SILENCE, SECRECY & BETRAYAL: Kenya Accused of Burying Its Sons in Haiti for Ruto’s Global Optic

Kenyans are seething after President William Ruto used his high-profile UN General Assembly speech to casually announce the deaths of three Kenyan officers in Haiti — including Benedict Kabiru — even though his grieving family back home had never been formally told.

“I must use this opportunity to honor the Kenyan officers Samuel Tompei, Benedict Kabiru, and Kennedy Nzumbi who lost their lives in the line of duty,” Ruto declared to global applause in New York.

But in Thamanda village, Kiambu, Kabiru’s relatives were struck with disbelief and heartbreak. For months, they had been begging police bosses, the Attorney General, and even petitioning the courts for answers after he vanished in the chaotic Haiti mission. All they got was silence and evasions.

Now, the family says they’ve been insulted twice — first by the state’s silence, and then by the cold revelation on an international stage.

His mother, Jacinta Wanjiku, broke down:
“Why must I find out about my son’s death on social media? Why was the President telling foreigners before telling me? Since May we have knocked on every door — in vain. This is not just cruel; it is betrayal.”

The Haiti deployment itself is already mired in controversy — with critics branding it “a reckless foreign gamble” that has turned Kenyan officers into cannon fodder in a war that isn’t theirs. Now, the revelation that officers are dying abroad while their families remain uninformed has only stoked public fury.

Analysts warn that the government risks turning the Haiti mission into a political and diplomatic scandal, as families accuse the state of “burying Kenyan sons abroad” without dignity, transparency, or accountability.

For many, this is not just about Kabiru — it’s about a government that values global optics over its own people.