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Slain police officer Samuel Keituai who was killed in Haiti, is raid to rest in Kajiado East, on March 19, 2025. The 28-year-old lost his life in an operation marking the first reported fatality among the Kenyan personnel in the mission. [Peter Githaiga, Standard]
Opposition leaders Kalonzo Musyoka and Eugene Wamalwa have raised concerns over the Haiti mission, saying it is under-funded and exposes the Kenyan police contingent in the island nation to great danger.
The leaders spoke on Wednesday during the burial of Samuel Keituai in Kajiado East. He was killed during an operation in the larger mission to assist Haiti’s police in fighting violent gangs.
Kalonzo alleged that the mission is underfunded, which contributes to risks as it exposes the officers to danger from Haiti’s gangs.
‘‘We don’t want to hear of another son of our soil being killed in Haiti, this is not peacekeeping, its peace forcing,’’ Musyoka said.
He said the international community should also access an audit on how much was given by the United States government for the mission.
Among those who attended the burial was Kajiado Governor Joseph Ole Lenku, Democratic Alliance Party (DAP-K) leader Eugene Wamalwa, among others.
Wamalwa appealed to the international community to make sure that the mission is fully funded through the United Nations.
He raised concern over the funding and resources of the officers, saying initially the mission was rejected by the courts, which ruled that the mandate of the police is to serve within the borders of a country and not in foreign lands.
‘’We want the Haiti mission to be fully funded by the United Nations’’ said Wamalwa.
Kajiado East MP Kakuta Ole Maimai, appealed to the government to fully compensate Keituai’s family.
‘‘We request that our son be compensated fully by the government, we don’t want to witness delay in compensation,’’ said Maimai, echoing Kaetuai’s father sentiments.
“We lost a young man who was dedicated to serving his country and we had a lot of expectations from him.
‘‘We appeal to the government to help educate my grandchildren and offer a job opportunity to his elder brother in his place,” his father, Lazarus Kaetuai said when he spoke to The Standard last month.
The 28-year-old deployed to Haiti, in the first contingent that Kenya sent, lost his life in an operation on February 23, marking the first reported fatality among Kenyan personnel in the mission to stabilise the Caribbean nation.
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The officer, a member of the National Police Service’s Border Patrol Unit, was injured during the operation in Ségur-Savien, in the Artibonite region north of Port-au-Prince.
He was later airlifted to Aspen Level Two Hospital but succumbed to injuries, according to Multinational Security Support Force Commander, Geoffrey Otunge.
Single bullet
A postmortem revealed that he died from a single bullet to his head.
Kaetuai’s body arrived in the country on March 10.
Deputy Inspector General-Administration Police Service, Gilbert Masengeli, led a contingent of officers to receive the fallen officer’s remains at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.
All leaders who spoke during the burial held at his Rural home in Naserian village, Kajiado East, eulogized Keituai as a hero and ambassador who lost his life in the line of duty while defending global peace.
Masengeli acknowledged that the officer was well-trained for the mission and that his death was a great loss to the National Police Service.
The burial comes few hours after another unidentified police officer was injured on Tuesday, in the UN-backed multinational security mission.
The officer becomes the second Kenyan officer to be injured, after the death of Kaetuai, who was killed in the same area.
Kaetuai was laid to rest as his father Mzee Kaetuai Lesaru Salaash and his family struggled to come to terms with the demise of their bread winner.
Through their family spokesman George Kimiti, the family expressed deep sorrow following the death of their son whose dream was cut short after succumbing to a bullet wound.
‘’We admit that our son is no more, however its important to note that he has left behind a young family.
‘‘He was the only the bread winner, and therefore we appeal to the government to stand with us’’ said Kimiti.
Keituai was among the more than 600 police officers deployed to the mission as part of a multinational force of police officers and soldiers from other countries — including Jamaica, Guatemala and El Salvador.
Officers’ welfare
The mission, approved in 2023, has however faced logistical and financial challenges, including funding delays and concerns over the officers’ welfare.
President William Ruto committed to sending up to 1,000 officers, making Kenya the leading contributor to the force.
Ruto sent the police team to Haiti despite a spirited battle pulled by rights groups and an order by the courts that they could not be deployed for security assignments outside Kenya.
Haiti has been grappling with a surge of gang violence, with the United Nations reporting that at least 5,601 people were killed in gang-related incidents last year—1,000 more than in 2023
The UN also documented 315 killings of alleged gang members and 281 suspected summary executions by police.
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The Standard Group Plc is a
multi-media organization with investments in media platforms spanning newspaper
print operations, television, radio broadcasting, digital and online services. The
Standard Group is recognized as a leading multi-media house in Kenya with a key
influence in matters of national and international interest.
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