A Kenyan police officer deployed as part of the Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS) in Haiti has been reported missing, according to a press statement released by the National Police Service of Kenya (NPS) on Wednesday.
The officer, whose identity has not been disclosed, went missing on March 25, 2025, while on duty in the volatile Pont-Sondé area in Haiti’s Artibonite Department, a region plagued by gang violence.
A statement from the Mission said that on March 25, 2025, at approximately 4.30pm, a Haitian National Police (HNP) armored vehicle on patrol along the Carrefour Paye-Savien Main Supply Route in the Pont-Sonde area, Artibonite Department, got stuck in a ditch—suspected to have been deliberately dug by gangs.
In response, two MSS Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles from Pont-Sonde were dispatched to assist in the recovery.
The statement added that during the recovery operation, one of the MRAPs also got stuck, while the other developed a mechanical issue. As the rescue teams attempted to resolve the situation, suspected gang members lying in wait launched an attack.
“As a result of the incident, one MSS Kenyan contingent officer remains unaccounted for. Specialized teams have been deployed to conduct a search and determine his whereabouts,” the statement said.
The NPS statement, signed by Muchiri Nyaga, Director of Corporate Communication and Spokesperson for the National Police Service, confirmed that the officer was part of the Kenyan-led MSS contingent working alongside the Haitian National Police (HNP).
“The Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS), in collaboration with the Haitian National Police (HNP), is actively conducting a search and rescue operation to locate the missing officer,” the statement read.
It also expressed gratitude to the National Police officers in Haiti for their commitment to fulfilling the mandate of the Multinational Security Support Mission.
The officer’s disappearance marks another grim chapter for the Kenyan-led MSS mission, which has been struggling to restore order in Haiti since its deployment in June 2024.
Just a month prior, on February 24, 2025, 26-year-old Police Constable Samuel Kitwai became the first Kenyan casualty of the mission when he was shot and killed by gang members during a security operation in the same Pont-Sondé area.
Jack Ombaka, the MSS spokesman, had described Kitwai as a “fallen hero” and vowed that the multinational force would “pursue these gangs to the last man standing.”
The MSS, authorized by the UN Security Council in October 2023, was intended to support the Haitian National Police in combating heavily armed gangs that have seized control of much of the capital, Port-au-Prince, and rural areas.
Kenya has led the mission, deploying 400 officers by late 2024, with an additional 200 arriving in January 2025, alongside smaller contingents from Jamaica, Belize, and El Salvador. However, the mission has been widely criticized for being understaffed, underfunded, and outgunned by gangs armed with weapons smuggled from the United States.
Public sentiment in Kenya has grown increasingly hostile toward the mission, with many questioning the country’s involvement in Haiti.
The United States, the mission’s primary financial backer, briefly froze funding in January 2025 under the Trump administration, though a waiver was later approved by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio to continue support for the MSS and the Haitian National Police.
The situation in Haiti remains dire, with over 5,500 people killed in gang-related violence in 2024 alone and more than a million displaced.
The Kenyan-led mission, while backed by the UN Security Council, is not a UN peacekeeping operation, leaving its funding and future uncertain. Many Haitians have expressed skepticism about the mission, with some calling for greater investment in their own police and armed forces instead.
