An investigation by the British army has found that some soldiers stationed at a controversial base in Kenya continue to use sex workers despite being banned from doing so.
Soldiers at the British Army Training Unit Kenya (Batuk) used sex workers “at a low or moderate” level, a report said, adding that more work was needed to stamp out the practice.
The investigation covered a period of more than two years, examining conduct at the base dating back to July 2022.
It was commissioned following an investigation by British media outlet ITV into the behaviour of soldiers at Batuk, including allegations some army personnel were paying local women for sex.
The ITV documentary followed previous concerns raised about Batuk after the death in 2012 of a local woman Agnes Wanjiru, allegedly killed by a British soldier stationed at the base.
Since then a string of allegations have been made about the conduct of troops at the training site, which lies near the town of Nanyuki 200km (125 miles) north of Kenya’s capital Nairobi.
UK Chief of Defence Staff Gen Sir Roly Walker said in a statement that the army was committed to stopping sexual exploitation by those in its ranks.
“The findings of the Service Inquiry I commissioned conclude that transactional sex is still happening in Kenya at a low to moderate level. It should not be happening at all,” he said.
“There is absolutely no place for sexual exploitation and abuse by people in the British Army. It is at complete odds with what it means to be a British soldier. It preys on the vulnerable and benefits those who seek to profit from abuse and exploitation,” he added.
The service inquiry investigation was carried out over more than two years by a panel of four people, including two serving officers, a civil servant and an independent adviser.
It investigated the behaviour of troops stationed at Batuk and assessed the army’s systems to prevent breaches of its regulation JSP 769 which bans soldiers from paying for sex.
The report details 35 instances in which Batuk soldiers were suspected to have paid for sex, since guidance for soldiers on the rule was published in July 2022. During that period 7,666 British soldiers served at the base.
It notes that of those, 26 cases happened before training on the new rule was initiated for all army staff in November of that year, with nine reported cases since then. In the majority of cases, the allegation that soldiers had paid for sex was never proven.
In addition to those detailed in the report, the Foreign Office told the BBC there was a small number – less than five – cases of alleged use of sex workers currently under investigation. The alleged incidents happened after the inquiry was concluded.
The report said that despite the training given by the Army and the control measures in place, the reality was that “transactional sexual activity” by UK personnel in Kenya was still happening, and that “the level is somewhere between low and moderate”.
“It is not out of control, but the best way for the Army to manage the risk is for the Army to assume it may be at the upper end of that scale between low and moderate,” the report added.
The report noted efforts by the Army to stamp out the practice, including regular training and the use of “sharkwatch” patrols with a senior officer of Sargeant rank or above deployed to monitor the conduct of junior personnel when they left the base for nights out.
The army said it would implement recommendations from the report, including making it easier to dismiss soldiers found to have used sex workers and the implementation of additional training.
The report follows years of controversy about the conduct of soldiers at Batuk sparked by an investigation by the Sunday Times in 2021 which revealed the alleged involvement of a British soldier in the murder of Ms Wanjiru, a mother of one whose body was found dumped in a septic tank near a hotel where she had been seen with soldiers on the night she vanished.
Separately in Kenya, MPs have been conducting an inquiry into wider allegations of mistreatment of local people by soldiers at Batuk and have heard claims at public hearings of injuries allegedly sustained through the behaviour of British troops and of soldiers fathering children to Kenyan mothers and then abandoning them when they returned home.
In June this year a soldier stationed at the base was sent back to the UK after being accused of rape.
The Service Inquiry behind the latest report said it had spoken to many local Kenyans and found “the vast majority” of local residents were happy with the presence of the Batuk camp.
By BBC News
Email your news TIPS to Editor@Kahawatungu.com — this is our only official communication channel
