A Kenyan parliamentary report has accused British troops coaching within the nation of widespread killings, sexual abuse and human rights and environmental abuses, following years of gathered complaints from native communities.
The report, printed on Wednesday, discovered that critical misconduct by British troopers induced them to be considered as one thing of an “occupying power” by native individuals.
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For the previous 60 years, British troopers within the British Army Training Unit in Kenya (BATUK) have routinely skilled within the East African nation, favoured for its temperate climate and practical fight situations. However, they’ve attracted rising numbers of accusations of gross violations, starting from killings to neglectful disposal of navy grade chemical substances. The most infamous case was the homicide of a 21-year-old Kenyan lady, Agnes Wanjiru, which gained worldwide media consideration.
Community activists who’ve for years sought redress in Kenyan courts informed Al Jazeera the report’s publication represented an “huge victory” not only for Kenya, however for different African international locations which host international navy bases on their territory, however are cautious of regulating them.
“The Kenyan parliament has demonstrated that the British Army just isn’t above the regulation,” stated James Mwangi, founding father of the grassroots advocacy group, Africa Centre for Corrective and Preventive Action (ACCPA), which has been on the forefront of bringing neighborhood grievances to Kenyan courts, and which suggested lawmakers throughout their investigation.
“The impunity that has been perpetrated by these forces has been appalling. The world has seen that African parliaments can take measures to fight injustices by these forces, and Kenya has change into the primary nation in Africa to do such a factor,” he added.
Here’s what we all know in regards to the report, essentially the most critical allegations towards the British troops, and what is going to occur subsequent:
What is BATUK?
BATUK (British Army Training Unit in Kenya) is a everlasting coaching power based mostly in Nanyuki, central Kenya. It has been stationed there since Kenyan independence from the UK in 1963 and has about 100 everlasting workers and a few 280 rotating short-term troops from the United Kingdom.
The unit trains British troops and supplies anti-terrorism coaching for Kenyan troops combating the al-Shabab armed group, as agreed within the UK-Kenya Defence Cooperation Agreement, which, since 2015, permits each armies to share intelligence and coaching.
In 2022, the UK authorities reported that BATUK had contributed greater than 5.8 billion Kenyan shillings ($45m) to the native economies wherein its garrisons are based mostly, and that it employed greater than 550 native workers. Local companies near BATUK coaching websites additionally profit from the unit’s presence, it stated.
However, there have been quite a few complaints from native individuals in regards to the conduct of the troops. They say mishandling of harmful coaching materials and unexploded bombs left within the floor have induced critical accidents, and so they have complained about how British troopers behave in direction of Kenyan ladies within the space.
Many Kenyan ladies say they’ve been left to care for youngsters alone after British troopers they started relationships with left the nation on the finish of their coaching.
There has been no mechanism throughout the UK or Kenyan justice techniques to carry British troopers below BATUK to account. On that foundation, the UK authorities initially pushed again towards Kenyan authorities’ makes an attempt to analyze the troops’ behaviour.
In April 2024, subsequently, the Kenyan parliament voted to amend the defence settlement with the UK to permit for native prosecutions of British troopers.
What does the brand new report say?
The 94-page inquiry into the conduct of BATUK troops was launched following a one-and-a-half-year investigation by the Kenyan parliament’s defence, intelligence and international relations committee.
The report examined complaints from residents in Laikipia and Samburu counties in central Kenya, near the place the BATUK camp is. Lawmakers started conducting public hearings to listen to proof in June 2024, with victims detailing harrowing accounts of mistreatment by BATUK troopers. BATUK didn’t cooperate with the parliamentary investigation, the committee famous.
The report discovered that BATUK troopers confirmed a “disturbing pattern” of sexual misconduct, together with rape, assault and the neglect of youngsters fathered by the troops.
It discovered that an inside inquiry by BATUK in 2003 had mishandled proof and failed to supply justice for ladies who introduced complaints.
BATUK, which the report stated doesn’t conduct environmental affect assessments for its discipline workouts, has additionally induced critical environmental harm. In no less than one case, a serious hearth killed livestock and destroyed 4,900 hectares (12,000 acres) of vegetation. BATUK additionally illegally dumped navy waste and poisonous supplies brazenly, breaking Kenyan environmental regulation, the report concluded.
Additionally, the Kenyan parliament stated British troops confirmed “gross negligence” in the way in which they dealt with unexploded ordnance throughout their coaching and that their neglect had led to a number of deaths and accidents.
Communities have been routinely not knowledgeable about loud coaching drills, resulting in shock, damage or trauma in some circumstances.
Kenyan staff employed to scrub up ammunition particles weren’t supplied with protecting gear in step with Kenyan labour legal guidelines, the report added.
Complainants who introduced claims of accidents to BATUK weren’t pretty compensated, the report discovered.
What different abuses is BATUK accused of?
Thousands of great allegations towards BATUK members have been made by locals. At the general public hearings which parliament performed, the mom of a younger lady testified in June 2024 that her daughter had been the sufferer of a hit-and-run incident involving a BATUK truck, which left her wheelchair-bound. BATUK paid for the daughter’s hospital payments for 2 years, however didn’t compensate the household past that, she stated.
Another mom, who attended a listening to holding her five-year-old daughter, narrated how she had been deserted by a British soldier with whom she had been in a consensual relationship when he found she was pregnant. The soldier is believed to have since left Kenya. The lady stated she wanted baby assist.
Survivors of an enormous March 2021 wildfire, which began on the privately-owned Lolldaiga Conservancy nature reserve in Laikipia, the place BATUK carries out trainings, additionally introduced complaints. The nature reserve homes wildlife like elephants, buffalo, lions, and the endangered Grevy zebra.
