We have a responsibility to community in Kenya, head of the British Army says
We have a responsibility to the community in and amongst whom we train, Chief of the General Staff General Sir Roly Walker has said during a visit to the British Army Training Unit in Kenya (BATUK).
The head of the British Army also said that the UK Armed Forces are not based in the country by right and that personnel must earn the right to use the base by working with the wider Kenyan community.
His visit comes after a Kenyan departmental committee report published in November last year found that soldiers based at BATUK allegedly committed human rights violations, caused environmental degradation and lacked accountability for their actions.
We're not here as a right, CGS says
"We're not here as a right – we're all really clear that we are here at the invitation of the Kenyan government under their licence to operate, and we work very closely with the MOD and the Kenyan army in order to earn that," Gen Sir Roly said in a video posted on X.
During the visit to Kenya, the British Army boss also met Nairobi's chief of defence, General Charles Kahariri, and the head of the Kenyan army to reaffirm the importance of the strategic partnership that was signed by Kenya's president and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer last year.
He said that he understands Kenyans' concerns about al-Shabaab, a UK government-proscribed terrorist organisation, and the problems it has with its border security.
Report found troops were committing actions of "gross negligence"
The report, written following an inquiry organised by the Department Committee on Defence, Intelligence and Foreign Relations at Kenya's National Assembly, claimed there was a "disturbing trend of sexual misconduct", including allegations of rape, assault and child abandonment by soldiers.
It suggested that troops were committing actions of "gross negligence" through their handling of unexploded ordnances, leading to several civilian injuries and deaths.
"I recognise there are historical cases where we have let people down: where people have been abused; where people have been hurt; and where people have lost their lives, and where the environment has been damaged," CGS went on to say.
"We take those allegations and those events very seriously."
The report also alleged that British personnel were responsible for environmental degradation, such as the illegal dumping of military waste and toxic chemicals.
"We are committed to redress and are doubling down even more with the Kenyan authorities to ensure that anybody who has got a grievance can say what needs to be said to the correct authorities, and we will work with them to redress it," Gen Sir Roly added.
BATUK was founded in 2008; however, the British Army has had a training base in some form in Kenya since 1963.
Agnes Wanjiru case continues
Gen Sir Roly's visit also coincides with an ongoing legal battle over the extradition of a British soldier accused of killing Kenyan woman Agnes Wanjiru.
Robert James Purkiss told a court that he does not consent to his extradition to Kenya to stand trial for her murder.
Purkiss, 38, was arrested in Tidworth on 6 November by specialist officers from the National Crime Agency's National Extradition Unit.
Ms Wanjiru's body was discovered in a septic tank near a British Army base two months after her disappearance in 2012.
Purkiss "vehemently denies" murder, according to his lawyers. Court hearings over his extradition continue.
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