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5,228 Kenyans who were tortured during the Mau Mau uprising to be compensated. Photo/AFP

Kenya

UK pays Sh300k each to Mau Mau victims

5,228 Kenyans who were tortured during the Mau Mau uprising to be compensated. Photo/AFP

5,228 Kenyans who were tortured during the Mau Mau uprising to be compensated. Photo/AFP

LONDON, Jun 6 – Britain has agreed to compensate 5,228 elderly Kenyans who were tortured during the Mau Mau uprising against colonial rule in the 1950s, Foreign Secretary William Hague said on Thursday.

Hague stopped short of a full apology, but offered Britain’s “sincere regrets” for the abuses as he unveiled a compensation deal worth Sh2.6 billion (£19.9 million, 23.5 million euros, $30.8 million).

His statement follows a four-year legal battle in which Britain had sought to deny liability for the abuse, claiming legal responsibility had passed to the Kenyan government after independence in 1963.

“The British government recognises that Kenyans were subject to torture and other forms of ill-treatment at the hands of the colonial administration,” Hague told the House of Commons.

“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 that we unreservedly condemn.”

British law firm Leigh Day, which has pursued the case, welcomed the deal and said it had been agreed with all of its 5,228 Kenyan clients. If divided up equally, the payment per person reaches about Sh500,121 (£3,800).

However, only Sh300,000 will enter the veterans’ accounts with the rest covering legal fees charged by the law firm.

About 160 elderly Mau Mau gathered to hear the announcement made simultaneously by the British high commissioner in Nairobi, where London will also help build a monument to victims of colonial-era torture as part of the deal.

“I’m thankful to heaven that we are still alive today to experience this and to be compensated for the atrocities that have been committed,” said Habil Molo Ogola, 78.

He told AFP he was detained while trying to help Mau Mau prisoners escape. He was held for three years, during which he was tortured.

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“I’m very grateful to the British for finally accepting to compensate us,” he said.

Martyn Day, senior partner of Leigh Day, acknowledged the legal pressure on London to reach a deal but said “it takes courage to publicly acknowledge for the first time the terrible nature of Britain’s past in Kenya”.

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