High cost of deployment: Deaths, delays and legal battles mar Haiti mission

Distraught Jecinta Wanjiku Kabiru supported by relatives following the disappearance of her son Benedict Kabiru serving in Haiti. [George Njunge/Standard]

A fresh Kenyan police contingent of 230 officers departed Nairobi on Monday for Haiti and barely 24 hours later, the same aircraft returned home with a matching number of officers, some limping off the plane on crutches, worn down by the brutal realities of a mission thousands of kilometres away.

The arrival offered somewhat a deep reflection of a deployment that has been dogged from the start to end by legal battles, logistical shortages, and unpredictable funding. As the Kenya-led Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS) winds down its mandate, having officially elapsed in October, hard questions are emerging about whether the operation has been a success or a costly miscalculation.