MSS COMMANDER IN HAITI ISSUES UPDATE ON MISSING KENYAN OFFICER

Multinational Security Support (MSS) Force Commander Godfrey Otunge has issued an update on a Kenyan police officer who disappeared during operations in Haiti earlier this year. The officer, Benedict Kabiru, vanished on 25 March 2025 after an ambush in Pont-Sondé while assisting Haitian police and remains missing.
“The last one is the person who is missing in action, one officer who is still missing in action. We have put all the mechanisms in place to ensure that we get our officer back,” Otunge told journalists in Port-au-Prince.
The search for Kabiru continues even as the mission celebrates major gains against gangs that once paralysed Haiti’s capital. Godfrey Otunge disclosed that two other Kenyan officers have died in the line of duty.
One was killed in combat at Antibonnet and has been awarded a posthumous medal.
Another died in a road accident near Kenscoff, and preparations are underway to repatriate his body for burial in Kenya. “We lost one officer, Kaitwai, who was the first that we lost when they were fighting and exchanging in Antibonnet,” he said.
“The second one we lost was just one and a half weeks ago in an accident … he remains our hero because he died on the line of duty,” Godfrey Otunge added.
Otunge hailed both men as heroes whose sacrifices clearly show Kenya’s long tradition of international peacekeeping.
Despite the dangers, the commander emphasised that respect for human rights remains a key focus of the MSS mission, which draws forces from Kenya, the Bahamas, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Jamaica.
“In July 2025, the mission celebrated one year of zero tolerance for human rights violations, sexual exploitation and abuse. This is a great milestone that the MSS is proud of as it continues to adhere to internationally accepted practices,” Otunge noted.