For his first trip to a Commonwealth country, King Charles III chose Kenya. The British sovereign responded to the invitation of Kenyan President William Ruto, as the country prepares to celebrate the 60th anniversary of its independence on December 12.
Kenya’s independence was wrested from British colonial rule in 1963, after 7 years of struggle against the atrocities of the empire’s soldiers. Britain has never officially apologized for the executions and torture of tens of thousands of Kenyans.
In an attempt to ease the still raw pain of this war, Charles III declared that “theThe mistakes committed in the past are the source of the greatest sorrows and the deepest regrets. Unjustifiable acts of violence were committed against Kenyans as they waged, as you told the United Nations, a painful struggle for their independence and sovereignty. There’s no excuse for that.”
At his side, Kenyan President William Rutto salutes the King’s courage in speaking out about his uncomfortable truths, before adding “that much remains to be done to obtain complete reparations, because this speech is above all symbolic.”
Kenya, country where Elizabeth became Queen
It was in Kenya that the long reign of Elizabeth II began, during a trip during which on February 6, 1952, on the death of George VI, she suddenly inherited the throne. She leaves behind a country to which she was deeply attached, but which under her reign suffered one of the bloodiest repressions of the British Empire with at least 10,000 dead and nearly 1.5 million Kenyans imprisoned. in concentration camps.
In the eyes of Kenyans, Charles III’s speech is absolutely not enough, even though the Kenyan Human Rights Commission had called on the King to present an unequivocal public apology.
British government refuses to apologize
Since independence, Britain’s gestures of reparation have been considered far too insignificant by the Kenyan population. In 2013, an out-of-court settlement awarded 23 million euros to 5,228 Kenyans, who denounced the atrocities of the British army during the war of independence.
British justice is not letting go of any procedure and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, the only official voice, clearly rejected last April the idea of apologizing for the Kingdom for its role as a slave and colonial power. The King therefore does what he can and dreams of major agreements with the former colonies, on the environment and new technologies, to save his Commonwealth.