The MoD introduced the ban on transactional sex the year after the Sunday Times published allegations that a British soldier stationed in Kenya had murdered Wanjiru and dumped her body in a septic tank.
Njoki described her aunt to openDemocracy as "very cheerful". "She was a joker, she was funny, hard working," she added. "She was such a social person. Even now, if she was alive, she is who I would run to for help."
She warned that: "Nothing seems to have changed since the ban. The only thing that can change is punishing those who are culpable, starting with the murderer of my aunt."
While Labour defence secretary John Healey met Wanjiru's family in April this year, little progress has been made on bringing her suspected killer to justice or getting compensation for the family.
"Healey criticised the Conservatives for sitting on their hands; now he is sitting on his hands," Njoki said. "We feel that he used our family for political gain."
She believes the UK government could do much more and is now fundraising to travel to the UK later this year. "I want to show people that something is wrong, that nothing is happening in Agnes' case, that things are still the same," she said.
"We are asking for compensation but they say they can do nothing until the [Kenyan] criminal investigation is done," Nikoji added. The case was reopened in 2021, but "no progress is made on that", she said. "For 13 years we have been waiting, and still you want to keep us waiting."
Kelvin Kubai, a human rights lawyer in Nairobi, described the inquiry as "very welcome", but said transactional sex is just one way British soldiers sexually abuse Kenyan women. He represents mothers who say their children have been abandoned by fathers who return to the UK from BATUK, often to their own families.
"Local women are therefore left vulnerable and forced to raise kids on their own after their fathers are discharged from duty in Kenya," Kubai told openDemocracy. "In the past two years, we have documented 30 of these, mostly consensual, relationships but this is the tip of the iceberg.
"The most overarching challenge is men who sire children and avoid responsibility by taking advantage of absence of policy and mechanism to hold them to account."
General Sir Roly Walker, Chief of the General Staff confirmed the MoD would be implementing the report's recommendations in full, including with "new measures to prevent sexual exploitation and abuse. These include increasing the Army's ability to discharge people for engaging in transactional sex, a new and specific training programme placing an obligation on everyone in the Army to prevent sexual exploitation and abuse, and increasing our oversight and assurance measures to ensure this is being taken as seriously as it warrants." He also acknowledged how the report "sets out a number of areas where we've already taken action, which will help tackle sexual exploitation and make Kenyan women safer."
"There is absolutely no place for sexual exploitation and abuse by people in the British Army," Walker said. "It is at complete odds with what it means to be a British soldier. It preys on the vulnerable and benefits those who seek to profit from abuse and exploitation.
"The findings of the Service Inquiry I commissioned conclude that transactional sex is still happening in Kenya at a low to moderate level. It should not be happening at all.
"We are fully committed to preventing sexual exploitation in any form and will continue to listen, step up, and take action when we need to, including working with the other Services to learn lessons and share best practice across Defence".
Megyn Kelly -> Pete Hegseth responds to 2017 rape accusation. 🔥 vol. 3, issue 13 | December 6, 2024 Quick Hits All the news you need in...
No comments: