THE UK Government has agreed to pay almost £3 million to thousands of victims of a fire started by its soldiers while training in Kenya.
The £2.9m settlement, which was revealed in documents seen by CNN, came after a long legal fight with the local community – who have said the blaze in the wildlife conservancy they live in has caused lifelong health issues, pollution and damaged property.
The fire is believed to have started accidentally during a British military training exercise.
The UK Government expressed regret over the incident.
"The Lolldaiga fire was extremely regrettable, and the UK recognises the length of time it has taken to resolve this matter and the frustration that this has caused within the affected communities," a spokesperson at the British High Commission in Nairobi said in a statement.
The settlement is not being shared equally, however, with many beneficiaries receiving just 22,000 Kenyan shillings (£127) after the four-year legal fight, with a protest reportedly being planned.
“It’s a success story because it’s the first time we’ve ever won a case against the British Army in Kenya but it’s so little it’s almost nothing,” the local Kenyan MP Cate Waruguru told CNN. “They feel that their sweat and their struggle have not borne any fruit. We need to see our courts stand up to protect the rights of Kenyans.”
27-year-old lawyer Kelvin Kubai initiated the class-action lawsuit but said his clients had hoped for a much larger pay-out.
“Military training and conservation are incompatible. There is a need to separate them,” he told CNN.
“This payment is nowhere close to give (my clients) … the financial assistance to enable them to move far away from this training. So the only thing now is to move the training away from them.”
