Kenyan Police Officer Killed in Haiti Gang Ambush

Port-au-Prince, Haiti – March 26, 2025 – A Kenyan police officer deployed as part of a UN-backed Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission was killed by gangs in Haiti on Tuesday, marking the second Kenyan casualty in the ongoing effort to restore order in the violence-ravaged Caribbean nation. The officer’s death, which occurred during a patrol operation in Petite-Rivière de l’Artibonite, underscores the escalating dangers faced by the international force amid a worsening gang insurgency.

According to reports, the incident unfolded when Kenyan and Haitian National Police officers attempted to assist a vehicle stuck in a ditch in the town of Pont-Sondé. Suspected gang members, lying in wait, launched a coordinated ambush, setting fire to three armored vehicles (MRAPs) and engaging the officers in a deadly confrontation. The Kenyan officer was killed, and disturbing footage later surfaced on social media, shared by the gangs, showing them slapping and kicking the officer’s body in a grim display of violence.

The officer’s death comes barely a month after another Kenyan officer, 26-year-old Police Constable Samuel Kitwai, was fatally wounded in a similar operation in Ségur-Savien, marking the first Kenyan casualty in the mission. Last week, another Kenyan policeman was shot in the head by a gang sniper in Artibonite, north of Port-au-Prince. He survived after undergoing a craniotomy, though the bullet could not be removed, and remains in critical condition. A second officer injured in last month’s ambush is also still in intensive care.

The MSS mission, led by Kenya and comprising over 500 personnel from countries including Jamaica, Belize, the Bahamas, Guatemala, and El Salvador, was deployed starting in June 2024 to combat Haiti’s powerful gangs, which control nearly 80% of the capital, Port-au-Prince, and large swathes of rural areas. The gangs, emboldened by weapons smuggled from the U.S., have displaced over a million people and killed more than 5,500 in 2024 alone, according to UN estimates. The violence has spiraled since the 2021 assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse, leaving the country in a state of near-anarchy.

Kenya has contributed at least 800 officers to the mission, with President William Ruto pledging a full deployment of 1,000 by January 2025. However, the mission has faced significant challenges, including a lack of personnel, funding, and equipment. Critics, including Haitian locals and international observers, have expressed frustration over the mission’s limited progress, with some calling for a stronger UN peacekeeping presence. “The Kenyan-led mission is struggling to contain the unrest,” said a U.S. official, echoing sentiments from Haiti’s interim President Leslie Voltaire, who has requested a more robust international response.

The ambush has sparked outrage and grief in Kenya, where families of deployed officers are increasingly anxious about their loved ones’ safety. Social media reactions on X reflect the somber mood, with users like

@TeyaKevin lamenting the heartbreaking news for the officer’s family, and

@itskipronoh pleading, “Please bring back our officers! Haiti is not a joke!” Others, such as

@KijanayaKabras, expressed a more vengeful sentiment, referencing past grievances with police during Kenyan protests: “They killed us mercilessly during peaceful demonstrations, now it’s their turn!! Nothing lasts forever!”

The Kenyan National Police Service (NPS) issued a statement confirming the officer’s death and noting that a search and rescue operation is underway for another officer who went missing during the same ambush. “We are working tirelessly with the Haitian National Police to locate our missing officer and ensure justice for our fallen hero,” the NPS said. General Godfrey Otunge, commander of the MSS force, vowed to “pursue these gangs to the last man standing,” but the mission’s future remains uncertain, especially after the Trump administration’s recent freeze on foreign aid programs.

Haiti’s security crisis shows no signs of abating. Just days ago, gang coalition Viv Ansanm torched homes in the Solino neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, one of the few areas not yet under gang control, forcing residents to flee with whatever they could carry. The city’s mayor, Youri Chevry, recently admitted that the government controls only about 30% of the capital, with several key areas now “in a state of war.”

As the international community grapples with how to address Haiti’s spiraling violence, the loss of another Kenyan officer has intensified calls to reevaluate the mission’s strategy. For now, the families of the deployed officers, along with the people of Haiti, wait anxiously for a resolution to a crisis that continues to claim lives on both sides of the conflict.