Haiti waits for Kenyan police mission to fight gangs amid fears they won't come

A transitional presidential council in Haiti on Wednesday moved one step closer to instating a new prime minister to help stabilize the gang-ridden nation as they wait for Kenyan police forces to arrive.

A months-long plan to send 1,000 police officers to Haiti was stalled in mid-March after Nairobi hit pause on the move following Haitian Prime Minster Ariel Henry's abrupt resignation in an apparent attempt to end the immense gang violence that had swept the nation.

Kenyan President William Ruto, who faced stiff backlash after he agreed to send forces to Port-au-Prince in a show of "strong commitment to Pan-Africanism," said the plan would only resume after a new government was reinstated in Haiti.

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Many in Haiti are now concerned that additional forces may not be coming to help rein in the gangs.

"The Haitian police have the capacity to do it," one Haitian man told Fox News Digital from Port-au-Prince. "The only thing is they have to be more organized, they need more equipment. They need the human resources."

The man also argued that a strong military force is what is needed to suppress the extreme gang violence directed at not only government agencies but civilian Haitians living in the capital.

"If they would send 1,000 military guys, I think that would be better because we don’t need police. We need guys that are military," he said. "Here we’re in a war zone."

The transitional presidential council on Wednesday released its first statement pledging to restore "public and democratic order," though it was signed by only eight members of what was originally supposed to be a nine-member council.

"We are determined to alleviate the