Ariel Henry sworn-in as new Haiti PM

Ariel Henry has been sworn in as Haiti’s new Prime Minister, approximately 2 weeks after the assassination of the nation’s President Jovenel Moise.

Wednesday, 21st July 2021

Haiti: Ariel Henry has been sworn in as Haiti’s new Prime Minister, approximately 2 weeks after the assassination of the nation’s President Jovenel Moise. The late president invited Henry to take the job, days before he was gunned down in the capital, Port-au-Prince, at his own house. But Henry was in a political tussle among Claude Joseph, Haiti’s interim PM at the time of the attack. Joseph stepped down on Monday and noted Henry’s appointment would pave the way for elections in 2021 September. Addressing at a ceremony in Port-au-Prince, the new PM of Haiti called for unity, on Wednesday. “One of my preference tasks will be to reassure the people that we will do everything to rebuild order and security,” added PM Henry. Joseph, who has returned to his earlier role as foreign minister (FM), met him at the ceremony & warned of a tough task ahead. The inauguration practised place as an official memorial began for Moise, who was killed at his private residence on July 7. His wife, Marine, was too shot, and she came back to Haiti last week after receiving medical treatment in the United States. Moise, 53, had ruled by decree in Haiti for 2018. Before his death, the nation was already mired in political & security disasters, with no working parliament, frequent anti-government demonstrations, and a surge in gang violence. Many of the features of the president’s assassination attack remain a mystery. Haitian police have blamed a group of essentially foreign mercenaries — 26 Colombians and two Haitian Americans. At least twenty have been detained, while 3 were killed by police and 5 are still on the run. Christian Emmanuel Sano, a Florida-based Haitian doctor, has been accused by police of directing the plot. “All the culprits, perpetrators and supporters must also be identified brought before Haitian justice,” stated Henry. “I hope that exemplary & dissuasive sentences will be pronounced. The nation requires no less from its leaders,” he noted. “Never again will we have to relive such a tragedy.”