Raila meets UK Defense Minister as BATUK faces backlash in Kenya
The Azimio La Umoja Presidential candidate Raila Odinga yesterday met the United Kingdom’s Minister for the Armed Forces James Heappey to discuss enhancing security collaboration between the two countries even as the British Army Training Unit Kenya (BATUK) is facing backlash in Kenya over litany of criminal acts ranging from murder and arson.
Odinga said the UK has been one of Kenya’s most loyal and dependable partners on matters of defense and security, hence the need for more cooperation.
“We had a robust discussion on matters pertaining to security with a view of enhancing our ties moving into the future with their Minister for the Armed Forces, “Odinga tweeted.
This comes as British Army Training Unit Kenya (BATUK) faces a series of crises emerging from disciplinary issues.
Nanyuki-based Environment and Lands court ruled that any soldier with the British army is open for civil and criminal prosecution, throwing out the immunity claim that it had clothed itself with.
The ruling anchored on the Defense Co-operation Agreement (DCA) gives power to communities and local authorities to sue and prosecute the British Army.
This could also be a relief for Agnes Wanjiru’s family, the 21-year-old mother of one who was killed by a British soldier in Nanyuki in 2012, can now sue the soldier after a court declared foreign soldiers have no immunity.
Wanjiru’s death came to light last year when an associate of the soldier claimed the suspect had confessed to the murder.
Wanjiru was killed in 2012 and her body dumped in a septic tank.
After she was seen with the soldier one evening, she went missing and her decomposed body was discovered floating in the tank three months later, bearing stab wounds.
During his tour, Odinga is also expected to hold talks with UK Prime Minister’s trade envoy to Kenya Theo Clarke at Westminster.
Today, Raila will meet with Lord Tarif Ahmad, the UK Minister for South Asia, North Africa, the United Nations and the Commonwealth -Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO)
Fire caused by arsonist attack that destroyed about 12,000 acres of land at the privately owned Lolldaiga conservancy in central Kenya, home to animals such as elephants, buffalos, lions, hyenas, jackals and the endangered Grevy’s zebra was blamed on BATUK military exercises.
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 official cause of the fire has not been made public but the incident is at the centre of an environmental lawsuit brought by a lobby group and almost 1,000 local residents.
A spokesperson for the British High Commission said the army had conducted an internal investigation into the fire but because “this is part of an ongoing court case; it would be inappropriate to comment any further”.
