The Kenya Human Rights Commission on Sunday called on Charles III to make an “unequivocal public apology” for human rights violations committed during Kenya’s colonial period (1895-1963). .
King Charles III and his wife Camilla are expected to arrive in Kenya from October 31 to November 3, marking his first state visit as monarch to a Commonwealth country.
The history between the two countries was particularly marked by the suppression of the Mau Mau revolt against the British colonial power, which left more than 10,000 dead between 1952 and 1960, most of them within the Kikuyu community, and was one of the bloodiest repressions in the British Empire.
After years of litigation, London agreed in 2013 to compensate more than 5,000 Kenyans, but some are waiting for the king to issue a formal apology for Britain’s past actions.
“We call on the King, on behalf of the British Government, to make an unconditional and unequivocal public apology (…) for the brutal and inhuman treatment to which Kenyan citizens were subjected throughout the colonial period,” between 1895 and 1963, and extended his best wishes to the Commission on Human Rights, which An independent human rights group.
The KHRC also demanded reparations “for all atrocities committed against various groups in the country,” citing land grabbing, as well as the suppression of the Mau Mau.
This visit will be an opportunity to discuss “the most painful aspects” of the history between the two countries, and Charles III will “take the time (…) to deepen his understanding of the wrongs to which the Kenyan people were subjected during this period,” Buckingham Palace confirmed before his visit.
The Kenya Human Rights Commission also called on Kenyan President William Ruto to give “priority (to these demands) during his meetings with the king.”
President Ruto is scheduled to receive the royal couple in the capital, Nairobi, on Tuesday. For two days, he must meet entrepreneurs and young people, participate in a state banquet, visit a new museum dedicated to the history of Kenya, and lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Uhuru Gardens in the center of the capital. .
Charles and Camilla are scheduled to then travel to the coastal city of Mombasa (south), where the king, who is interested in environmental issues, will visit a nature reserve and meet with representatives of different religions.
Kenya is particularly associated with the history of the royal family: in 1952, Elizabeth II learned of the death of her father, King George VI, making her the new dominion of the United Kingdom.
