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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

He said thousands of Kenyans — many of them unassociated with the Mau Mau insurgency — had endured horrific treatment in detention camps run by British colonial officials.

“They included castration, rape and repeated violence of the worst kind. Although they occurred many years ago, the physical and mental scars remain,” Day said.

He added: “The elderly victims of torture now at last have the recognition and justice they have sought for many years. For them this significance of this moment cannot be over-emphasised.”

In a test case, claimants Paulo Muoka Nzili, Wambugu Wa Nyingi and Jane Muthoni Mara last year told the High Court in London how they were subjected to torture and sexual mutilation.

Lawyers said that Nzili was castrated, Nyingi severely beaten and Mara subjected to appalling sexual abuse in detention camps during the Mau Mau rebellion.

A fourth claimant, Susan Ngondi, has died since legal proceedings began.

Lawyers for the Foreign Office had argued that liability for the abuses stood with the Kenyan government, and that the events took place too long ago to allow a fair trial. But the High Court in London twice ruled that the compensation claims could proceed.

In his statement, Hague said Britain continued to deny liability and insisted that Thursday’s settlement would not represent a precedent for any other colonial-era complaints.

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