Wednesday, June 12, 2013

7,000 Veterans of the Kenyan Land and Freedom Army Reject British Offer

7,000 Veterans of the Kenyan Land and Freedom Army Reject British Offer

Former fighters say list of victims of atrocities remains incomplete

By Abayomi Azikiwe
Editor, Pan-African News Wire

Although the British government offered a formal apology and modest compensation for the crimes committed against the people of Kenya during the war of independence between 1952 and 1960, many of the veterans of the struggle say that the existing list of victims is not complete. Former members of the Kenyan Land and Freedom Army (KLFA), popularly known as the Mau Mau, along with others who were imprisoned and tortured beginning in 1952, had filed legal action in the British courts demanding compensation for their suffering.

Nonetheless, 7,000 veterans are demanding that the current settlement plans be halted and that a new head count be conducted. The rejection of the British offer is based upon the fact that local lawyers, representatives of the Kenyan Human Rights Commission and UK officials on June 1 at the Panafric Hotel in Nairobi agreed to the settlement without consulting veterans from at least one region of this East African state.

Veterans from Nyeri County said that they were not included in the settlement and held a press conference on June 9 at Ruring’u near Nyeri town. These claims illustrate the possible complications that the British government may face in their attempts to settle this case and prevent it from moving forward in the courts.

According to KLFA veteran Captain Nderitu Wambugu “I doubt whether we freedom fighters from Nyeri county have been included. The Githu Kahengeri-led group did not represent the interests of genuine freedom fighters.” (Kenyan Star, June 10)

Wambugu went on to say that the money offered by the British was not nearly enough. His position seems to be supported as well by two Kenyan Members of Parliament, Mathira MP Peter Weru and his Kieni colleague James Mathenge Keini Kega.

These legislators emphasized that the offer was a big joke and that the veterans and victims should be paid 100 times more than what has been offered. They say that 20 million Kenyans have been impacted by the British atrocities due to the suffering of families and their descendants.

“Some families are still living in colonial villages. They should be recognized and be given land to live a decent life,” said Mathira MP. (Kenyan Star, June 10)

The Politics of the Settlement Offer

British Foreign Secretary William Hague on June 6 expressed “deep regret” at what the colonial government did during the period to suppress the revolt that erupted in 1952 and resulted in the murder of thousands of Kenyans and the imprisonment of over 100,000 others in detention camps. Kenya was eventually granted independence from Britain in 1963.

The British foreign office said in a May 2013 statement that “there should be a debate about the past. It is an enduring feature of our democracy that we are willing to learn from our history.”

“We understand the pain and grievance felt by those, on all sides, who were involved in the divisive and bloody events of the Emergency period in Kenya,” the foreign office said. Such a statement attempts to minimize the deliberate role by London during this period to crush an anti-colonial revolt that was sparked by the exploitative and oppressive conditions that the Kenyan people were subjected to for decades.

The announcement of the settlement offer indicated that some $US30.8 million dollars would be paid to over 5,200 victims. The lawyers for the claimants said that an agreement had been reached without disclosing the sum.

Divided among the designated victims, the sums paid to individuals would be less than $US6,000 per person. These atrocities were committed beginning over 60 years ago and many of those involved are already deceased.

“(The negotiations) have included everybody with sufficient evidence of torture. And that number is about 5,200,” Kenyan lawyer Paul Muite said. (newstimesafrica.com, June 10)

This settlement grew out of negotiations which began after an October 2012 British High Court decision that three victims of the colonial atrocities would be allowed to pursue their claims in the courts. They demanded compensation for false imprisonment, beatings, torture, rape and castration.

The claimants, Paulo Muoka Nzili, Wambugu Wa Nyingi and Jane Muthoni, initiated the case which gained international attention since the British government has never paid any amount of compensation for their centuries-long subjugation of millions of peoples throughout the world to slavery and colonialism. A fourth claimant, Susan Ngondi, died before the settlement was announced.

The Kenyan Human Rights Commission said that at least 90,000 Africans died during the course of the suppression of the anti-colonial revolt during the 1950s. This same organization also says that some 160,000 were detained where they were victims of torture resulting in the deaths of many Kenyans.

These developments involving the purported settlement of this chapter in Kenyan, African and British history indicates the contradictions in such efforts. Whether the majority of Kenyans impacted by this horrendous episode in their history accepts the legitimacy of the settlement remains to be seen.

However, it indicates that Africans do have a legitimate right to pursue reparations for their centuries of pain and suffering through European, African, North and South American slavery and colonialism. The imperialists should not be allowed to dismiss claims for reparations both inside and outside the legal system.

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