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NAIROBI. – A parliamentary committee in Kenya has launched an inquiry into alleged human rights violations and ethical breaches by a British army training unit that has been active for decades in the country the UK calls “our defence partner of choice in East Africa”.
The British High Commission in Nairobi and the training mission have said they intend to cooperate fully with the inquiry.
“We take all allegations made against UK service personnel seriously, and they are investigated swiftly by the service authorities or the host nation authorities with appropriate support from the armed forces,” a British army spokesperson said.
The British government invests more than 1.1 billion Kenyan shillings (US$9,6 million) every year into the partnership.
But some Kenyans have raised concerns about the way British forces treat local residents and the environment in arid, bandit-plagued areas north of Mt Kenya where they conduct trainings.
An advocacy group and residents went to court in 2021 alleging that a British army training exercise caused a devastating fire at a wildlife conservancy. More than 10,000 acres were destroyed.
That same year, Kenyan police said they were reopening the case of a local woman, Agnes Wanjiru, allegedly killed by a British soldier in 2012 and whose body was found in a septic tank. – AP
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