By JADE RUSSELL

Tribune Staff Reporter

jrussell@tribunemedia.net

FOREIGN Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell said Kenya is expected to begin deploying troops to Haiti on May 26.

The date could put local Defence Force officers expected to join the multi-national force to stabilise Haiti on alert, though Mr Mitchell said he could not give a timeline.

A transitional council installed last week to help bring political stability to Haiti after Prime Minister Ariel Henry resigned, chose Fritz Bélizaire to be prime minister. Mr Bélizaire was Haiti’s sports minister during the second presidency of René Préval.

Mr Mitchell said choosing a prime minister is an important step.

“This is a Haitian-led process, and CARICOM has done all that it can to bring the process to this point,” he said. “It’s not really for us to determine who’s going to lead and who’s going to do what. It’s just, we have to see how the process unfolds. It appears to me that it has the broadest acceptance at this point of the elites in Haiti and that the international community accepts that this is the right direction going forward.”

Mr Mitchell said US officials expect US airlines to return to Haiti on May 16.

Politico reported on Monday that Kenya is expected to begin deploying forces to Haiti in late May.

However, the publication questioned where the troops would stay, saying the US had not finished constructing a base there.

Mr Mitchell emphasised the complexity of Haiti’s political situation.

“For example,” he said, “in The Bahamas, where we argue over policy points, but there’s a broad agreement about the direction in which to go, it’s much more fractious in Haiti. But that’s their political process. And, you know, of course, I think with all human beings, it comes to a point where people say enough of this and we have to strike a consensus, so looks as if they’re at that point.”

The Davis administration has committed to sending 150 Defence Force officers to join a multinational team to help stabilise Haiti. National Security Minister Wayne Munroe has said the officers will help with maritime security.