In summary
-With allegations of rape, assault and murder, the deal between Nairobi and London appears to be seen as a case of counting millions and silencing justice.
-The investigations into the murder of Agnes Wanjiru for example has been moving at a slow pace and at one time had run into a brick wall.
In 2021, Kenya renewed its deal with the British government to have its soldiers train in Laikipia and Samburu counties despite strong opposition. The resistance was due to allegations of assault, rape and murder orchestrated by the British soldiers training in Kenya.
The British Army Training Unit Kenya (BATUK) is the largest contingent of British soldiers in Africa. It is located near the Laikipia Air Base and conducts training together with the Kenya Defense Forces (KDF).
WoK has established that he renewed defense pact sees Kenya receive an annual pay of $400000 from the British government. This is an estimated Ksh 52 million.
The soldiers from British Army Training Unit Kenya (BATUK) are also accused of siring children with Kenyan ladies and failing to take responsibility, a matter that has left children of mixed race in emotional distress. In Archer’s Post, 18 year old Marian Pannalossy, a mixed race girl lives alone in a single room after her mother passed away and her alleged father vanished to the UK never to be seen.
Due to her striking light complexion, she is lives in dejection, every day yearning to see her dad. But it’s the tag of “mzungu maskini” that cuts deeper.
“They call me ‘mzungu maskini,’ or a poor white girl. They always say ‘Why are you here? Just look for connections so that you can go to your own people,” she told CNN.
Pannalossy’s predicament is a day to day account of what children of mixed race go through in towns where British soldiers train.
Agnes Wanjiru murder: accountability at last?
It has taken 13 years of wait to have a flicker of hope that the perpetrators of Agnes Wanjiru’s murder will finally be brought to book.
A British soldier identified as ‘Soldier X’s is set to be extradited and face the charges of the murder of the then 21 year old.
The late was last seen alive on 31st March, 2012 entering Lion’s Court Hotel in Nanyuki alongside a British Soldier from Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment.
Two months later, her body was found in a septic tank near the room where the soldier spent his night. A postmortem examination revealed she has been stabbed in the chest and abdomen and was also subjected to blunt force trauma.
The Kenyan Police started investigations into the matter but this fizzled out, leaving the family of the late crying for justice.
However, in 2021, a leaked WhatsApp chat by soldiers from Duke of Lancaster Regiment appeared to open a can of worms as they made memes about septic tanks, a matter that renewed further investigations.
British Law firm Leigh Day took up the matter, something that saw the UK Ministry of Defense pledge support for the investigations. Kenyans will now be waiting for the extradition of ‘Soldier X’ after the High Court issued an arrest warrant on 16th September, 2025.