#TrinidadandTobago, August 11, 2023 – Prime Minister Dr the Hon Keith Rowley and Mrs Sharon Rowley attended the Distinguished Open Lecture by His Royal Majesty Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, The Asantehene at The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus last evening (Thursday 3rd August, 2023).

The Asantehene is the Guest of Honour in commemoration of this country’s 2023 Emancipation celebrations.

Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives and Member of Parliament for Tunapuna, the Hon. Esmond Forde, Minister of Foreign and CARICOM Affairs, Senator the Hon. Dr. Amery Browne, Minister of Housing and Urban Development, the Hon. Camille Robinson-Regis, Minister of Education, Dr. the Hon. Nyan Gadsby-Dolly, Minister in the Ministry of Education, the Hon. Lisa Morris-Julian, Pro Vice-Chancellor and Principal of The University of the West Indies, St Augustine Campus Professor Rose-Marie Belle Antoine, Dean of the Faculty of Food and Agriculture, Professor Mark Wuddivira and Lecturer Department of History, Dr. Debbie Mc Collin were also in attendance at yesterday’s lecture.

Prime Minister Dr the Hon Keith Rowley and Mrs Sharon Rowley also visited the Desperadoes Pan Theatre at George Street, Port of Spain last evening (Wednesday 2nd August, 2023).

Dr Rowley welcomed His Royal Majesty Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, The Asantehene and his delegation to the pan theatre where His Majesty was treated to various aspects of Trinidad and Tobago’s Carnival which culminated in a performance by the Desperadoes Steel Orchestra and a demonstration on the playing of the national instrument for the Asantehene.

“They now see Africa, not through European eyes, as a dark continent, but as the cradle of human civilisation, citing the discoveries of its great empires. They talk of it glowingly, as the world’s fastest developing economic region in the 21st century, having just overtaken Asia, and of its six of the 10 fastest growing economies in the world and of its minerals, critical and indispensable to the technologies of the 21st century green economies.

Today, recognising the pain of the Middle Passage, and the centuries of colonial brutality, I salute the African community, a people, who through grit and determination, is on the march, striving for further discovery and self-realisation, searching, and transforming themselves for the challenges of the 21st century.

Let us all reflect and educate ourselves as we celebrate African Emancipation Day 2023.”

Dr the Honourable Keith Rowley

Prime Minister of The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago

on the occasion of Emancipation Day 2023

Dana Malcolm 

Staff Writer 

August 11, 2023 – There are several steps to complete, but it’s looking more and more likely that there will be international boots on the ground in Haiti in the very near future.

The revelation came from Barbara A. Feinstein, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Caribbean Affairs and Haiti, in a press briefing on August 04.  It followed a whirlwind of activity prompted by Kenya’s recent announcement that they would consider leading any multinational force deployed to the beleaguered country.

She explained the process to get soldiers into the country.

“The next steps for the Kenyan Government are to perform an assessment on the ground in Haiti, which we expect to take place in the coming weeks; to engage with a wide variety of stakeholders on the ground in Haiti and New York at the United Nations.  Provided the Kenyans are able to secure approval from their own government, they would then work with the United Nations to secure UN authorization of such a force,” said Feinstein in a press conference covered by Caribbean media firms.

Feinstein said the US is prepared to support by introducing a resolution authorizing the force, and they are fairly confident it will pass, with the Deputy describing the Government as ‘optimistic.’

“I would note that in the recent unanimous renewal of the authorization to extend the UN mission on the ground in Haiti, we [also] saw unanimous support for language that did endorse the idea of a multinational force and called for a report to lay out options,” she said.

That report will be tabled by August 15 and will help shape the multinational force.  As for how this multi-national force would operate, once it gets into Haiti, that depends on the findings of the Kenyan assessment.  What is certain is that it won’t be on the front lines.

Instead, it will: “Jumpstart the process of improving security in Haiti by sending thousands of additional personnel to secure critical infrastructure sites and thereby allow the Haitian national police to increase their focus on battling gangs.”

Haitian gangs have repeatedly taken control of important infrastructure relating to oil and electricity especially, forcing police to split their efforts to try and reclaim them while engaging in front-line battles with the gangs.

The US maintains it is committed to having Haiti lead on the response.

The Bahamas and Jamaica are among the countries which have also committed troops for the international mission should it be approved.

#Kingston, August 11, 2023 – Jamaica is prepared to deploy troops to Haiti as part of a multinational response to deteriorating security conditions in the French-speaking island.

Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, gave the commitment while responding to questions during the quarterly press conference at the Office of the Prime Minister on August 3.

Prime Minister Holness said that Jamaica remains devoted to playing its part in restoring peace and stability in Haiti.

He noted that Jamaica was the first country to “step out to say that we would be prepared to offer assistance to Haiti in terms of security and humanitarian assistance”.

We analysed the situation to the point where we thought indirect assistance would not be enough; there would have to be a security force support for the people of Haiti,” he pointed out.

“Clearly, Jamaica could not take the lead on this. We don’t have the resources even though we have the support, the ambition, the will and we stand as always in solidarity with the people of Haiti,” the Prime Minister noted.

Mr. Holness said that Jamaica is using its good offices and is working through the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) to ensure that the stakeholders in Haiti continue to speak to and lobby the international community for support.

The Government of Kenya has offered to send 1,000 police officers to Haiti and lead a multinational force to support the efforts of the police in quelling escalating violence caused by armed gangs.

United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, has welcomed Kenya’s readiness to help and has encouraged other countries, particularly within the Caribbean, to join the effort.

“The question is, are we sending troops to Haiti? Yes, but an important caveat is that we just can’t, on our own, as I have said, get up and send troops.

“We just don’t have the resources but even so, even if we did, you want to have an international imprimatur and our commitment has always been with the appropriate jurisdictional arrangement, meaning a [United Nations] Security Council resolution. It is the same for Kenya and when I spoke with President Kagame, it was the same requirement for him as well,” Prime Minister Holness said.

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister pointed out that the deployment of Jamaican troops to the CARICOM Member State would not negatively impact the security response capability locally.

“We certainly can’t go up to the 1,000 troops that has been suggested in the media for the Kenyans, but we will give what we can.

“Whatever we do cannot impact in a negative way our own security challenges here. But as a sovereign nation we look at all threats to our stability and security and we act preemptively and strategically to ensure that we have capabilities to deal with those threats,” he noted.

Contact: Chris Patterson

Release: JIS