Photo : Patrick Meinhardt, AFP
NIAS Area Studies
AFRICA MONITOR
Photo : Patrick Meinhardt, AFP
IN BRIEF
By Anu Maria Joseph and Narmatha S
Kenya: Parliament approves police deployment in Haiti
On 17 November, the Kenyan parliament approved the plan to deploy 1,000 police officers to Haiti to quell the gang violence. In September, the deployment plan was approved by the UN Security Council. However, Thirdway Alliance, an opposition party, legally challenged the plan citing it as unconstitutional and that only the military could be deployed outside the country. In October, Kenya’s High Court extended the blocking order on the deployment, reiterating that the deployment could not take place until the ruling in January. Members of the parliament who supported the plan stated that the country is part of the global community and could not ignore requests from other countries. They also asserted Kenya’s history of peacekeeping missions in Somalia, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sierra Leone. (“Kenya's parliament backs Haiti mission despite court case,” BBC, 17 November 2023)
Sudan: Two rebel groups to fight alongside SAF in the ongoing Civil War.
On 17 November, Rebel leader Gibril Ibrahim the leader of JEM told the BBC that they would fight with the Sudan Armed Forces(SAF) against the paramilitary force of Rapid Support Force (RSF). This decision came after RSF started to gain many areas of Darfur and SAF’s military base. He added that he couldn’t bear seeing his people buried alive. The Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and the Sudanese Liberation Movement ( SLM) together fought in previous civil wars and the first genocide in 2003 in Darfur. Now both rebel groups join SAF after seven months of consideration. (“Sudan civil war: Darfur's Jem rebels join army fight against RSF,” BBC, 17 November 2023)