Kenya to charge British soldiers for crimes committed in the country - CS Duale

Defence Cabinet Secretary (CS) Aden Duale now says Kenya has obtained the legal mandate to charge and prosecute any British Army officers stationed within its borders for committing criminal acts.

Speaking on Citizen TV’s JKLive Show on Wednesday, Duale highlighted that Parliament approved and ratified the notion giving Kenya the jurisdiction to prosecute visiting British troops for offences under Kenyan law.

Duale’s statement was prompted by a question from show host Jeff Koinange who pointed out the unresolved case of Agnes Wanjiru, who was reportedly murdered by a British Army Training Unit Kenya (BATUK) officer in Nanyuki over a decade ago.

Wanjiru’s body was discovered in a septic tank at a hotel situated on the outskirts of Nanyuki town, but the main suspect in the gruesome murder remains unaccountable for the crime.

“Every defence cooperation agreement we will sign with any of our partners, be it the British Army or the British Defence Ministry will have that clause inserted. Parliament has approved that all criminal jurisdiction and criminal acts committed on our soil will be dealt with by the host country,” he said.

In regards to crimes committed prior to the resolution, Duale noted that the National Assembly Committee on Defence and Foreign Relations is currently in the process of tabling a report on the same, after which the House will then engage the British Defence Ministry as per recommendations made.

“The Departmental Committee on Defence and Foreign Relations is doing public participation and once they do that report and they bring it to Parliament, the House will make a resolution. The Ministry of Defence will then have the opportunity to engage the British government through the Foreign Affairs and UK Defence ministries,” he said.

Duale further justified the presence of BATUK officers noting that they are in the country legally and that the relationship is symbiotic because Kenyan military personnel get to train and learn modern warfare techniques under the British soldiers.

“BATUK are in Kenya legally. Our Constitution 2010 provides that such kinds of arrangements must be passed by Parliament. There are a lot of benefits we accrue from them, from training to joint operations. They are here because it is part of their training to train in an environment like Kenya,” he said.

“They play a very big role in the local community in Nanyuki and it is not only in Kenya. If you go to Djibouti, there are over a million foreign soldiers in various bases. We learn a lot in terms of tech transfer, their weapons, medievac and military technology; we learn from them and they learn from us.”