Laikipia locals against the renewal of UK Defence Cooperation Agreement
Renewal of the UK Defence Cooperation Agreement facing opposition from some Laikipia residents
Renewal of the UK Defence Cooperation Agreement facing opposition from some Laikipia residents.
The British government has started a new round of vigorous campaigning in an effort to renew the Defence Cooperation Agreement (DCA), although some Laikipia citizens are opposed to it.
James Heappey, the British Minister for the Armed Forces, is leading the lobbying efforts after visiting Kenya four times in the previous 12 months.
Just two weeks ago, during his most recent visit, he met with Aden Duale, the secretary of the defense cabinet, and senior military officers.
The former CS Monica Juma, who is currently a senior adviser in President William Ruto’s administration, and her British counterpart Ben Wallace signed the new agreement over a year and a half ago, and the UK is eager to see it through. The agreement was subsequently passed by the UK parliament.
However, the new agreement has not yet been ratified by the Kenyan parliament, leaving the British army legally exposed while it continues to train in Kenya without a contract after the 2016 DCA expired last year.
The UK minister said during his visit two weeks ago that he was confident the transaction would be approved after speaking with Kenyan defense authorities.
However, despite the aggressive lobbying, the DCA is facing heavy opposition from a section of Laikipia locals, who have given certain conditions to be met before the deal is ratified.
One of them is public participation so that they can give their views.
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Lawyer Kelvin Kubai argues that because the British troops will be based in Laikipia, the locals should also have a say on the rules of engagement.
“The locals are the immediate neighbours of the soldiers, so whatever they do will affect them directly. It is unfair and irresponsible to ignore their views,” he said.
Already, the Laikipia government has written to the parliamentary Committee on Defence and Foreign Relations, urging MPs to first seek the views of the public and other stakeholders before renewing the partnership.
In the two instances that the county attorney has written to MPs, the March 2021 wildfire at Lolldaiga Conservancy and the 2012 murder of Agnes Wanjiru have been cited as unresolved pertinent issues.
“The Previous Defence Corporation Agreement [signed in October 2016] had established the Intergovernmental Liaison Committee to hear disputes arising out of the existence of the Batuk,” says a letter from County Attorney Alex Muchemi that is copied to Governor Joshua Irungu.
“However, the committee has never been operationalized and has no physical address, which makes it impossible for any citizens affected to petition or be heard.”
The Intergovernmental Liaison Committee is handling a petition by locals of Lolldaiga over the fire and has allowed for the submission of compensation claims. More than 5,000 claims have been filed.
Wanjiru’s murder case has, however, gone cold, with UK minister Heappey revealing that probes have not started—more than a year after he promised the murder suspect would be extradited to Kenya for trial.
The two issues were leveraged as conditions to be met for the ratification of the DCA by Kenyan MPs.
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