Follow Kenyan law or pack up, leaders tell UK over BATUK license snag

BATUK personnel conduct a joint training exercise with the Kenya Defence Forces. [Courtesy, BATUK/Meta]

The future of the British Army Training Unit Kenya (BATUK) operations has come under renewed scrutiny after Laikipia leaders demanded that the pending Kenya-United Kingdom Defence Cooperation Agreement be signed unconditionally, insisting that British soldiers accused of crimes in Kenya must face trial in Kenyan courts.

Three MPs from Laikipia said the agreement must guarantee respect for Kenya’s sovereignty, create more employment opportunities for residents and ensure communities hosting the British military unit benefit from its presence.

Their demands come amid growing debate over BATUK’s future in Kenya following the relocation of its 2026 training exercise from Kenya to Tanzania, a move that triggered speculation that Britain could scale down its military operations in the country.

The MPs Mwangi Kiunjuri (Laikipia East), Jane Kagiri (Woman Representative) and Sarah Korere (Laikipia North) insisted on mutual respect in the pending DCA between Kenya and the UK. “The Kenya (BATUK) Defence Cooperation Agreement remains unsigned does not signal an arbitrary political conflict; it is a fundamental matter of justice, national dignity, and economic fairness,” said Laikipia East Mwangi Kiunjuri.

“We support our people and the government in demanding that if one lives, trains and operates in Kenya, they respect Kenyan law. If a crime is committed on Kenyan soil, justice must be delivered in a Kenyan courtroom under Kenyan jurisdiction,” Kiunjuri added. However, the government has dismissed claims that BATUK is leaving Kenya, saying the defence partnership with the United Kingdom remains intact and that the agreement is undergoing the required parliamentary process.

The jurisdiction of British personnel operating in Kenya has emerged as one of the contentious issues surrounding the DCA, with Kenyan stakeholders pushing for greater accountability under Kenyan law, while the UK has sought to retain jurisdiction arrangements for its troops serving on official duty.

The Kenya-UK pact, signed by both governments in 2021, has been awaiting completion of Kenya’s approval process, with questions over jurisdiction and the legal status of British personnel among the issues raised in public debate over the pact.

Speaking during an economic empowerment forum in Naibor, Laikipia County, the MPs said BATUK must address concerns raised by communities that have hosted its operations for decades.

Korere said elected leaders had agreed that BATUK must provide greater opportunities for residents, including employment, before being allowed to continue with military training activities in Kenya.

Korere said local communities had expressed concerns that British troops were benefiting from Kenya’s training grounds while many young people in host areas remained unemployed. “We sat as Laikipia elected leaders and agreed that for them to continue training in this country, they should employ our children in their barracks rather than bring people from their country and leave our people unemployed,” Korere said.

She claimed BATUK’s failure to address employment concerns had contributed to delays in concluding the defence agreement.

“Because they don’t want to employ our children, they have declined to sign the agreement,” she said.

Korere also demanded that British soldiers accused of committing crimes while in Kenya should be tried locally, citing the unresolved killing of Agnes Wanjiru, a 21-year-old woman who was killed in Nanyuki in 2012.

She said the case remained a key concern among residents demanding accountability from foreign troops operating in Kenya.

“We also agreed that if BATUK wants to continue with their training here in the country, when they kill our girls, they should be tried in this country. Till today, those who killed Wanjiru have not been brought to the country so that they can be charged and she can get justice,” she said. Korere said Kenya was ready to approve the agreement but would not compromise its sovereignty.

According to an inquiry report of the parliamentary Departmental Committee on Defence, Intelligence and Foreign Relations on the Conduct of the British Army Training Unit in Kenya, the current DCA was negotiated and agreed upon in 202l.

The Agreement was then submitted to the National Assembly, which ratified it with reservations. Among the reservations by the MPs include the inclusion of murder as a crime under host nation jurisdiction and incorporation of mandatory CSR in the community relations clause. “These reservations were officially communicated to the British High Commission through the Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs, and the Ministry is awaiting an official response,” the report reads.

Kiunjuri emphasised safeguarding the dignity of the people, the integrity of the country’s laws, and the vitality of the local economy.

“When you commit a crime in this country, you must be charged here. If you want to sign the agreement, sign it the way it is; you cannot give conditions. Our sovereignty must be respected,” Kiunjuri said, adding that there should direct impact on the Unit’s economic contribution to the local economy.

