Kenyan Forces in UN-Mission: A Dispute Over Allegations of Misconduct

Kenya has officially contested a United Nations report that highlights substantiated allegations of sexual abuse involving the U.N.-backed anti-gang force in Haiti, predominantly staffed by Kenyan police. This comes from a report dated February 16, made public last week, citing evidence of four instances of sexual exploitation and abuse by the human rights office.

In response, Kenya's Foreign Minister, Musalia Mudavadi, sent a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres this week, declaring the findings unjustified according to their board of inquiry. "Investigations conducted were impartial and shared with all relevant stakeholders, including U.N. human rights offices," wrote Mudavadi.

Kenya remains a major contributor to the force, sending most of its 1,000 personnel, initially deployed in June 2024. The tensions recall previous contentious sexual abuse claims against U.N. troops in Haiti between 2004 and 2017, when many offenses went unpenalized.