Justice Enock Chacha Mwita’s Haiti Judgment: A defining chapter in the story of Kenya’s Constitution
by admin on | 2025-11-03 16:22:10
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Have you ever wondered what happens when a nation\'s goodwill clashes with its own laws? Picture Haiti, a Caribbean island ravaged by gang warfare, where daily life is a battle for survival, and now envision Kenya, volunteering to send police across oceans to restore peace. In 2023, President William Ruto’s bold commitment to lead the United Nations-backed Multinational Security Support mission was hailed as a humanitarian milestone, yet it sparked a f ierce constitutional inferno back home.1 At the epicenter stands Justice Enock Chacha Mwita, whose electrifying landmark judgement in Aukot & 2 others v National Security Council & 5 others [2024] KEHC 336 (KLR),2 which declared the deployment of police to Haiti unconstitutional due to the absence of a reciprocal agreement and a misinterpretation of “national forces” under Article 240(8) of the 2010 Constitution and sections 107 to 109 of the National Police Service Act, 2011.3 This judgement underscored the constitutional distinction between the Kenya Defence Forces and the National Police Service, affirming that only the KDF qualifies as “national forces” for international deployments,4 while NPS operations are limited to domestic functions unless under specific reciprocal arrangements. This comprehensive article dissects the escalating Haitian crisis, marked by armed gangs controlling up to 90% of Port-au-Prince, over 5,600 deaths in 2024, mass displacement of hundreds of thousands, blocked aid routes, and acute hunger affecting six million people half the population with projections of further deterioration by mid-2026.5 This article addresses the gripping journey through Haiti\'s chaos, the courtroom drama of Mwita’s unyielding verdict with an exhaustive focus on why the police deployment was fundamentally unconstitutional the government\'s cunning pivots, and the mission\'s bittersweet legacy as of October 2025.6 Introduction: A constitutional clash on the global stage What happens when a nation\'s international humanitarian aspirations collide with its constitutional safeguards? Haiti\'s spiral into anarchy following President Jovenel Moïse\'s 2021 assassination, with gangs dominating 80% of Port-au-Prince, prompted Kenya\'s President William Ruto to commit 1,000 police officers to lead the UN-authorized MSS mission in July 2023.7 Framed as a \"mission for humanity,\" this initiative
