Liberators’ day with King Charles III amid apology calls

King Charles III on Wednesday met the families of various freedom fighters in the country as pressure continued to pile on the United Kingdom’s government to apologize for the atrocities committed on the fighters during the struggle for independence.

During the meeting attended by Evelyn Kimathi, the Chief Executive of the Dedan Kimathi Foundation, Alphonce Mkare from Mekatalili wa Menza family, Ambrose Tarus, a member of the Koitalel family and the Talai clan, Richard Langat, Coordinator of the Borowo family and the Kipsigis clans and Mzee Gitu wa Kahengeri, chair of the Mau Mau Veterans Association, the majesty was able to hear first-hand stories about the violence committee during this period.

A statement from the British High Commission confirmed the meeting a day after King Charles attended a State banquet hosted by President William Ruto and Rachel Ruto at State House, Nairobi said that the wrongdoings of the past are a cause of the greatest sorrow and the deepest regret’.

On Tuesday evening, the King fell short of offering an apology by the British during the deadly Emergency period from 1952-1960 that saw crackdowns including killings, torture and arrest of Mau Mau freedom fighters. He instead offered that the wrongs were of “greatest sorrow and the deepest regret.”
According to the King, the matter should in future be handled with “openness and honesty.”

His sentiments came after President Ruto reminded the monarch that the British presence in Kenya had led to European settlement and the displacement, dispossession and disenfranchisement of native Africans, paving the way for a “brutal colonialism.”

King Charles has been under pressure by rights groups and families of freedom fighters to tender an apology.

The presence of Kahengeri at the meeting rekindled memories of the 2013 out-of-court deal in which the British government agreed to pay Sh2.8 billion (£19.9 million) as compensation over torture during the colonial period.

This came after three Mau Mau veterans were allowed by the High Court in Britain to pursue damages for abuses they suffered during the rebellion in the 1950s.

Former UK Foreign Secretary William Hague stated then that the UK government recognized Kenyans were tortured and it “sincerely regrets” the abuses that took place.