The blaze, which raged for 4 days, is believed to have began after BATUK used white phosphorus, a deadly chemical, throughout a coaching train. The ensuing hearth ripped by means of the character reserve’s grounds, burning 4,900 hectares (12,000 acres). It killed livestock and pushed fleeing wild animals to swaths of farm land additional afield. Community members stated the smoke was so heavy that it lingered for days and induced eye and respiratory issues.
One man named Linus Murangiri was crushed by a transferring car as he rushed to assist put out the fireplace, the BBC reported.
In 2022, the UK’s Ministry of Defence claimed that the fireplace was probably brought on by a camp range that had been knocked over throughout an train.
In August 2025, the UK agreed to pay what it known as a “beneficiant” settlement to the 7,723 claimants who sued BATUK over the incident with the assistance of organisations like ACCPA. The BBC reported that compensation amounted to only 2.9 million kilos ($3.9m).
The British authorities has additionally supported the restoration of burned areas on the conservancy the place BATUK workouts proceed to be held.
What occurred to Agnes Wanjiru?
Agnes Wanjiru’s killing in March 2012, allegedly by a British soldier, was essentially the most high-profile BATUK case.
Wanjiru, the mom of a five-month-old woman, disappeared on the night time of March 31, after final being seen with British troopers on the Lion Court Hotel bar in Nanyuki. Her bare physique was discovered two months later in a septic tank on the resort grounds, near the room the place the BATUK troopers had been staying. The group of troopers had left Kenya by the point her physique was found.
A autopsy decided Wanjiru had been stabbed within the chest and stomach, had a collapsed lung, and had suffered from blunt power damage to her chest. She had been crushed and was probably nonetheless alive when she was positioned within the tank, it stated. It was not clear whether or not she had been sexually assaulted.
In June 2012, the Kenyan police requested that 9 troopers be questioned by the British Royal Military Police, however say they didn’t obtain a response. Wanjiru’s household tried to sue BATUK in Kenya, however the UK authorities argued the Kenyan court docket had no jurisdiction over UK troops.
Wanjiru’s homicide case resurfaced in October 2021 after a Sunday Times investigation revealed {that a} British soldier had murdered her, and that BATUK bosses knew in regards to the involvement of the soldier in her killing, however tried to cowl it up.
One soldier who went to prime officers after listening to a colleague, recognized on the time as Soldier X, confess to the killings was informed to “shut up”. The soldier stated Soldier X took him to the septic tank and confirmed him Wanjiru’s physique. Soldier X, who was not among the many 9 troopers the Kenyan police initially recognized, additionally poked enjoyable on the murdered lady in Facebook posts, the Times reported.
The revelation introduced renewed consideration to the case and, this time, UK authorities officers agreed to cooperate with a brand new investigation.
In September 2025, a Kenyan court docket ordered the arrest and extradition of a British nationwide, and in November, the UK authorities arrested a 38-year-old suspect, Robert Purkiss. The case might mark the primary time a former or present British soldier might be extradited to face trial out of the country, in line with the UK’s Guardian newspaper.
Purkiss served as a medic within the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment, an Infantry Regiment based mostly within the northwest of England, and was in Kenya for a six-week coaching train on the time of Wanjiru’s loss of life.
He appeared in a Westminster court docket on November 7, the place a prosecutor alleged that Purkiss and others had frequently paid native ladies for intercourse and that that they had been “ingesting closely” the night time of Wanjiru’s homicide, The Guardian reported.
Friends of Wanjiru, a hairdresser, reported that she had informed them she was going out to “hustle” (earn extra cash) for her daughter, prosecutors informed the UK court docket.
The court docket additionally heard that Purkiss confessed to a colleague that he murdered Wanjiru over “intercourse that went fallacious”.
Purkiss denied the allegations. His subsequent listening to is ready for December 9.
How has the UK authorities responded to the report?
The British High Commission in Kenya responded in a press release on Wednesday, claiming that BATUK had not been sufficiently represented throughout the parliamentary hearings.
The fee stated it had submitted written statements which weren’t considered within the report, and added that it was prepared to analyze new allegations towards BATUK “as soon as proof is offered”.
“While we deeply remorse the challenges which have arisen in relation to our defence presence in Kenya, we’re disenchanted our submission to the Committee was not integrated into the report’s conclusions,” the assertion stated.
What will occur subsequent?
The parliamentary report beneficial that Kenya’s Attorney General ought to instantly work with the UK authorities to extradite Purkiss to Kenya for the continued trial of Wanjiru’s homicide. It additionally ordered inquiries into different deaths of native individuals suspected to have concerned BATUK troopers.
Negotiations ought to start with the UK inside three months to carry ex-BATUK troopers who’ve uncared for their kids to account, the report stated, and compensation and psychosocial assist ought to be offered to victims of sexual offences dedicated by BATUK troopers.
More broadly, the parliamentary report additionally beneficial that authorities companies ought to have extra direct oversight over international troops stationed within the nation by growing a code of conduct highlighting zero tolerance of gender-based violence and environmental degradation.
Kenya equally hosts two US navy bases with fluctuating numbers of personnel. The nation usually hosts US-Africa navy drills together with a number of different African international locations.
Mwangi of ACCPA informed Al Jazeera that the parliament’s transfer was a step ahead for communities which must take care of international militaries in Kenya and elsewhere. Injustices dedicated by BATUK in direction of native communities, he stated, dated again to Kenya’s colonial historical past with the UK, however officers have traditionally been cautious of interrogating troopers attributable to fears that growth help from the UK authorities might be affected.
Kenya is a prime recipient of British help, which principally helps healthcare and humanitarian efforts. The nation was additionally allotted a 24.6-million-pound ($33m) growth price range in 2023.
