PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti - Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé says government will not cede any portion of Haiti to criminal gangs, as Haiti launched a comprehensive national training programme aimed at strengthening electoral security.
Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-AiméThe programme is also intended to ensure credible elections for various authorities within the judicial system and public forces.
“We will fight money laundering. And we will not let dirty money find its way into the ballot boxes,” Fils-Aimé told the ceremony, adding that a specialized judicial unit for financial crimes will be established to prevent and prosecute money laundering throughout the electoral process.
He paid tribute to the bravery of the police and military personnel deployed to regain full control of neighbourhoods held hostage by armed groups.
“We are moving forward in close consultation with the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP), civil society, and political parties,” he said, adding “you have only one leader, the Haitian people. It is to them alone that you owe loyalty, discipline, and impartiality”.
The last presidential election took pace in 2016 when Jovenel Moise was elected to office, but he was assassinated at his private residence overlooking the capital in July 2021. Since then an interim government has been in office and since April 2024, Haiti has held no national elections.
On February 7 this year, the mandate of the Provisional Transitional Council (CPT) came to an end, and the United States said that it is ready to work with the prime minister and the Council of Ministers to “achieve our common priority, which is stabilising Haiti”
The United Nations Security Council says the rampant gang violence in Haiti has displaced over 1.5 million people and caused thousands of deaths. The UN has transitioned the Kenya-led multinational force into a 5,500-member Gang Suppression Force (GSF) to help national police regain control of the capital and key infrastructure.
Prime Minister Fils-Aimè, who remains confident that the elections will be held this year, also announced an allocation of over three billion gourdes (HTG) (One HTG=US$0.007cents) for financing political parties and coalitions..”
The training programme is being undertaken by the Ministry of Justice and Public Security (MJSP) and is part of the three-pronged mission defined by Prime Minister Fils-Aimé aimed at combating armed gangs and restore security throughout the national territory; revival of the economy and to organize fair, credible, inclusive, and equitable elections this year.
The first phase of this initiative is aimed at government commissioners, justices of the peace, and members of the Armed Forces of Haiti (FAd’H) and the Haitian National Police (PNH).
