Calls for a clear apology continue to resound 60 years after British colonial rulers executed Kenyan freedom martyr Dedan Kimathi.
On Wednesday, Nov. 1, Kenyan police prevented the Social Justice Network from protesting King Charles’ visit to Nairobi through rallies.
A group of about thirty people chanted songs and threw red roses at the base of the Mau Mau veteran Dedan Kimathi’s statue in the Central Business District. However, the demonstrators were dispersed and their flag was stolen by a number of uniformed and plain-clothed police officers.
Whether any arrests were made was unclear.
The demonstrators called for the closure of the British permanent base (BATUK) and an apology for atrocities committed during the colonial era on Tuesday, October 31. Organizations have compiled evidence of and exposed alleged atrocities carried out by British soldiers stationed in central Kenya.
“What we want is for King Charles to say, ‘we apologize to the Kenyan population and the descendants and generations that have suffered because of the atrocities and barbarity committed by the British people during the reign that they were here’.”
“All the land under British should be given back to the Kenyan people and we also want BATUK (British Army Training Unit Kenya) to leave our land. BATUK has to go. The Kenyan people in Laikipia cordially welcomed them and then they subjugate them, they dominate them, they treat them as though they are second class citizens in their own country?”
In the 60 years since Kenya gained independence, ties with Britain have been tight and occasionally difficult.
African politicians, according to political analyst and journalism and communications professor Herman Manyora, have a voice in how they interact with their erstwhile colonial overlords.
“I don’t blame the British. I blame African leaders who are subservient to the British and the French. Why are they subservient to them? Because they ravage their own countries, they rape their own countries, they steal from their own countries. So they seek recognition and protection. If you did not relate to the British and the French in that kind of manner, you are able to tell them off, you are a sovereign state. But because you relate from a subservient point of view, you see them as Gods.”
The king of Britain spent Wednesday, November 1, at a war grave. Authorities erected massive security along the roads heading there, which are just a short stroll from the downtown business district. This included the army, elite forces, normal police, and an anti-terror police team. Only one side of the road was open to use by traders and bystanders.
Charles III made the statement that there was “no excuse for wrongdoings of the past” during a state banquet on Tuesday, October 31, but he did not offer an apology.
