By MALCOLM STRACHAN

ONE of the great fears of the mission in Haiti was what would happen if officers sent there as part of the multinational mission started to be targeted and killed by gangs there. It is, sadly, a fear that has come true for the Kenyan forces deployed to Haiti.

On Tuesday, a group of Haitian police got stuck in a ditch. It is believed the ditch had been deliberately dug by gangs.

A call for help went out – and a group of Kenyan policeman set off to go to the rescue.

On their way, they were attacked by gangs. During the attack, one Kenyan policeman went missing.

A search was launched, but media in Haiti reported that he had been killed and videos of a dead man in Kenyan uniform were shared on social media.

This was not the first member of the Kenyan mission to become a casualty. Last week, another Kenyan officer was buried after having been shot and killed in February.

The scale of the problem in Haiti continues to be staggering.

At a World Bank briefing last week, it was reported that between 5,000 and 6,000 lives were lost to violence in the country last year.

More than one million people have been displaced because of the gang violence and turf wars underway in the nation.

Only three in five people in the country have access to safe drinking water – while waterborne diseases are the leading cause of death for children under the age of five.

The multinational mission is up against it. Already, gangs control 85 percent of the capital, Port-au-Prince, and reports have been circulating that the capital is about to fall completely.

Some of the funding for that mission has been coming from the US – although that has been hit by the funding freeze imposed by US President Donald Trump. Last week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio extended waivers on that funding freeze but, as the Associated Press noted, “it remains unclear how long they will last”.

Another person on that World Bank briefing was former Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding, who has been part of the Eminent Persons Group from CARICOM along with Dr Kenny Anthony, former PM of Saint Lucia, and our own former Prime Minister, Perry Christie.

Mr Christie had spoken in October of hopes that there would be elections in Haiti by February 2026.

As time has passed and instability has seemed to become ever greater, Mr Golding’s comments were far less hopeful.

He said that Haiti was “at the brink of a failed state” and said the multinational mission was “perilously close to failure”.

Still, he did not rule out hopes of elections, saying that “if we can bring the security situation under control, then we can proceed with the constitutual reform programme. We can hold elections, elect a new president and new legislature, and then the rebuilding of Haiti can begin”.

That said, the Haitian Transitional Presidential Council has not been making progress as hoped, with Mr Golding saying that “political differences have continued to disrupt the process”.

Haiti has suffered major problems in the past from outside involvement – the cholera epidemic that tore through the country, killing more than 9,000 and infecting 800,000 came was traced back to UN peacekeepers.

As Mr Golding said, “Haiti has suffered enough from external interference, and therefore we have to be very respectful of its sovereignty.”

To say then that things in the country are precarious would be an understatement.

Mr Golding said the Kenyan commander said they need to more than double their manpower. The Kenyan government has provided about 1,000 troops – the commander says they need 1,500 more. Even that number Mr Golding says he thinks is “understated”.

The Opposition party in Kenya has demanded more too – wanting better equipment for the forces being deployed.

In all of that, we have this latest death.

The transitional council said: “This valiant policeman, committed to the side of the Haitian forces to fight against insecurity, has made the ultimate sacrifice for a better future.”

For the officer’s mother, there was an intense personal grief. She was quoted as saying: “I am a single mother. He was my only hope.”

Another point of concern has been raised thanks to President Trump’s order to end the legal status of 500,000 migrants – some of which are from Haiti, as well as Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela.

Sending more people back to Haiti as it continues to be a bubbling cauldron is not going to help the problems there.

As it stands, the funding from the US for the mission is still there, but uncertain. The size of the force sent to the country appears inadequate. The capital itself is in peril of collapse. And the political will of countries participating in the multinational mission will be tested as their troops come home in body bags.

On Friday, UN official Volker Türk told the Human Rights Council that Haiti had reached “yet another crisis point”.

He warned of gangs expanding their control, public institutions in ruins and a humanitarian emergency deepening by the day.

He said: “I am not sure the usual description of gang violence captures the amount of unbearable suffering that has been inflicted on the Haitian people.”

The council heard that between July last year and February this year, 4,239 people were killed and 1,356 injured, with 92 percent of casualties due to gun violence.

Schools and healthcare facilities are being destroyed, and sexual violence and mass kidnappings are being used to terrorise communities. Gang rapes are being conducted in public, with victims sometimes being executed after the assault.

Children are being recruited by gangs – or trafficked.

Of the mass kidnappings, Mr Türk said: “Those who attempted to resist abduction were often shot dead.”

He also said that half of the nation – 5.5 million people – face acute food security, with two million at emergency hunger levels.

Only half of the country’s health facilities are fully operational, with 31 percent shut down completely.

One of the comments by Mr Golding was that the extra troops could come from the Latin American region. We already have Bahamians deployed to the area, though we are assured of their safety as much as that is possible.

To solve Haiti’s conundrum, however, more is required. What that will mean for us – and for others around the region – may be less palatable.

Lives are on the line – but a collapsed Haiti will not be good for anyone in the region.

There are no easy solutions, but it seems as if getting to the point of any solution is a long way off indeed.