U.S. pushes to expand Kenya-led mission at the gathering of world leaders

During the event, the United States urged that the Kenyan-led mission to combat Haiti’s armed gangs, which has displaced millions from their homes, needs more support.

The mission dubbed The Multinational Security Support (MSS) Mission in Haiti has been championed by the East African country with support from Belize and Jamaica.

Speaking at a U.S.-Kenya event held on the margins of the annual United Nations meeting of world leaders, Kenya’s president, William Ruto, said that the 15-month-old mission had only been performing at 40% of the 2,500 security troops that were planned.

As seen on Reuters, the MSS mission’s mandate from the U.N. Security Council is set to expire on October 2.

For a Security Council resolution to pass, it must receive at least nine of the 15 votes and not be vetoed by the United States, Britain, China, France, or Russia.

“I must commend the United States. They did make available logistics and vehicles. But unfortunately, most of the vehicles were second-hand vehicles, and therefore, they broke down a lot, many times. And in fact, it put our personnel in great danger when they broke down in very dangerous places,” the Kenyan president stated.

“But at least they stepped up,” he added. “We didn’t, however, get any useful support from any other quarter.”

In August, the United States and Panama submitted a draft resolution aimed at transforming the current MSS mission into a larger Gang Suppression Force that will be backed by a new U.N. field office.

The leadership structure of the proposed new force would be different, but it would still be dependent on volunteer international finance and manpower contributions.

The United States and Canada, along with representatives from other nations that have provided personnel, would serve as the governing bodies.

“Haiti stands at a crossroads. Port-au-Prince faces an escalating security crisis with gangs terrorizing communities, extorting families, and recruiting desperate children to commit horrors on behalf of gang leaders,” said U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau, who also announced the U.S. was sanctioning two former Haitian officials.

In May 2025, Kenya’s government attempted to increase international engagement to improve the mission’s effectiveness.

During a visit to Brazil, Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary, Musalia Mudavadi, requested technical and financial support from the South American country to help restore peace and rebuild communities in Haiti.

Mudavadi also urged the international community, particularly the United Nations, the United States, and other American countries, to fulfill and boost their committed contributions to the UN-backed security operation.

In the same month, the Multinational Security Support Mission successfully regained an important facility taken by the notorious “Viv Ansanm” gang organization.

The group had threatened to blow up the facility, which houses critical communications for Haiti’s international airport and other crucial services.

If this threat had been carried out, it would have had serious consequences for the country’s telecommunications infrastructure.

MSS spokesman Jack Ombaka confirmed that the operation resulted in major losses for the gangs, with numerous persons captured and a large cache of weapons seized.

Kenya has actively led in the MSS operation, which aims to assist the Haitian National Police (PNH) in regaining control of a country ravaged by violent gangs.

In July 2023, President William Ruto vowed to send 1,000 troops to Haiti, calling the crisis “a test of global solidarity.”

Kenya dispatched its first contingent of 400 security police officers to the Caribbean island in June 2024, launching an international peacekeeping campaign.

Other countries eventually joined the operation, including Jamaica, which sent two dozen military and police officials to help with the fight against armed groups.

The Belizean government alleges that two senior military leaders joined the Jamaicans.

Kenya will lead the U.N. mission to provide foreign assistance to Haiti, which has seen violence and political upheaval since President Jovenel Moïse died in 2021.

Late last year, questions were raised regarding the relationship between the MSS, which is mostly made up of Kenyan police officers, and the Haitian National Police.