A Kenyan court this week ordered the arrest and extradition of a British national suspected of murdering a 21-year-old woman in a town close to a United Kingdom army training camp in Kenya in 2012.
The ruling has brought renewed attention to the long-running case of the young woman, Agnes Wanjiru, whose murder in Nanyuki, central Kenya, shook her community and sparked nationwide outrage.
Nanyuki community members have long accused British soldiers training in a garrison close to the town of gross misconduct; however, no suspects have been tried.
If the extradition goes ahead, it could mark the first time that a current or former British soldier will be extradited to face trial in another country for a civilian’s murder, according to the UK’s Guardian newspaper. In a statement, the UK government acknowledged the ruling and promised to cooperate with Kenyan authorities in the case.
Reacting to the ruling, Wanjiru’s family said on Tuesday they had waited “too long” for justice but hoped that it would now arrive, according to reporting by The Associated Press (AP) news agency.
“While this is progress, it is not justice yet,” family spokesperson Esther Muchiri said.
John Muchiri Kamunge, brother-in-law to Agnes Wanjiru, who was allegedly killed by a British soldier in 2012, visits her grave at a cemetery in Nanyuki, Kenya, Thursday, November 4, 2021 [Brian Inganga/AP Photo]
What happened to Agnes Wanjiru?
Twenty-one-year-old Wanjiru worked as a hairdresser and a sex worker in Nanyuki, her hometown.
On the night of March 31, Wanjiru disappeared. Witnesses said she was last seen in the company of British soldiers on a night out at the Lion’s Court Lodge. The hotel is popular with British soldiers of the British Army Training Unit Kenya (BATUK), a permanent garrison in Nanyuki.
Two months later, on June 5, Wanjiru’s body was found in a septic tank located close to the hotel.
She had been beaten, stabbed, and was most likely still alive when she was thrown into the septic tank, a Kenyan magistrate said in a 2019 inquest. Wanjiru’s daughter, who was just a few months old, is now 13 and is being raised by her grandmother and an aunt.
The allegations against a British soldier came to light in 2021 when a Sunday Times investigation revealed that “Soldier X”, whom Wanjiru was last seen with, was believed to have stabbed her in the chest and abdomen. The soldier revealed his actions to colleagues and showed them where he dumped her body. At least one of them reported this to senior commanders at BATUK. It’s unclear if any action was taken.
The Sunday Times’ investigation revealed “Soldier X” and several others further poked fun at the murdered woman in Facebook posts.
Attempts by her family to sue BATUK in Kenya were initially met with resistance because the British government, under the former ruling Conservative Party, claimed Kenyan courts did not have jurisdiction over UK troops. Following the Sunday Times exposé, however, the British government’s stance changed.
A UK parliament vote in April 2023 amended security agreements between the two countries to allow for British troops to be tried locally in Kenya. In August 2023, the Kenyan government officially launched an inquiry into Wanjiru’s killing. Kenyan investigators are understood to have travelled several times to the UK since then to speak to witnesses.
What did the court say?
Nairobi High Court Justice Alexander Muteti on Tuesday said there was “probable cause to order the arrest of the accused” and issued a warrant for “one citizen and resident of the United Kingdom”.
The court did not name the suspect, a move that family members of the late woman questioned.
Kenya’s office for the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) said in a statement on X that “extradition proceedings would now be initiated to ensure the suspect is brought before a Kenyan court”.
“Today, the DPP informed the High Court that evidence gathered links the suspect, a United Kingdom citizen, to the murder,” the statement read, adding that the extradition proceedings will be initiated.
The case will next be heard in court on October 21, 2025, the DPP said.
A pedestrian walks past Lion’s Court Lodge, where Agnes Wanjiru was allegedly killed by a British soldier in 2012, in Nanyuki, Kenya, Thursday, November 4, 2021 [Brian Inganga/AP Photo]
What is BATUK?
The British Army Training Unit Kenya (BATUK) is a permanent training support force based on the outskirts of Nanyuki that has been operating since Kenya gained independence in 1963. Thousands of British infantrymen have passed through the BATUK training camp for exercises in harsh terrain.
The unit has some 100 permanent staff and about 280 rotating short-term regiments from the UK. British troops train there as well as Kenyan troops who are part of antiterrorism squads focused on the armed group al-Shabab in neighbouring Somalia.
While the British soldiers’ presence has bolstered the local economy, there have been complaints about their conduct towards local people and the way they treat the local environment. Residents of Nanyuki complain of unexploded bombs that have detonated and maimed community members, and the presence of white phosphorus, a lethal chemical, left behind after training exercises. In one case in 2021, the chemical is believed to have started a large fire that damaged swaths of forest land.
Allegations that the soldiers pay local women for sex are rife. In July 2022, the UK’s Ministry of Defence banned soldiers from using sex workers abroad as part of efforts to curb sexual exploitation and abuse. In an August 2024 report conducted by the British army into activities at BATUK, however, officials found that soldiers there were still using sex workers at a “low or moderate level”.
What has the UK government said?
The British High Commission in Kenya reiterated earlier commitments that it would cooperate with Kenyan authorities on the case, but did not confirm or deny that an extradition request for the suspect had been issued, according to the AP.
According to The Guardian, a spokesperson for the UK government, reacting to the ruling, said: “Our thoughts remain with the family of Agnes Wanjiru and we remain absolutely committed to helping them secure justice.”
The spokesperson added: “We understand that the Kenyan director of public prosecutions has determined that a British national should face trial in relation to the murder of Ms Wanjiru in 2012.
“This is subject to ongoing legal proceedings, and we will not comment further at this stage.”
In April this year, UK Secretary of Defence John Healey met with Wanjiru’s family and promised to help the family get “the justice they deserve”.
