An investigation is underway by military police into the incident, which is part of ongoing scrutiny regarding the conduct of UK personnel in the region.
British Soldier Under Investigation for Alleged Rape in Kenya
British Soldier Under Investigation for Alleged Rape in Kenya
A UK soldier has been arrested in Kenya following serious allegations of rape near a British army training base.
A British soldier has been taken into custody in Kenya amid allegations of raping a local woman last month close to the British Army Training Unit Kenya (Batuk), situated about 200 kilometers north of Nairobi. The arrest followed a night out at a bar involving a group of soldiers visiting Nanyuki. UK military police, from the Defence Serious Crime Unit, are now investigating the circumstances surrounding this serious accusation against the service member.
The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) confirmed that a member of the armed forces had been apprehended and emphasized that "unacceptable and criminal behaviour has absolutely no place in our Armed Forces." They reiterated the commitment to investigating such serious crimes independently from the soldiers’ chain of command.
This recent incident comes on the heels of prior allegations concerning British soldiers stationed in Kenya. Notably, in 2012, British Army personnel were implicated in the murder of Agnes Wanjiru, a 21-year-old local woman. Her body was discovered in a septic tank after she had reportedly spent time with soldiers. The MoD has pledged to cooperate with ongoing Kenyan investigations into that case as well.
Established in 1964, the Batuk base serves as a training ground for British troops, with provisions for multiple deployments each year under an agreement with the Kenyan government. However, the base has been marred by several allegations regarding the behaviour of its personnel towards the local community. A public inquiry conducted by Kenyan lawmakers last year unveiled troubling accounts of local mistreatment, including instances of hit-and-run accidents and claims that soldiers have fathered children with local women, only to return to the UK and abandon them.
As the investigations progress, concerns continue to surface regarding the ongoing presence of British military forces in Kenya and the reputation they uphold among the communities they interact with.
