Journalists in Haiti grabbed a moment for a chat with Kenyan police guarding the US Embassy in Port-au-Prince.

Kenya deployed the troops to help alleviate escalating gang violence that has gripped the Caribbean country since the assassination of former President Jovenel Moïse in 2023.

President William Ruto on June 24 flagged off the first batch of 400 police officers as part of the 1,000 officers Kenya pledged to deploy to the country.

The officers have been deployed to guard key installations including embassies.

“What is nakupenda in English?” a journalist asked one of the soldiers guarding the US Embassy.

“I love you,” he responded as other journalists enquired whether he speaks English to which he answered in the affirmative.

“How do you feel when in Haiti?” they asked, to which he said, “Not bad, this country not bad. It is comfortable here.”

The scribes pressed him further seeking his opinion on the entire mission to which he said he had no comment.

 Whilst struggling to construct sentences in English, they sought to know from the officer whether the police would guard the ordinary Haitians besides the embassies.

“I can’t understand,” the officer said as a journalist struggled to get his point across.

When he finally did, the officer said, “Yeah, we are ready, we are ready,” he said.

“And you are ready to fight? He was asked.

“We are here to bring peace not to fight,” the officer said.

The journalist kept pressing and shooting more questions and one asked, seemingly in jest, “Do you like Asian girls,” to which the officer responded sternly that he was in Haiti purely to keep peace.

“I’m not here for girls my friend, thank you. You are losing your track man,” the officer said prompting an apology from the journalist.

Kenya is part of the Multinational Security Support Mission in Haiti alongside other countries such as Chile, Jamaica, Grenada, Paraguay, Burundi, Chad, Nigeria, and Mauritius who will also send officers.

This mission was authorised by the United Nations Security Council on October 2, 2023, under Resolution 2699.