A Kenyan high court has issued an interim order blocking the government’s plans to deploy police officers to Haiti or any other country while awaiting the hearing of a petition.
The judge has considered the issues raised in the application as being of national importance and public interest.
One of the petitioners, former presidential candidate Ekuru Aukot, argued that the proposed deployment was unconstitutional.
Questions were raised regarding whether regular police officers could be deployed for international assignments.
Mr. Aukot also emphasized that the country could not afford to send 1,000 officers abroad while facing ongoing security challenges at home, including recent ethnic clashes in western Kenya that resulted in seven fatalities.
The coastal region of Lamu has also experienced attacks from the Somalia-based al-Shabab militant group, leading to the imposition of a curfew.
The Interior Minister assured that the deployment would not compromise the nation’s safety and security. Further directions from the court on this matter are expected at the end of October.