On July 23, 2026, the UK Ministry of Defense (MoD) canceled training of the British Army Training Unit in Kenya (BATUK) because the East African country demanded legal powers to prosecute British soldiers who kill Kenyans or engage in other offenses.
BATUK—Preparing for Hypothetical Threats While Posing a Real Threat
You are a Kenya Defense Forces (KDF) soldier training with BATUK, preparing for a future threat to your country. However, a British soldier kills a Kenyan civilian while in your country and is shielded from accountability by the UK government. In the same course of training, you learn that another British soldier started a fire that killed a Kenyan and burned thousands of acres of native vegetation. Instead of being held to account, he is swiftly facilitated by his commanders to leave Kenya and boasts about his crimes online during his flight home.
Later, you learn that the British government has repeatedly claimed that it cooperates with the Kenyan government in holding British soldiers accountable for crimes committed in Kenya. Yet, it has protected the soldier who killed a Kenyan for 14 years now. You also discover that the British soldier who started a devastating wildfire is being shielded from legal responsibility by his government, which has opted to settle the matter out of court by paying £2.9 million in damages instead.
The above frightening scenario summarizes some of what BATUK has been doing in Kenya over the last few decades, as will be seen later. Surprisingly, the UK MoD tried to mislead Kenyans on July 23, 2026, by issuing a one-sided report alleging that the Kenyan government delayed issuing licenses for BATUK, leading to the relocation of a UK-Kenya military exercise dubbed “Haraka Storm” from Laikipia in September 2026. However, a Citizen TV report clarified that the Departmental Committee on Defense, Intelligence, and Foreign Relations of the Kenyan Parliament had required the UK to sign an agreement giving Kenya jurisdiction to investigate and charge British soldiers who commit murder and other crimes, as a prerequisite for the extension of the UK-Kenya defense Cooperation Agreement that expired in October 2021. However, the UK has delayed signing this agreement, and Kenya has likewise deferred signing licenses for BATUK. Resultantly, the UK appears to have launched a hapless media campaign to hoodwink Kenyans by pretending to act in good faith while enticing citizens with supposed economic benefits that BATUK operations bring, which most people may not fall for. The fact that the UK refuses Kenya’s reasonable demands shows that it poses a threat to Kenya’s security.
Cultivating Division Between Kenyans and Their Government
The UK government announced that it regretted shifting the location of a six-week military exercise from Laikipia to an undisclosed location, only blaming the Kenya side for delaying licenses and leaving out its failure. Notable was the UK MoD’s attempt to frame its military presence in Kenya as being beneficial to citizens, as it proceeded to announce that the economic opportunities associated with the relocated exercise will be missed by Kenyans. An attempt to create a division between the government and Kenyans is notable. However, some Kenyans will be happy with the relocated exercise, as it means that no Kenyan is likely to be killed by the unruly British soldiers. Also, one wonders what mandate or competence the UK MoD has to comment on or influence Kenyans’ economic realities. It should be remembered that Kenyans chased away the British Colonial Government in 1963 due to how it mismanaged the economy and violated the rights of Kenyans, making the UK’s concerns about Kenyans’ economy hollow. Some residents and activists from Laikipia have decried the UK’s military presence as unhelpful and even risky for Kenya’s national security, insisting that the military base, alongside those of the US, should be removed from Kenya. The Kenyan government and civilians have not been distracted by the UK’s elaborate game of maintaining its soldiers in Kenya, while allowing them to violate Kenyan laws; both have insisted that the British soldiers must be subject to Kenyan laws, and if not, train in other countries. No other country can put up with behaviors such as those exhibited by some members of BATUK.
Soldiers or Lawless Thugs?
Media reports of past actions of BATUK show members of this group acting like thugs in a mafia safe house rather than soldiers in any military station that can claim any human right, decency, or understanding of common or international law. A report airing on June 20, 2026, summarized some of the crimes committed by British soldiers, among them killing a Kenyan woman, Agnes Wanjiru, and frustrating her family’s search for justice for over 14 years. In another instance, a BATUK vehicle ran over and maimed a girl in Samburu, and the military unit evaded responsibility. In 2021, soldiers in BATUK started a fire that killed a man and ravaged 7000 acres of community land, in addition to adversely affecting the environment. Notably, the soldier who started this inferno bragged about it on his flight to his home country after he was rapidly facilitated to escape responsibility. Later, BBC’s coverage of this fire incident casually headlined it as a “fire at wildlife sanctuary,” conveniently removing information that would assign responsibility to the reckless British soldier who started it. British soldiers who commit crimes in Kenya are assisted by their seniors and even the UK government to escape responsibility, a reality that has become even clearer in the long journey of seeking justice for the previously mentioned Wanjiru. An article published in the Mail in April of 2024 showed that the British soldiers in Kenya were on a sort of sex vacation, where commanders arranged ceremonies in which they tossed coins to determine if new soldiers would use protection while having sex with prostitutes. The Mail did not describe whether the so-called prostitutes were underage or whether they got into the military facility voluntarily. Moreover, there is a huge power imbalance between military commanders and the so-called prostitutes who might have been hostages, which would make the BATUK camp a version of Epstein Island. The commanders’ and soldiers’ reckless behavior is not only a risk to those involved but also creates many social challenges. For instance, it has contributed to the births of many children with absentee fathers. Some lawyers and human rights activists found that British soldiers had fathered and abandoned tens of children with Kenyan women. Some of these children have grown into adults without ever seeing their British fathers. The wide range of crimes committed by BATUK soldiers and shielded by the UK government necessitates laws that empower the Kenyan government to rein in this lawless military.
Simon Chege Ndiritu is a political observer and research analyst from Africa
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