NAIROBI – King Charles III and Queen Camilla will undertake a State Visit to Kenya from Tuesday October 31 to Friday November 3, 2023, the UK government has announced.
Through a statement published on Wednesday, the UK government said the visit seeks to “celebrate the warm relationship between the two countries and the strong and dynamic partnership they continue to forge”.
“The visit is at the invitation of President [William] Ruto and comes as Kenya prepares to celebrate 60 years of independence. His Majesty’s first visit to a Commonwealth nation as King is therefore to the country in which Queen Elizabeth II’s reign began, having acceded to the throne in Kenya in February 1952,” the statement added.
The King and Queen will visit Nairobi and Mombasa counties, and the surrounding areas.
“During the visit, Their Majesties will meet President Ruto and the First Lady [Rachel Ruto] as well as and other members of the Kenyan Government, UN staff, CEOs, faith leaders, young people, future leaders and Kenyan Marines training with UK Royal Marines.
“The King will also attend an event to celebrate the life and work of the Nobel Laureate the late Professor Wangari Maathai, together with Wangari’s daughter, Wanjira Mathai,” the statement added.
And while The King and Queen’s programme will “”celebrate the close links between the British and Kenyan people in areas such as the creative arts, technology, enterprise, education and innovation”, it also comes at a time when the military training cooperation is under scrutiny.
Past criminal cases of some British soldiers, including murder and fires, remain unresolved, as the families of victims wait for justice to be served.
Such is the case of Agnes Wanjiru, the woman allegedly murdered by a British soldier in March 2012. More than a decade later, justice is yet to be served.
The British soldier confessed to a fellow squad member to killing the 21-year-old woman and dumping her body in a septic tank at Lions Court hotel. The body was retrieved two months after she went missing and by that time, the troops had left Kenya.
Frustrated by the slow wheels of justice, the family of Wanjiru has petitioned the High Court accusing the government of delay in prosecution of the suspects behind her murder.
In an application filed under a certificate of urgency at the Milimani High Court by Wanjiru’s elder sister Rose Wanyua and a local civil society group – African Center for Corrective and Preventive Action, they have sought orders compelling Attorney General Justin Muturi, CS interior Kithure Kindiki, CS Foreign Affairs Alfred Mutua [now replaced by Musalia Mudavadi], CS Defense Aden Duale, DPP Renson Ingonga and DCI boss Amin Mohamed to produce in court a report on the status of investigations, extraditions and compensation of the family.
According to the petitioners, the murder case has taken 12 years to investigate and all they have been getting from the named government officials are promises with no action.
UK law firm Leigh Day Legal that won hundreds of Iraq victims of British Army Abuse cases in November 2021 has also on behalf of the family sued the British Ministry of Defence at the Royal Court of Justice, seeking justice.
In August 2023, the National Assembly launched an inquiry into allegations of abuse by the British army, which MPs say could have implications for the future role of UK troops in the country.
Foreign and Defence Affairs parliamentary committee was in August expected to make a call for the public to submit petitions of any alleged crimes or wrongdoings by the army, and investigations were due to start in October.
The committee was also to ask Batuk to respond to the claims and submit a report of its findings to Parliament by the end of the year.
“This will have serious consequences for the defence cooperation agreement, because if we realise that there’s been a lot of activity that spits in the face of [the treaty], it gives us room to re-look at the agreement,” Belgut MP and committee chairman Nelson Koech said, adding that it would even lead to an exit.
British soldiers were also accused of causing a fire in Laikipia that took four days to contain, resulting in catastrophic environmental damage to the area as well as health effects on residents, wildlife and domestic animals as well as livelihoods.
The Ministry of Defence acknowledge the incident, saying: “We can confirm that there has been a fire during a UK-led exercise in Kenya and that investigations are ongoing”.
One British soldier allegedly wrote in a Snapchat post: “Two months in Kenya later and we’ve only got eight days left. Been good, caused a fire, killed an elephant and feel terrible about it but hey-ho, when in Rome.”
The fire reportedly destroyed about 12,000 acres at the privately owned Lolldaiga conservancy.
At least 1,000 locals and a local lobby group have moved to court over the matter.
While the British government says the state visit will acknowledge the painful aspects of the UK and Kenya’s shared history, including the Emergency (1952-1960), the more recent cases are yet to be solved.
Still some sections of freedom fighters, among them the Mau Mau War veterans in Embu, are still demanding for their compensation.
They have urged the government to fast track compensation of Sh21 trillion by the British government over atrocities meted on them during the freedom struggle.
Through their caucus, Mau Mau Original Trust, they argue the British government in 2015 released the funds through the World Bank, but past governments failed to start transferring the money to the country for onward disbursement to the beneficiaries.
“The British government has on three different occasions attempted to compensate the Mau Mau veterans, but their efforts have been frustrated by the former regimes that took a disinterested stand,” their coordinator Elias Mwaniki said.
The Queen is also expected to meet survivors of sexual and gender-based violence, while Wanjiru’s murder case remains unresolved.
