A British soldier stationed at the British Army Training Unit Kenya (BATUK) in Nanyuki has been apprehended in connection with an alleged rape incident near the military camp.
The incident reportedly occurred last month after a group of British soldiers visited a bar in Nanyuki. One of the soldiers is accused of sexually assaulting a Kenyan woman following the outing.
The nabbing comes amid growing scrutiny over unresolved cases involving British soldiers accused of sexual violence against Kenyan women, with calls for greater accountability and justice intensifying.
Police have since questioned the suspect, and investigations are ongoing. The UK Ministry of Defence has taken over the matter.
A spokesperson for the Ministry confirmed the arrest, stating, “We can confirm the apprehension of a service person in Kenya.”
“Unacceptable and criminal behaviour has absolutely no place in our Armed Forces. Any report of a serious crime involving service personnel is investigated independently from their chain of command,” the spokesperson added.
They declined to give further details, citing the ongoing investigation by the Defence Serious Crime Unit.
The incident comes at a time when the country is yet to know the fate of the investigations into the execution of a Kenyan athlete, Agnes Wanjiru, allegedly by a British soldier.
The 2012 murder of Wanjiru in Nanyuki remains one of the most disturbing incidents linked to British soldiers stationed in Kenya.
Wanjiru, a 21-year-old Kenyan woman, was last seen entering the Lion’s Court Hotel with British soldiers from the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment. Her body was discovered two months later, dumped in a septic tank at the hotel.
The case resurfaced years later, drawing widespread media attention in the UK and Kenya after a leak exposed a WhatsApp group chat involving soldiers from the same regiment.
The leaked messages revealed some soldiers mocking Wanjiru’s death using memes referencing murder, hotels, and septic tanks—fuelling public outrage and renewed demands for justice.
Despite the gravity of the allegations and the public outcry, no soldier has been prosecuted over Wanjiru’s death.
The case continues to cast a long shadow over the British Army’s operations in Kenya and has intensified scrutiny of the conduct and accountability of foreign troops operating in the country.
The British Army currently has an agreement with the African nation to allow up to six infantry battalions per year — around 6,000 soldiers — to conduct exercises in the remote Kenyan countryside.
