British soldiers could be questioned over the alleged murder of a Kenyan woman after an investigation into her killing was reopened.
Hillary Mutyambai, the inspector-general of police, urged the British government to collaborate with the Kenyan force so it could “conclude the case and administer justice”.
The Ministry of Defence had been criticised for its “totally inadequate” response to the death of Agnes Wanjiru, whose body was found in a septic tank in 2012, and the alleged cover-up by members of the army.
A diplomatic source in Nairobi has also said that the Kenyan government wanted to “suppress” the murder because of concerns it would damage relations between the two countries.
In a post on Twitter yesterday, Mutyambai said that he had instructed the directorate of criminal investigations to reopen the case. It was unclear what he meant by “reopen” the case because it is understood it was already being investigated by the detective chief inspector following an inquest into her death.
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Defence sources in the UK suggested that the Kenyans now felt “compelled to reinvigorate their work” given the reports into Wanjiru’s death by The Sunday Times.
The Royal Military Police, which has been criticised for failing to investigate the death, has been involved in the recent investigation. The Ministry of Defence said: “The UK stands ready to support all requests, as we have done since day one. As with other investigations we always work in partnership with the Kenyan police and subject to international and judicial processes our help will always be forthcoming.”
Wanjiru, 21, who had a five-month-old daughter, vanished from a hotel in 2012 after she was last seen walking into a room with two uniformed soldiers.
The prostitute’s battered body was found two months later in a septic tank in the grounds of the Lions Court Hotel in Nanyuki, near a British Army base.
At an inquest in 2019 a Kenyan judge ruled that she had been murdered by a British soldier. The identity of her alleged killer, named only as Soldier X, was said to have been an “open secret” in the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment for nine years. Soldier X has said that the “rumours” he was the killer were false and had been spread by fellow soldiers in a bullying campaign against him.
