The establishment of the British Army Training Unit Kenya (BATUK) in Nanyuki back in the year 1964 was meant to boost cooperation between the defence of Britain and Kenya. The two countries share a rich history across socio-economic and political heritage. While the establishment of the BATUK camp in Nanyuki, Kenya, has reaped benefits, it has also affected the relationship between the residents and soldiers because of the atrocities the soldiers have committed over a prolonged period of time. BATUK soldiers are accused of primary sexual offences and degradation of the environment. Two of the most high-profile offences being the murder of Agnes Wanjiru, and a young mother of 21, and causing a fire that destroyed almost a quarter of the conservancy
The fire, which has been blamed on the military exercise, 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 Gravy’s zebra.
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 intrigues and events that led to the murder of Agnes Wanjiku Wanjiru by a British soldier leave a ray of hopelessness and a thin fraction of belief in justice, as we pray in our national anthem ‘Justice be our shield and defender’. These deep words fall on deaf ears as long as justice for Agnes is still in question.
The sequence of events 12 years after her murder only shows a deep and long-connected intention by the governments of Britain and Kenya to deny justice to the family of Agnes.
Delayed Justice
It all started on the night of March 31st 2012, a local hotel in Nanyuki was buzzing. Soldiers from Britain’s Duke of Lancaster’s regiment were out in the town, and so was 21-year-old Agnes Wanjiru. She was last seen in the company of a soldier from that regiment. 2 months later, her body was discovered inside a septic tank on the hotel premises. This soldier, who is known, has never stood trial for her murder.
Despite calls and cries of justice, her family is still buried in the pain of losing a loved one in a manner so cruel and malicious, the British soldier who committed this golly crime has never faced justice, all the family and general public have been made to believe is that due process will be followed by the same government agencies and actors that worked tirelessly to cover up the murder of a young Kenyan mother.
Following the public inquest proceedings into the death of Agnes, whose body was found in a septic tank at the Lions Court Hotel in Nanyuki, two months after she disappeared in March 2012, the presiding Principal Magistrate Njeri Thuku, found on November 5, 2019, that indeed there was an offence committed. Wanjiru is alleged to have been killed by a British soldier.
Agnes herself was a member of a local sex workers’ organization, Laikipia Peer Educators.
The inquiry file was thereafter forwarded to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations to tighten the case in order to nail the suspect behind the murder most foul.
Immediately after receiving the file, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations established contact with the U.K government regarding the case. The Director, DCI also requested for joint investigations into the killing, noting that the British officers were back in the U.K.
So far, the Officer Commanding Major Inquiry Team and Major Incident Room, Special Investigations Branch Regiment, Royal Military Police of the United Kingdom have been collaborating with DCI’s Homicide experts, regarding investigations into the case.
Hitherto detectives from DCI Homicide division have yet to travel to the U.K. to gather all the necessary information and evidence as by law.
While Kenyans and the world awaits the conclusion of investigations to commence the trial of the already confessed murderer time continues to run out as witnesses either pass away or are incapacitated. 12 years later we continue to ride in a quagmire of delusions and conclusions, optimistic that justice and the truth shall prevail, that our friendship with the UK can only be strengthened when we are open and honest with one another and this includes bringing offenders to the book without masking it with immunity.
The cry for justice over the gruesome murder of Agnes has been echoed far and wide and from diverse quarters with only one plea, justice.
Kenyan lawmakers have also been at the forefront of demanding justice by questioning the efforts the respective ministers and government agencies are making in order to get justice for a young mother who lost her life.
The then Saku MP Rasso Dido accused the government of pursuing bilateral relations at the expense of the lives of Kenyans.
“Our greatest worry is a cover-up and continued attempt by commanders to whisk away culprits who should face justice. The issue of Agnes as a whole appears unique. I think what we shouldn’t do is to try to weigh the advantages of relationship Vis a Vis the lives of the people,” said the Saku lawmaker.
A BATUK Soldier Killed Agnes Wanjiru
Efforts by the Family of Agnes together with local NGO ACCPA have moved to court under a certificate of urgency seeking AG, CS Interior, CS Foreign Affairs, CS Defense, DPP and DCI to inform the Court of the status of investigations, extraditions and compensation of the family. This murder case has taken 12 years to investigate. A prominent UK Law firm Leighday Legal won hundreds of Iraq victims of British Army abuse cases and has also on behalf of the family sued MoD United Kingdom at the Royal Court of Justice seeking justice for the family.
In November 2021 UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace committed to facilitate the extradition of British soldiers to face the law in Kenya over the murder of Agnes Wanjiru in 2012 but three years down the line no soldier has been extradited to face trial over the murder. This begs the question of who is fooling who in this case.
Since 2023 Kenya’s Parliament has been procrastinating to debate a motion to ratify a report on Kenya-UK Defence pact. The recommendations were that murder be listed as a crime under the jurisdiction of the Host country. This means visiting troops that commit the offence will be prosecuted under Kenyan law. This recommendation was informed by the Ms. Agnes Wanjiru incident but the recommendations are yet to see the table of the house.
It is crystal clear that the death of Agnes was not by mistake; it was a well-calculated crime which should not go unpunished.
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