Britain’s King Charles and Queen Camilla commenced the second day of a state visit to Kenya on Wednesday, November 1 as survivors of colonial-era abuses castigated his failure to tender an extensive apology and suggest reparations.
During a state dinner on Tuesday, October 31, Charles had expressed his sincerest regrets for the “abhorrent and unjustifiable acts” of violence meted out against Kenyans during the country’s independence struggle.
The Kenyan President, William Ruto had thereafter, praised the monarch’s first step toward going beyond the “half hearted measures of past years” although he had admitted that there was a lot of reparations to be done.
It is noteworthy to mention that during the 1952-1960 Mau Mau revolt in central Kenya, about 90,000 Kenyans were murdered or maimed while 160,000 people were detained. These statistics were according to the Kenya Human Rights Commission, KHRC estimates.
The British colonialists had also committed blatant human rights violations, including land dispossessions, killings, torture and sexual violence against hundreds of thousands of people in Western Kenya over decades.
King Charles’ visit is coming at a time when ex-colonies are urging Britain to do more to identify the abuses of its colonial past.
Notable colonies like Barbados and Jamaica have been re-assessing their ties to the monarchy.
On Wednesday morning, Charles and Camilla visited a cemetery dedicated to the veterans of World War Two.
They awarded four veterans, who fought alongside the British, medals to replace ones they had cast out during the Mau Mau uprising.
