Soldiers troop during a simulated military excercise of the British Army Training Unit in Kenya (BATUK) together with the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) at the ol-Daiga ranch, high on Kenya’s Laikipia plateau on March 26, 2018.
The British army may have illegally leased large chunks of land belonging to foreign ranchers in Laikipia and Samburu for training without the knowledge of the Ministry of Lands.
Lands Principal Secretary Nixon Korir shocked MPs on Tuesday when he revealed that the ministry did not have lease agreements for land that the British Army Training Unit Kenya (Batuk) has entered into with private ranches and the local community.
He told the National Assembly’s Defence, Intelligence, and Foreign Relations Committee that the ministry could not trace signed leases.
He said the operations of Batuk and the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) are purely a government-to-government agreement.
“Details on the land agreements between Batuk and private ranches and those with local communities were not registered at the ministry and we are unable to provide them.”
“The Batuk is a government-to-government agreement. They cannot lease land directly. We have no registered lease with us. We couldn’t trace a signed lease by Batuk and the private ranches. The Ministry of Defence should share with you and us if there are any records on leasing of private ranches for training.”
Committee Vice Chairperson Abdulahi Bashir said the Ministry of Defence and Batuk would be summoned to shed light on any registered leases and why they are engaging private foreign ranches for training grounds and discriminating against community ranches.
“We want to know if there exist any leases with private ranches. We have information that foreign ranchers are gaining at the expense of the local community,” he said.
Mr Korir told the committee that available gazette notices indicate that the land where Nanyuki Barracks stands was compulsorily acquired.
He said the entire 7,238 acres were on December 9, 1988, surrendered to the Government of the Republic of Kenya in consideration of compulsory acquisition.
“With respect to LR. NOs 9957/2, 10422/2, and 28826, available gazette notices indicate that they were compulsorily acquired. We are still looking for more information which shall be provided,” Mr Korir said.
“The grant to IR NR. 2828 IR No. 14699 is situated in the northwest of Nanyuki township in Nanyuki District measuring 7832 acres with dimensions abuttals and boundaries thereof delineated on the plan annexed on the land survey plan number 67223 was initially registered in favour of William Donald Bastard for a term of 969 years for an annual rent of Sh284/40.”
“However, afterwards the land was transferred to Weruini Lands Limited on June 7, 1979. On December 9, 1988, this land was surrendered to the Government of the Republic of Kenya the whole parcel in consideration of compulsory acquisition.”
Kenya and the UK signed the new Defence Co-operation Agreement (DCA) in London in July 2021.
Article 10 of the UK-Kenya Defence Agreement requires that training in designated training areas shall be permitted subject to the visiting forces making full disclosure to the implementing ministry of the host nation on the licences procured to train on private, public, and/or communal land.
The visiting forces should also pay all applicable taxes due from them to the relevant national and county/local governments as may be prescribed from time to time.
The Kenya and UK DCA deal was inked on the sidelines of former President Uhuru Kenyatta's official visit to the UK following the lapse of the original agreement in 2015.
The pact, which will see Kenya earn Sh9 billion annually in military training support, allows Kenya and UK soldiers to train side by side in Nanyuki Barracks for five years.
The Defence, Intelligence, and Foreign Relations committee chaired by Belgut MP Nelson Koech has been conducting a lengthy inquiry on allegations of gross human rights violations by the Batuk in Laikipia, Samburu, and Isiolo counties.
The committee is probing alleged procedural eviction of locals during military training exercises, land degradation, failure to adequately compensate community landholders like their counterpart foreign landowners for similar uses, and measures being taken to ensure that Batuk is held accountable for the damage caused.
The Defence committee had earlier threatened to slam the brakes on the memorandum of understanding with the UK until the murder of 21-year-old Agnes Wanjiru is resolved.
The previous agreement, which lapsed in 2015, did not allow Kenya to prosecute errant British soldiers involved in the murder of Ms Wanjiru.
But the current agreement allows the host country to try any offence not arising in the course of Official Duty.
Section 5 of the 2021 DCA lists sexual offences, torture, inhumane or degrading treatment of persons, transnational organised crimes, slavery, offences against the host nation’s security, robbery attempts, and aiding and abetting the commission of the aforementioned offences as crimes not to be considered offences arising out of an act or omission in the course of official duty.
