United Kingdom soldiers will be answerable to criminal charges for 8 offences committed while in Kenya after the two nations signed a military agreement.
According to the Defence Cooperation Document signed in 2021 by former Defence CS Monica Juma and her British counterpart Ben Wallace (retrievable from the UK Government website), some of the offences include sexual misconduct, torture as well as inhumane or degrading treatment of persons.
Other charges included in the 30-page document include transnational organised crimes, slavery, robbery, and offences against the country's security.
Attempting, aiding and abetting the commission of the aforementioned offences will also see the visiting soldiers tried in Kenya.
"The relevant authorities of the party having the primary right to exercise jurisdiction shall give sympathetic consideration to a request from the authorities of the other Party to waive that right in cases where that other party considers such a waiver to be of particular importance.
"And in cases of minor offences where the authorities of the Host Nation have the primary right and where the service authorities of the sending nation can impose a suitable punishment by disciplinary action without recourse to a trial," read the agreement in part.
Additionally, the agreement details eight conditions under which the accused soldiers will be subjected to during the trial.
For instance, it is expected that there should be a prompt and speedy trial.
"He or she shall be entitled to be informed, in advance of trial, of the specific charge or charges made against him or her be confronted with the witnesses against him or her.
"The visiting soldier shall also be required to have legal representation of his or her own choice for his or her defence," read the agreement in part.
The accused also has the right to have witnesses and an interpreter if necessary.
On the other hand, in cases where the offences attract a death penalty, the sentence will be commuted to a prison sentence or fine.
Notably, Members of Parliament led by the Defence, Intelligence and Foreign Relations Committee have proposed amendments to the agreement to include murder charges.
This follows the uproar that emerged over the killing of Agnes Wanjiru who was allegedly killed in 2012.
The British Army Training Unit Kenya (BATUK) has a training camp in Nanyuki.
