Human rights campaigners in Kenya have accused their government of ignoring the plight of pastoral communities that are involved in a compensation case against the British government.
In 2000, Maasai and Samburu pastoralists living in the northern Samburu and Laikipia districts sued Britain’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) for injuries caused by military ordnance left behind by its troops. The forces had been conducting exercises in these areas.
During a visit to the army training grounds of Archer’s post and Dol Dol in July last year, IPS saw unexploded artillery shells and grenades on ground used by herders.
The suit, filed in London by British lawyer Martyn Day of Leigh, Day and Company -‒ a firm specialising in human rights cases -‒ resulted in compensation being paid to the first group of claimants in 2002. The 233 pastoralists got a total amount of about $8,3-million.
However, a second group of 1 044 claimants was offered a mere $866 666 by the MoD in an out-of-court settlement. The pastoralists turned down the offer, which was made in November 2003.
During a meeting with the claimants last month in Samburu, Day advised his clients to accept the money. However, the pastoralists claim he has lost interest in their case, and they are threatening to hire local lawyers to take over from him.
“We have suffered so much -‒ people have died, some have lost body parts because of the carelessness of British soldiers -‒ and Day does not seem to be doing his best. If he does not push the British further, we shall seek alternative services,” said an angry client.
This person’s two children died when a weapon exploded while they were playing with it.
Day maintains that he is still trying to sway the MoD: “We are still in negotiations and I do not think it would be appropriate to describe the current state of the negotiations,” he said in a written response to questions posed by IPS.
However, human rights activists have described the offer as “unfair” and a “mockery of the highest order”, and they are asking the Kenyan government to intervene in the matter.
“This is too little compared to the torture they (the pastoralists) have gone through. We are talking about loss of lives and permanent injuries caused by the ammunition,” said Njeru Gathangu, chairperson of Citizens for Justice -‒ a human rights group based in Nairobi.
“The British government has an obligation to compensate fairly for evils committed by its soldiers,” he added. Gathangu is setting up a meeting next week with authorities to discuss the matter.
For other campaigners, the government’s apparent silence on this issue has unhappy political overtones.
“The government must not play as underdogs or take orders from former colonial masters at the expense of their people,” says Steve Ouma of the Kenya Human Rights Commission. Efforts to get comment from Kenyan authorities failed.
The Organisation for the Survival of Il-Laikipiak Indigenous Maasai Group Initiatives (OSILIGI), a local human rights organisation that started investigating the claims in 1999, registered 3 000 cases for the second round of compensation. However, only 1 044 were eventually ultimately included in the suit, with the remainder being dismissed as fake.
“There are logistical challenges here because some of the people do not have records. These are pastoralists who are poor and illiterate. How do we expect them to document such issues -‒ some (of) which happened over 20 years ago?” asks James Ole Legei, OSILIGI’s Programmes Manager. He adds that all claimants underwent thorough scrutiny by MOD doctors.
British officials say many of the cases failed to make it to court because of insufficient proof that the injuries in question resulted from MoD training activities.
“We have been carrying out serious clean-ups after exercises by our military,” said a British source, adding “Besides, it is not only British soldiers who train there. Kenyan soldiers as well as American troops do the same.”
Health centres in Archer’s post and Dol Dol estimate that about 400 people, most of them children, have died from explosives left behind by British forces. Many more have been injured.
British soldiers numbering about a thousand travel to the northern Kenya between April and July every year, as the desert climate there provides a good environment for military exercises. – IPS