British King Charles III. During his state visit to Kenya, he spoke of “despicable and unjustified acts of violence” regarding British colonial rule. There can be “no excuse” for these actions during Kenyans’ struggle for independence, Charles said yesterday at a state banquet hosted by Kenyan President William Ruto. However, the British monarch did not issue an official apology.
The Kenyan Human Rights Commission requested this from him before the visit. At the start of his four-day visit to Kenya, the monarch and his wife Camilla were received with military honors by President Ruto in Nairobi.
“Painful aspects” of the past
The British Embassy had already stated in advance that the visit would also honor “the painful aspects” of our common past. This includes, above all, the bloody defeat of the Mau Mau revolt between 1952 and 1960. At least 10,000 people were killed at that time. Tens of thousands of people were imprisoned in camps without due process. There were numerous reports of executions, torture and cruel mistreatment.
The Kenyan Human Rights Commission convicted Carlos III. Shortly before his arrival, he was asked to issue an “unequivocal apology for the brutal and inhumane treatment” Kenyans were subjected to during decades of colonial rule. Furthermore, Britain would have to pay reparations.
Charles said at the official banquet that nothing can change the past. But by approaching their shared history with “honesty and openness”, Kenya and Britain could perhaps demonstrate the “strength” of their “friendship today”.
Kenya’s head of state, Ruto, spoke of the “monstrous” cruelty on the part of the British colonial power. Charles’s “courage and willingness to bring uncomfortable truths to light” is a first step toward achieving “progress beyond the timid and ambiguous, half-hearted measures of recent years.”