The transitional government appointed Garry Conille as its new prime minister on Tuesday as the Caribbean nation works to restore stability and regain control of violent gangs.
The long-awaited move came as gangs continue to terrorise the capital Port-au-Prince, opening fire in once peaceful neighbourhoods and using heavy machinery to destroy several police stations and prisons.
Councilman Louis Gérald Gilles told The Associated Press that six of the seven voting council members chose Conille earlier Tuesday. He said one council member, Laurent Saint-Cyr, was not in Haiti and therefore did not vote.
Conille is UNICEF’s regional director for Latin America and the Caribbean and previously served as Haiti’s prime minister from October 2011 to May 2012 under then-President Michel Martelly.
According to Conille’s UNICEF page, he was appointed Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean in January 2023. He previously worked for UNICEF in Jamaica and Burundi, although he began his UN career in Haiti in 1999.
The heyday of violence
The security and humanitarian situation in Haiti has deteriorated since the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in 2021 and the earthquake. On March 1 this year, an agreement was signed to send a Kenyan peacekeeping contingent of 1,000 police officers to Haiti to fight crime.
The criminal gangs’ plans to oust the Haitian government led by Prime Minister Ariel Henry were subsequently revealed. On March 11, Henry announced that his government would step down after a presidential transitional council was established.
A peacekeeping contingent led by Kenyan police officers was due to start working in Haiti on May 21. On May 26 the African country’s President William Ruto said the mission’s deployment was delayed by 3 weeks.
Local media reports about the lack of equipment and infrastructure to work and accommodate the members of the contingent. The contingent is expected to consist of 2,500 people from around the world. About 8,000 people have been killed in gang violence in Haiti over the past year, where criminal gangs control most of the capital Port-au-Prince and other parts of the country.
