A British soldier has been accused of raping a woman near a UK military training facility in Kenya, the same area where a previous murder allegation involving another soldier had been reported.
The alleged incident took place last month near the British Army Training Unit Kenya (BATUK), located in Nanyuki, approximately 200km (125 miles) north of Kenya’s capital, Nairobi.
The suspect was arrested and questioned after a group of soldiers reportedly visited a local bar in the town.
The UK’s Defence Serious Crime Unit — responsible for investigating serious offences involving British military personnel both domestically and abroad — has launched an investigation into the allegation.
The UK Ministry of Defence confirmed in a statement that a “service person” had been arrested in Kenya.
“Unacceptable and criminal behaviour has absolutely no place in our Armed Forces and any reporting of a serious crime by serving personnel is investigated independently from their chain of command,” the MoD said.
The alleged rape involving a soldier from the British base in Kenya follows previous allegations that a soldier stationed in Kenya was involved in the murder of a local woman in 2012.
The body of Agnes Wanjiru, who was 21 and a mother of one, was found in a septic tank near the Batuk base three weeks after she disappeared, allegedly after spending the evening with British soldiers.
The Sunday Times reported in 2021 that a British soldier was believed to have been responsible for her murder.
The MoD has since said it is cooperating with a Kenyan investigation into the incident.
The Batuk base was established in 1964 shortly after the East African nation gained independence from the UK.
The UK military has an agreement with Kenya under which it can deploy up to six army battalions a year for periods of training at the site.
But the British army has faced a string of allegations about the conduct of some UK personnel at the camp.
A public inquiry set up by Kenyan MPs last year heard details of alleged mistreatment of local people by British soldiers.
The allegations including a reported hit-and-run incident, and claims that some British soldiers had got local women pregnant before abandoning them and their children when they returned to the UK.