Kenya and UK in row over Mau Mau

A row between Kenya and Britain has erupted following the refusal by London to compensate Mau Mau freedom fighters.

Foreign Affairs minister Moses Wetang’ula on Thursday announced that he had petitioned the British Government through its High Commissioner in Nairobi.

He contested the argument that Kenya inherited all liabilities, including claims of compensation, on attaining independence.

The government has instructed Attorney-General Amos Wako to recruit a top- notch lawyer, preferably a Queen’s Counsel in England, to argue Kenya’s case.

Mr Wetang’ula said Kenya cannot accept that at independence it inherited claims of torture and brutality meted on the Mau Mau freedom fighters.

The minister – who was addressing the press flanked by Mr Wako, Mau Mau War Veterans’ Association and Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) officials – said Britain had moved to strike out the case lodged by Mau Mau war veterans on the grounds of state succession.

He said the application to strike out the case does not address the substance of the case but argues that any responsibility for torture committed during the emergency be passed on to the Kenya Government.

Mr Wetang’ula said he had already informed the British High Commissioner in Nairobi and addressed the matter to Britain’s Foreign Affairs Minister David Milliband.

Were tortured

Mr Wetang’ula urged the British Government to reduce the costs of the case by admitting liability so the suit can move to settlement of damages.

Mau Mau war veterans lodged a human rights claim at the High Court in London last year, saying they were tortured and unlawfully imprisoned by the British Government.

The claim was lodged for alleged human rights abuses during the Mau Mau uprising in the 1950s and 1960s.

They say the claims are test cases and if they are successful, they could open the way for the government to make wider reparations to those who claim they were mistreated.

The British Government indicated that it believes the claim is invalid because of the time that has passed and that any liability rested with the Kenyan authorities after independence in 1963.

KHRC has said that 90,000 Kenyans were executed, tortured or maimed during the uprising, while 160,000 were imprisoned in “appalling conditions”.