Nairobi — Tiaty MP William Kamket has issued a 48-hour ultimatum demanding reparations and compensation for the families of those massacred during the British Colonial rule in Kenya.
In light of this week's visit by King Charles III and Queen Camilla to Kenya, Kamket is pushing for compensation for the people of East Pokot who lost their lives and properties during the Kolowa Massacre.
He is urging the British Government to compensate the people of East Pokot with $35,000 for each life lost and $7,000 for each household that lost property.
Kamket emphasized the need for compensation, citing the Kolowa Massacre of 1950, where over 400 Pokot Morans and innocent worshipers of Mafuta Pole were brutally killed by the British Colonial Police.
"In 1950 at Kolowa, one of the many movements that used religion to fight the oppressive British Colonial Rule emerged. Led by Lukas Pkech, the people of East Pokot stood up against the colonial regime in defense of their inalienable right," Kamket explained.
While acknowledging King Charles III's expression of deep regret for past atrocities, Kamket believes more should be done to compensate the victims.
"This is a small but significant step in the right direction; however, a better apology would be meeting the people of East Pokot whose families and friends were indeed massacred, as King Charles III stated," the Tiaty MP noted.
King Charles III's Apology
During a State Banquet hosted by Kenyan President William Ruto and First Lady Rachel Ruto in October 2023, King Charles III expressed deep regret and sorrow for past atrocities committed by the British government during Kenya's struggle for independence, deeming them "abhorrent and unjustifiable."
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While he did not offer a formal apology, the King acknowledged the "painful aspects" of the United Kingdom's colonial history. The visit was marked by demands from rights groups and survivors for a public apology and reparations.
King Charles III expressed his willingness to meet with those affected by historical wrongs to "deepen my own understanding of these wrongs" and underscored the importance of addressing historical injustices with honesty and openness.
Colonial Oppression
The King's visit highlighted the brutal suppression of the Mau Mau uprising in the 1950s, which resulted in over 10,000 deaths and widespread torture. The Mau Mau resistance group was outlawed and designated a terrorist organization by the colonial government and successive Kenyan administrations.
Historical records show that the colonial government, with the assistance of Kenyan forces known as the home guards, conducted a harsh crackdown on the Mau Mau, using air power and ground forces. This led to the detention or internment of as many as 320,000 people, and prisoners suffered various forms of abuse, including castration, flogging to death, and immolation.
Over 1,000 individuals were executed by hanging during the emergency period, with the overall death toll estimated to be in the thousands. Historians have described the operations to quell the revolt as one of the bloodiest post-war conflicts involving the UK in the last century.
