President William Ruto’s security advisor, Monica Juma, has stated that there are enough funds to sustain a Kenyan-led security mission in Haiti.

Juma’s assertion comes hours after it emerged that the United States was taking steps to freeze funds for the security mission in the Caribbean country.

“It is true the U.S. contribution to the UN Trust Fund for MSS Haiti is on pause, affecting about $15M (approximately Ksh1.9 billion) in support. It is also true that the MSS mission is a priority and a beneficiary of the waiver.

“Meanwhile, there are sufficient funds in the UN Trust Fund for Haiti from other countries (approximately $110M) (which is equivalent to Ksh14.2 billion) to continue operations,” Juma said in a statement on X on Wednesday, February 5, 2025.

Fund frozen

On Wednesday, it emerged that the US notified the UN that it was freezing some funding to the mission in Haiti tasked with fighting gangs trying to seize full control of the country’s capital, Port-au-Prince.

The US is the biggest source of funds for the MSS mission since it was launched in 2024. The move by the US is expected to have an immense impact on the mission that is already struggling with funding and personnel.

According to UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric, US had committed Ksh 1.9 billion to the trust fund that helps finance the multinational force in Haiti. With Ksh219 million of that already spent and Ksh1.6 billion now frozen.

“We will await further guidance from the U.S. regarding its contribution,” he said.

The Kenyan police are working alongside Haiti’s National Police, which is severely underfunded and understaffed.

Currently, there are only about 4,000 Haitian police officers on duty at a time in a country of more than 11 million people.

As the mission stares at a serious case of underfunding, a military contingent of 70 soldiers from El Salvador has arrived in Haiti. They will join hands with more than 600 Kenyan police officers already on the ground, backed by police and soldiers from other countries, including Jamaica and Guatemala.