Esther Nkoji's 21-year-old aunt Agnes Wanjiru was allegedly murdered by a British soldier stationed in the British Army Training Unit Kenya (BATUK) in 2012. She described openDemocracy's findings as "shameful" and said that soldiers are ignoring the ban to exploit local women for sex as they know there will be no consequences.
"The soldiers are not following the policies because they feel entitled when they are in Kenya," Nkoji told openDemocracy. "At the end of the day, they know they can get away with it. If they knew they would be punished, then they might not be committing these crimes."
No one has been arrested or charged for Wanjiru's murder, and the British Army has been accused of covering up her death. Nkoji described the British army's attitude as a form of "neo-colonialism".
"For a woman who is Black – they don't care," she said. "There is still colonialism in Kenya even 60 years after independence."
Further evidence of soldiers ignoring the transactional sex ban was shared in an ITV documentary about the abuse of local Kenyan women by men stationed at BATUK, which aired last month. The filmmakers covertly recorded a British soldier admitting soldiers are continuing to pay for sex while stationed in Kenya. "The seniors, sergeants, warrant officers, RSMs [regimental sergeant majors], colour sergeants, they will all cheat on their wives and fuck out here because it's a break," he said.
"Boys will be boys," the man added, describing the ban as a "grey area".
Kenyan journalists have also reported on abuse against local sex workers by British army personnel since the ban. The Nation newspaper reportedthat a woman called Alice was beaten by an army client and had a glass bottle inserted into her vagina. For Alice, the situation is complicated as the army is her source of income. "Yes, I have been abused by British soldiers," she told the Nation's Nicholas Komu and Mercy Mwende. "But I don't think you should write about that. If you expose the bad things they do, they will leave."
"We still need to earn," agreed Abdalla, whose organisation KESWA campaigns to end abuse against sex workers. "The soldiers use the law to intimidate the girls so they don't report any violence. The British army should sit down with the sex worker community and come up with a plan to end the violence, because this ban does not work."
A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: "The defence secretary and the chief of the general staff have discussed the alarming allegations of unacceptable behaviour by Service Personnel deployed to Kenya. We take these allegations extremely seriously and the Army will launch an inquiry into the conduct of those who have been deployed to Kenya.
"We expect the highest standards from our personnel, are committed to preventing sexual exploitation in any form and, through our Zero-Tolerance policies, will hold to account anyone found to be involved.
"The Royal Military Police and BATUK work closely with the Kenyan authorities, local community, and county leadership to swiftly address any concerns, with the Defence Serious Crime Command investigating any allegations of serious or complex crime where necessary."
Global abuse
As well as prohibiting soldiers from paying for sex, the Zero Tolerance policy also sought to crack down on criminal sexual offences and "unacceptable sexual behaviour" by military personnel. The latter covers a range of inappropriate behaviour such as sexual comments or public nudity.
Though the Ministry of Defence recorded no breaches of the policy regarding sexual exploitation, which are more serious offences based on abuse of power and exchanging sex for goods or money, it told openDemocracy via FOI that at least 184 troops have been fired over breaches relating to criminal sexual offences and unacceptable sexual behaviour since the policy was introduced in 2022. At least 27 were sentenced for sex offences.
openDemocracy's analysis of MoD data reveals that military police also investigated 466 reports of sexual assaults committed by serving personnel outside of the UK between 2015 and 2022.
These included 154 investigations in Germany, 63 in Cyprus, 29 in the Falklands, as well as 19 in Canada and nine in Gibraltar. A further 192 sexual assaults were investigated where the location was recorded as "other". An FOI request revealed at least one of those 192 sexual offences was recorded in Kosovo, where British personnel serve as part of a multi-national force to ensure security and stability; in Bosnia where they still form part of the peacekeeping mission; and in Afghanistan, where British troops were stationed until 2021. It is not known if the victims were military personnel or civilians.
Nineteen of the investigations concerned sexual offences committed in Kenya, with six relating to complaints involving civilians. Such figures, warns lawyer Kelvin Kubai who works with Kenyan victims impacted by a range of British military abuses, are likely the tip of the iceberg.
"There is no room for local women to get justice," Kubai told openDemocracy, adding that the victims include sex workers. "There is no way for women to report and document the abuse. We have no accessible office to bring forward claims, other than the local police, and they cannot begin an investigation because of jurisdiction issues."
Kubai warned that women are "denied a channel to bring these injustices to light, due to jurisdiction issues. So many times the army has claimed sovereign immunity and so victims cannot bring their cases to the UK or Kenyan courts, and they have no avenue to redress. It is a great injustice to deny people a channel for redress."
The MoD confirmed that BATUK has established relationships with Kenyan Police who work with the Royal Military Police (RMP) stationed at the base. Two British liaison officers provide a two-way link between the RMP and the local force, while BATUK's commander also meets with the chief of police to offer assistance when necessary.
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