to Kenya for final agreements.

The body of Chief Inspector Walter Nyamato Nyankieya was found in his hotel room on Tuesday morning, according to the authorities.

The National Police Service (NPS) headquarters yesterday confirmed the death and said the officer was among a team of officers who had been sent to Washington for a seminar on security operations.

The deceased was based at the APS headquarters Jogoo House and was also the personal assistant to the Deputy Inspector General, APS, Noor Gabow.

By yesterday, the cause of death was yet to be established

According to his colleagues, the deceased had failed to wake up prompting them to check on him only to find his body lying in bed.

DIG Gabow yesterday described him as dedicated, humble and hard-working.

“He was attending a training and seminar in the US when he was found dead in his room. The US authorities have launched investigations,” he said adding that the body will be flown back to the country once the preliminary investigations are concluded.

Part of the probe involves establishing the actual cause of death and also if there was any foul play. Sources said he was also suffering from high blood pressure.

The team was in the US in preparation for the Kenya-led Multinational Security Support (MSS) to Haiti.

On Monday this week, six Members of the Congress wrote to the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressing strong misgivings about the role that the US government played in the approval and authorisation of deployment of the mission.

The members also referred to concerns raised by the Kenya National Civil Society Centre and Amnesty International Kenya on the poor human rights record of the Kenya police as the proposed leaders of the planned mission.

Extra-judicial killings

They raised issues to do with human rights violations, including extra-judicial killings, excessive use of force against protesters in Kenya, and its seemingly irredeemable penchant for bribe-taking.

The team had left Nairobi and landed in Washington DC for a briefing and was to fly to Miami and later to Haiti.

They were to present a reviewed memorandum of understanding sent by Haiti for signing and fly back to Kenya for final agreements. It is understood, as suggested by the court on the need for reciprocity, Haiti had sent a memorandum of understanding to Kenya on the need to deploy the police officers there.

Kenya’s law provides for a mechanism in which police officers can be deployed abroad if there is a reciprocal arrangement with the host country

Regular police

Justice Chacha Mwita said Kenya’s National Security Council, which is led by the president, does not have the authority to deploy regular police outside the country.

“It is not contested that there is no reciprocal arrangement between Kenya and Haiti and for that reason, there can be no deployment of police to that country,” Mwita said.

The judge said Kenya’s offer was noble but needed to be carried out in accordance with the constitution

The decision was considered by many to be a blow to Haiti, which first requested the immediate deployment of a foreign-armed force in October 2022.

The team had camped in Washington and planned a trip to Haiti which they apparently proceeded with on Thursday, officials said.