NAIROBI (Reuters) -The UK has agreed to pay 2.9 million pounds ($4 million) in compensation to residents living near a Kenyan wildlife conservancy, following a fire sparked by a British military exercise in 2021, the plaintiffs’ lawyer said on Friday.
The British army conducts joint exercises with Kenya in the northern Laikipia region, where it has a base in the town of Nanyuki. The fire broke out in the nearby Lolldaiga in March 2021.
“We arrived at a settlement and have dispatched payments,” lawyer Kelvin Kubai said in a short message to Reuters. He said compensation was paid to over 7,000 residents for what he described as “smoke nuisance” caused by the fire.
Residents of Lolldaiga area accused a British army training unit of causing the wildfire that destroyed much of a nature reserve, leaving behind ordnance that injured locals.
A British soldier later seemed to claim responsibility for starting the wildfire in a social media post, prompting the British High Commissioner at the time to say she was “appalled” and to pledge an investigation by the Royal Military Police.
The British government on Friday expressed regret over the incident.
“The Lolldaiga fire was extremely regrettable, and the UK recognises the length of time it has taken to resolve this matter and the frustration that this has caused within the affected communities,” a spokesperson at the British High Commission in Nairobi said in a statement.
(Reporting by Humphrey Malalo; Writing by George Obulutsa; Editing by Ammu Kannampilly and Clelia Oziel)
