As he visited Kenya on Tuesday, King Charles III acknowledged there could be “no excuse” for British colonial atrocities against Kenyans, but he did not give the apology expected by those in the East African nation.
“There were abhorrent and unjustifiable acts of violence committed against Kenyans as they waged… a painful struggle for independence and sovereignty. And for that, there can be no excuse,” Charles said at a state banquet hosted by Kenyan President William Ruto.
Although Charles and Queen Camilla’s four-day state visit has been hailed as an opportunity to look to the future and strengthen the friendly modern-day connections between London and Nairobi, the trip has been marred by calls for an apology.
The visit, which began on Tuesday, is the 74-year-old British monarch’s first to an African or Commonwealth country since becoming king last year, and it comes just weeks before Kenya marks its 60th year of independence in December.
This month, Buckingham Palace announced that Charles would spend time “deepening his understanding of the wrongs suffered” by Kenyans during colonial rule.
Charles said Tuesday that he hoped to “meet some of those whose lives and communities were so grievously affected” by colonial abuses.
“None of this can change the past but by addressing our history with honesty and openness, we can perhaps demonstrate the strength of our friendship today, and in so doing, we can I hope continue to build an ever-closer bond for the years ahead,” he said.
The Kenya Human Rights Commission urged him on Sunday to issue a “unequivocal public apology… for the brutal and inhuman treatment inflicted on Kenyan citizens,” as well as pay restitution for colonial-era atrocities.
Following a years-long legal battle, Britain agreed in 2013 to compensate over 5,000 Kenyans who had been subjected to abuse during the Mau Mau insurrection in a contract worth about 20 million pounds ($25 million at today’s values).
The so-called “Emergency” era was one of the worst insurgencies in British history, with at least 10,000 people slain, mostly from the Kikuyu tribe.