Kenya: victims of Lolldaiga fire still wait for compensation
Kenya only shook off British rule in 1963 and relations between the two countries have been complicated ever since. More recent events at a British army training camp have not helped improve matters.
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00:00 This fire in the Loldaiga Hills in 2021 burned for days.
00:06 The fire destroyed approximately 12,000 acres of land.
00:09 The fire was started a few days ago by British troops carrying out training exercises in
00:14 that part of the country.
00:17 That British involvement was clear to everyone.
00:21 So the cause of the fire was part of a British training exercise up there.
00:24 As you know, British and Kenyan forces regularly exercise up together in that area.
00:30 It was an accidental fire that was started.
00:33 Linus Morangeri worked at the British camp.
00:36 He died while fighting the fire.
00:39 His widow Karen Gatweri is struggling to raise their two sons alone.
00:43 She says the children are getting no compensation for the loss of their father.
00:50 If it were not for the British soldiers' training, my husband would still be alive.
00:55 Whenever I see them, I do not wish them well, since they are the cause of my suffering.
01:00 I cannot stop my face from changing when I see them.
01:04 I feel bad.
01:05 It is still very painful.
01:10 Not far away, Peter Masharia's grave.
01:14 His brother Joseph Shege blames smoke from the fire for his death.
01:20 We laid him to rest here after a battle with chest illness.
01:23 His chest was blocked.
01:26 We took him to hospital and got him treated.
01:28 But we couldn't get any help from the British side.
01:33 He was overwhelmed and he eventually died.
01:40 A consultancy report says Loldaiga will take until 2060 to recover.
01:46 Kelvin Kubai represents people claiming compensation for the fire.
01:49 He says they are at a similar disadvantage as the Maumau fighters, like his grandfather
01:54 who fought the British for independence.
01:56 We are fighting the same foe.
01:59 And this same power, of course, tries in every way to resist its responsibility.
02:05 Our grandfathers were fighting them with medieval weapons, some spears and clubs, and the young
02:11 machine guns and planes then.
02:13 We are fighting against an army that can afford the best lawyers in the country and tries
02:18 to hide behind legal tassels and technicalities so as to avoid responsibility.
02:24 King Charles III is technically head of that army.
02:27 This week, during his visit to Kenya, he spoke about the atrocities against the Maumau fighters,
02:32 but did not apologise.
02:34 The wrongdoings of the past are a cause of the greatest sorrow and the deepest regret.
02:40 There were abhorrent and unjustifiable acts of violence committed against Kenyans as they
02:48 waged, as you said at the United Nations, a painful struggle for independence and sovereignty.
02:57 And for that, there can be no excuse.
03:00 Far from the glamour of the state banquet, Karen is trying to focus on the future.
03:04 Her message to the King.
03:08 I would just like to see my kids get help on how they can go to school, since their
03:13 father had envisioned educating them all the way, and for them to lead a good life.
03:22 The fire here at Loldaiga is among a number of incidents involving the British Army in
03:27 Kenya being examined by a wide-ranging inquiry launched earlier this year.
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