A British soldier based at the army’s barracks in Kenya has been accused of raping a woman, close to where a local mother was murdered, also allegedly by a soldier on secondment to the country.
The alleged rape occurred last month after a group of soldiers visited a bar in Nanyuki near British Army Training Unit Kenya (Batuk), which is north of Nairobi.
The British Army has an agreement with Kenya to allow up to six infantry battalions per year — around 6,000 personnel — to conduct eight-week exercises in the African nation’s remote countryside.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) confirmed that one arrest had been made in relation to an ongoing criminal investigation centring around the Nanyuki army base. The alleged victim is being supported by specialist officers.
The Defence Serious Crime Unit (DSCU), the UK’s global service police force, has questioned the serving soldier and other witnesses in relation to the alleged attack, which took place last month.
An MoD spokeswoman said: “We can confirm the arrest of a service person in Kenya. As the matter is the subject of an ongoing investigation by the Defence Serious Crime Command, we will not comment further.”
The spokeswoman added that “all soldiers who visit or train at Batuk have clear direction about how to behave, on and off duty”, adding: “We will have zero tolerance for unacceptable behaviour.”
Last year, the army began an inquiry into the behaviour of British troops posted to its military base in Nanyuki, after multiple allegations of serious abuses committed by soldiers, including rape of local women and the murder of the local mother, Agnes Wanjiru, 21. The results of the inquiry have not yet been published.
A long-running investigation by The Sunday Times revealed how Wanjiru was killed in March 2012 allegedly by a British soldier serving with the Duke of Lancaster regiment on secondment to the Kenyan base.
Military police have questioned the bar owner and a number of security guards who were on the duty on the night of the alleged rape.
The owner of the bar, who has been interviewed by military police, said: “They [the soldiers] like this place and when I meet some of them in the supermarkets, they tell me they have been banned from coming here. Sometimes they get too drunk and I drop them at the gate for free.”
Wanjiru’s niece said the new criminal inquiry raises more serious questions about the culture and conduct of the British Army whilst on deployment to Kenya.
Esther Njoki, Wanjiru’s niece and the family’s spokeswoman, said the latest alleged incident raises “troubling” questions about the conduct of British soldiers in Kenya. “I hope justice is served in this case,” she said.
John Healey, the UK defence secretary, has committed to bringing Wanjiru’s killer to justice, and met with her family in April. He said: “It was deeply humbling to meet the family of Agnes Wanjiru. In the 13 years since her death, they have shown such strength in their long fight for justice. I reiterated my determination to see a resolution to the still unresolved case.”
Wanjiru’s alleged killer remains a free man, living in a town in the south of England with his family. The Kenyan prosecutor said the police investigation into the murder was now complete and they are assessing the evidence.
