Uhuru gives UK ultimatum on Sh8bn army training deal

Politics and policy

President Uhuru Kenyatta speaks at the Nyayo National Stadium during the Jamhuri Day celebrations on December 12, 2014. PHOTO | JEFF ANGOTE 

By BDAfrica.com REPORTER

In Summary

• Only three weeks left before a deadline to sign a renewal contract for the British Army Training Unit Kenya.
• The Kenya Government is demanding that British soldiers who commit crimes in the country face local justice.
• President Uhuru Kenyatta made the ultimatum to Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond during recent negotiations.

Kenya is threatening to tear up its military co-operation deal with the United Kingdom unless British soldiers who commit crimes while in the country face justice in local courts

With only three weeks left before a deadline to sign a renewal contract, the Government is demanding that the UK either give in or leave.

“President Uhuru Kenyatta… made the ultimatum to Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond during tense diplomatic negotiations over a long-standing deal,” the UK Mail on Sunday reported at the weekend.

“These are tough negotiations and there will be no backing down by Kenya on this issue,” presidential spokesman Manoah Esipisu was quoted as saying. “Kenya is not the same country as when these agreements were signed.”

According to the MoS, the arrangement, which has run 40 years, is currently valued at about £58 million (KShs7.9 billion) a year, up from about Sh2.5 billion three years ago. However, other estimates put it at a more modest £24 million (KShs3.2 billion).

It allows up to 10,000 British troops a year to carry out military exercises in Kenya’s harsh terrain before deploying to active operations in theatres such as Afghanistan and Iraq.

It also includes military training for the Kenya Defence Forces.

However, while it requires British troops to respect Kenyan laws, those who commit crimes are seen to fall under the jurisdiction of UK military law.

If Kenya does not renew this agreement, the UK will have to find another location to prepare its troops — an uphill task given the unique conditions available in Laikipia and Samburu counties.

In April 2014, the UK and Tanzania signed a pact that would allow British special forces to train there. There is also talk that the UK could move its soldiers to Djibouti. However, to find comparable terrain Britain would have to look to the Middle East, experts say.

The British Army Training Unit Kenya (Batuk) is a “permanent training support unit” based mainly in Nanyuki, but with a small rear element in Kahawa Barracks, just outside Nairobi.

Under the agreement with the Kenya Government, six infantry battalions per year carry out six-week exercises. Royal Engineer Squadrons carry out civil engineering projects, while two medical company group deployments provide primary health care assistance to the civilian community.

While many of their interactions with locals have been positive, there have been claims of rape of local women and mass injuries from unexploded ordnance.

There have also been several unsolved crimes linked to British troops.

In 2013, Sergeant George Madison shot and killed Tilam Leresh, an armed herdsman, during a live fire exercise in Lolkanjau, Samburu County, outside the designated military training grounds. He was confined to barracks for seven months while a diplomatic battle raged over where he should be tried before being removed from the country.