Britain’s enduring colonial grip on Kenya is starting to weaken

Kenya won independence from Britain in 1963 – in theory, at least. The truth is that the UK has maintained a colonial relationship with the country ever since. Kenyan still has a permanent UK military presence. UK troops rotate through the country all year round for arid environment military training. And the Brits have fought a shadow war in the region for years.

Now, a new report by the Kenyan parliament’s defence committee has exposed the damage done by this colonial relationship.  As our friends at Declassified UK reported:

Their committee, led by Nelson Koech MP, said it encountered “significant institutional resistance and non-cooperation” from the British army, which sends thousands of troops to train in Kenya each year.

Naturally, the UK did not appreciate the scrutiny. British officials wouldn’t even turn up to given evidence:

UK representatives “persistently declined to appear before the committee and instead invoked claims of diplomatic immunity.

Fortunately “scores of Kenyans rushed to give oral evidence to the committee, testifying to their experiences of British soldiers in remote rural areas”.

Contempt for Kenyans

The report lays out the UK military’s long list of failings and abuses. According to Declassified these include:

• Environmental damage from live firing, including with white phosphorous.
• An ongoing rape scandal.
• A legal case to bring British soldiers who fathered Kenyan kids to account via DNA testing.
• Injuries to Kenyans through unexploded ordnance (UXO) which litter training areas.
• Improper safety briefings for locally employed workers.
• Injuries and displacement of animals on training areas.

According to the BBC, additional impacts include:

Residents reported respiratory issues, miscarriages, and livestock deaths due to toxic fumes and leftover military waste.

In October 2025, the UK military offered a mealy-mouthed statement. It says this was “in the spirit of cooperation”.

Before independence, the British fought a vicious counter-insurgency against the Mau Mau rebels. The British use of brutal detention camps, torture and sexual violence has been widely documented.

Mau Mau veterans testified to the committee. They said in a statement:

As a sovereign and independent nation, Kenya must not allow foreign military forces to engage in activities that undermine the dignity and rights of its citizens.

The British government must be reminded that Kenya is a free country with an independent people who deserve to be treated with respect.

Do Brits help the economy?

The UK has an ongoing defence cooperation deal with Kenya. As well as counter-terrorism and peacekeeping, this deal mentions infrastructure. Yet the Kenyan report has found that many British claims about helping Kenya are dubious at best.

The MPs found:

Although the occasional donations have been made…there have been no significant infrastructure investment in affected regions.

The British Army presence has become an issue to the point that troops are:

Increasingly seen as an occupying presence rather than a development partner, with affected residents drawing parallels to colonial injustices.

Before and since occupation the British have treated Kenya as a resource to be exploited. This relationship remains colonial in character. Yet it seems that grip has loosened in recent years as more and more Kenyans rail against this “occupying presence”. The current defence deal runs from 2025 to 2023. Justice dictates it should the last.

Featured image via the Canary