The painful colonial past: Activists line up for much-anticipated royal visit

King Charles and Queen Camilla can be assured a proper royal reception when they land in Nairobi on Tuesday.

One can expect that President Ruto will pull out all stops to make the visit a resounding success. He will feel greatly honoured to host the British royals, and at them accepting an invite which makes Kenya the first African and Commonwealth country they have visited since ascending to the throne in September last year following the death of Queen Elizabeth.

The visit, to many, cements President Ruto’s standing in African and developing country leadership, a status he has assiduously sought through a record number of overseas junkets in his first year in office.

At a time Kenya is suffering a depressed economy, and security challenges that have made even China, which Ruto has just visited, for the first time issue a travel advisory for its citizens, the royal visit will certainly stand as a much-needed vote of confidence which the country will be keen to exploit to the fullest.

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Kenya will be guaranteed blanket exposure on British media, with the large travelling media contingent assured to not just cover every minute of the visit, but also branch out into reportage of many other facets on the country, including the good, the bad and the ugly.

There may well be outsize expectations of gains from the visit, but the reality is that royal tours are usually more important for the symbolism rather than any important policy statements or commitments to financial aid or development projects.

The King is ceremonial Head of State, not Head of Government. By tradition and custom, he will steer well clear of any pronouncements or activities that might be seen to intrude on the roles and functions the Legislature and the Executive.

However, the visit is still an important indicator of Kenyan-British relations, especially because every aspect of the royal itinerary, including speeches, places visited and groups or individuals met, will have been approved in advance by the Whitehall.

A British government press release on the visit indicated that King Charles and Queen Camilla will be on the routine and humdrum rounds of meeting with President Ruto and First Lady Rachel Ruto, a State luncheon, official receptions, but it also revealed fascinating aspects of an itinerary loaded with more than just symbolism, but a deliberate effort to address critical sticking points between an independent nation and her former colonial master.

Kenya, and Kenyan officialdom, has always displayed a fawning, obsequious, attitude towards Britain. But not so for Kenyan political and social activists, who are looking forward to the visit not so much for the opportunity to bow and curtsey before the King and Queen, but to ask hard questions.

A great opportunity to address lingering questions will be presented when the King and Queen visit the Uhuru Gardens Museum for what will be the first extended public display of exhibitions delving into the struggle for freedom from British colonialism.

The press release issued here by the British High Commission revealed that “the visit will also acknowledge the more painful aspects of the UK and Kenya’s shared history, including the Emergency (1952-1960).

His Majesty will take time during the visit to deepen his understanding of the wrongs suffered in this period by the people of Kenya. Together, Their Majesties will tour a new museum dedicated to Kenya’s history and will lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior at Uhuru Gardens, as well as visiting the site of the declaration of Kenya’s independence in 1963”.

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Just last year when then-President Uhuru Kenyatta toured the new museum, the Chief of the Kenya Defence Forces, Gen Robert Kibochi, publicly called on the UK to return ‘looted’ Kenyan historical artefacts that are in museums or private collections in that country.

And just last week, a group of Nandi community elders renewed demands for the UK to return the skull of Koitalel arap Samoei, the fabled chief, spiritual leader and freedom fighter. Samoei, who led one of the earliest rebellions against colonial occupation, was killed by British army commander Colonel Richard Meinertzhagen in 1905 after being tricked into attending a truce meeting.

He was beheaded and head reportedly taken to England. The elders are also seeking the return of their stolen cultural artefacts, as well as compensation for atrocities suffered during colonial rule, including murder, detention and forcible displacement.

“We are appealing to King Charles, we need to get that skull to be brought back to Nandi for honourable burial,” descendant David Samoei told Kenya media earlier this year.

At Uhuru Gardens Museum, the King will tour a display that brings out the horrors of colonialism and the gallantry of freedom fighters. The museum visit will offer a chance for acknowledgment that wrongs were committed, and that will probably come with a public apology from the monarch.

Despite the significance of such a gesture, it’s almost certain that the royal visitor will still face some hard questions and accusations, with real likelihood of protests and demonstrations. Any disturbances will have to be to be delicately handled lest the lenses of world media are trained on the Kenya Police factory setting of tear gas, water cannons, truncheons and live bullets in crowd control.

The Weekly Review has learnt that the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC), the independent watchdog which has played a critical role in agitation and lawsuits against colonial injustices, is preparing lengthy and comprehensive petition for attention of the King. So are many other activist groups who will not let pass the opportunity to make their voices heard.