Korere said: They should comply with our demands since we are ready to pass the agreement in Parliament for them to sign. We shall allow them to continue training and doing business, but they must respect the people of Laikipia.

Laikipia Woman Representative Jane Kagiri dismissed claims that local leaders were pushing for the exit of the BATUK, saying they support the continuation of the military partnership but want host communities to benefit more from its presence.

She urged the British military unit to sign the pending Kenya-United Kingdom Defence Cooperation Agreement, saying a renewed deal would allow BATUK to continue operating while addressing concerns raised by residents.

Former National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi also defended Parliament’s hardline stance on BATUK, saying Britain must choose between complying with Kenyan laws or ending its military presence in the country.

Speaking amid reports that Britain has shifted some of its military training activities to Tanzania after Kenya did not renew BATUK’s operating licence, Muturi argued that the long-standing defence arrangement has disproportionately favoured the United Kingdom while leaving Kenyan victims of alleged abuses without justice.

“We are clear. You either go by the Kenyan law, or you pack up and go. We are not a colony of Britain,” Muturi said.

The leaders argue that for years, British troops training in Kenya have enjoyed legal protections that make it difficult to hold them accountable for alleged crimes committed against local communities.

Muturi said the discussion should not revolve solely around the economic benefits associated with BATUK’s presence in Laikipia and neighbouring counties, but also on whether the existing DCA adequately safeguards the rights of Kenyans.

“The agreement between the British government and the Kenyan government regarding BATUK is skewed heavily in favour of the British and actually does not favour Kenya at all,” he said. He cited the unresolved killing of Agnes Wanjiru, whose body was discovered in a septic tank in Nanyuki in 2012 after she was last seen with British soldiers. British authorities have previously acknowledged that a soldier is the main suspect, but no one has been prosecuted. “The Kenyans who have been affected by the atrocities continue to suffer. To date, the British have been dragging their feet about getting the British soldier brought back to Kenya to stand trial,” Muturi argued.

Muturi questioned why British soldiers accused of offences can face prosecution in countries such as Canada, Germany and Cyprus but similar accountability has remained elusive in Kenya. “We know where they are training, where they have agreements like this, like in Canada. When they commit crimes there, British soldiers are going to jail in Canada. But they don’t want them to face Kenyan law here,” he said.

“For us to say there is no law for whites and Africans, we cannot allow that because we have a robust Bill of Rights in Kenya.”

The former Speaker argued that any foreign military partnership must operate within Kenya’s constitutional and legal framework, saying sovereignty should not be compromised in exchange for economic benefits.

Supporters of BATUK have often pointed to the jobs created in Laikipia through direct employment, procurement of local goods and services, and spending by British personnel. Businesses ranging from hotels and transport operators to suppliers have benefited from the military presence over the years.

Muturi, however, said those gains cannot outweigh what he described as the human cost borne by affected communities.

“People will say they are employing people, they are bringing benefits, but look at the benefits vis-à-vis the atrocities that they commit. Certainly, we are saying no,” he said.

The parliamentary committee recommended reforms aimed at strengthening accountability, improving compensation for victims and reviewing provisions of the defence cooperation agreement that have been criticised for limiting Kenya’s jurisdiction in certain cases. Muturi said Parliament’s recommendations should form the minimum conditions for any future military cooperation with Britain.

“The committee even visited these areas and even visited Britain, and they came up with what we call the minimum recommendations, which the Kenyan government must not water down,” he said.

He also urged Kenya to exercise greater caution when negotiating defence agreements with foreign governments, arguing that such partnerships should serve Kenya’s national interests first. “We have to be very careful about what it is that we do with these foreign countries because they are not here for our benefit. They come here because there is something they know they are getting from our country, and we must also extract our fair share of what we can get from them,” he said.

The government has, however, maintained that the defence partnership between the two countries remains strong.

In a statement issued on Friday, Prime Cabinet Secretary and Cabinet Secretary for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs Musalia Mudavadi said the Kenya-UK DCA is currently before the National Assembly’s Departmental Committee.

“The Government discounts claims suggesting that the defence partnership between Kenya and the United Kingdom has been terminated or that the BATUK arrangement has come to an end.”

“Such assertions are inaccurate and do not reflect the current status of the friendly engagement between the two Governments,” the statement read. The government said Kenya remains committed to resolving outstanding matters through diplomatic and institutional channels while maintaining its long-standing relationship with the United Kingdom.