Whether critical civil society and protest groups will be allowed anywhere near the King during his official engagement is unclear at the moment, but it is obvious that British High Commissioner Neil Wigan and his staff are aware that various groups with grouses are relishing the chance to loudly protest, and will have to be handled with sensitivity to avoid ugly situations developing.

KHRC was part of the historic lawsuit in British courts that in 2013 secured compensation for claimant Mau Mau freedom fighters, an official apology and funding for a memorial to victims of colonial atrocities. It supported the out-of-court settlement following years of protracted litigation, but is now set to take advantage of King Charles’s visit to push for further concessions.

According to Executive Director Davis Malombe, the premier human rights body in Kenya is working on a petition for presentation to the King out of concern for gross human rights violations committed by the British government during the entire colonial period (1895 to 1963) and the continued injustices perpetuated by its corporates, citizens and programmes in Kenya, to date.

They will demand an unconditional public apology and official acknowledgment of wrongs over and above ‘inadequate’ expressions of regret previously offered in 2013 by then-Foreign Secretary William Hague and High Commissioner William Turner; as well as a 2015 apology from President Kenyatta for post-colonial violations. KHRC will also be demanding reparations for all the atrocities committed to the different groups in the entire country, including adequate compensation, rehabilitation, satisfaction and guarantee of non-repetition.  

They are also looking at reparative development for communities and regions they say continue to suffer the long term effects of colonial and post-colonial programmes of the British government. It is not clear at this stage how the commission proposes beneficiaries of such reparation will be identified, and the sums being asked for.

They also want de-classification of all materials and documentation on colonial atrocities, as well as return of Kenyan historical artefacts held in Britain for rehousing by the National Museum. It is not clear whether the commission has a list of artefacts that should be returned.

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Contacted by The Weekly Review, Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi, who also handles the Foreign Affairs docket, declined to comment on the petitions and other actions planned for the royal visit by civil society and activist groups.He is expected to give a press briefing with his British counterpart on Monday, a day before the King lands.

High Commission staff and advance teams from the British government who have met President Ruto and Foreign ministry officials have broached concerns about likely protests, and are keen to avoid any ugly incidents. It is understood that they have reached out to some of the civil society and activist groups to offer inclusion in the programme rather than have them out causing mayhem in the streets.

On colonial atrocities, Britain already made a major and ground-breaking concession in 2013 when then-High Commissioner Christian Turner gave an official apology. “The British government recognises that Kenyans were subject to torture and ill treatment at the hands of the colonial administration,” Turner said at a news conference. “The British government sincerely regrets that these abuses took place.”

That apology was, however, forced at the conclusion of a historic ‘Mau Mau trial’ when British courts ruled that the government was culpable for torture, killings and other atrocities visited on freedom fighters on colonial detention camps. An out of court settlement from the case pushed by KHRC saw the British government agree to pay each of more than 5,000 claimants a sum of about Sh350,000. The bulk of the settlement went to the British government paying for the building of a memorial to victims of colonial atrocities. There were also official acknowledgements and apologies from the High Commissioner in Nairobi as well as the Foreign Secretary in the House of Commons.

Torture and ill treatment

This is what Hague told the British Parliament: “I would like to make clear now and for the first time, on behalf of Her Majesty’s Government, that we understand the pain and grievance felt by those who were involved in the events of the Emergency in Kenya.

“The British government recognises that Kenyans were subject to torture and other forms of ill treatment at the hands of the colonial administration. The British government sincerely regrets that these abuses took place, and that they marred Kenya’s progress towards independence. Torture and ill treatment are abhorrent violations of human dignity which we unreservedly condemn”.

These apologies of 10 years ago will most likely be repeated by King Charles, so they will not be new, but still significant coming from him. There will, however, be many others issues, some related, crying out for attention. There were groups that complained at the modest compensation, and that only the 5,000 claimants benefited, and further lawsuits have since been filed.

There are also issues of historical land injustices afflicting Kenya to this day that are traced to colonialism.

These range from ongoing issues over the vast tracts of land owned by multinational British tea farms in Kericho, the large expanses of ranches and private conservancies still held by British and other ‘settlers’ in Laikipia, as well as issues around British military training camps in the same region.

The King will make a visit to the coast, which will be significant, given issues around Islamic extremist and the threat of terrorism, now added impetus by the renewed conflict between Israel and Hamas militants in the Gaza strip, and Kenya and Britain’s firm support for the former.