Britain to pay nearly US$4 million in compensation after troops sparked huge forest fire while training in Kenya

A woman shows her inhaler. She says most of her neighbors have developed respiratory issues after the fire. (Festo Lang for CNN via CNN Newsource)

The British government has agreed to pay almost US$4 million to thousands of victims of a blaze started by its soldiers while in training in Kenya, according to documents seen by CNN.

The settlement follows a long legal battle by local community members in the East African country. The campaigners have said the effects of the 2021 fire in an expansive wildlife conservancy in central Kenya have caused them lifelong health issues, damaged their property and polluted their environment.

Some of them also told CNN that they lost family members due to ailments arising from the inferno that burned through more than 10,000 acres in the privately owned Lolldaiga conservancy.

The fire is believed to have started accidentally during a British military training exercise. The British Army Training Unit Kenya (BATUK) posted a video at the time showing its officers battling the blaze, in which it claimed the community and wildlife had been kept safe.

The government of the United Kingdom has now agreed to pay £2.9 million (about $3.9 million) to 7,723 Kenyans who filed complaints, but will not accept liability for the fire, according to a confidential settlement agreement obtained by CNN.

The settlement is not being shared equally. Many beneficiaries were disappointed that, after the four-year legal fight, they will receive just 22,000 Kenyan shillings ($170) and now plan to protest, according to a local lawmaker.

“It’s a success story because it’s the first time we’ve ever won a case against the British Army in Kenya but it’s so little it’s almost nothing,” Laikipia County MP Cate Waruguru told CNN. “They feel that their sweat and their struggle have not borne any fruit. We need to see our courts stand up to protect the rights of Kenyans,” she added.

Kelvin Kubai, a 27-year-old lawyer who grew up in the area, initiated the class-action lawsuit that culminated in the settlement, although he said his clients had hoped for a payout some 20 times larger.

“Military training and conservation are incompatible. There is a need to separate them,” Kubai told CNN on Thursday. “This payment is nowhere close to give (my clients)… the financial assistance to enable them to move far away from this training. So the only thing now is to move the training away from them.” He says the “ex gratia” payout – a voluntary payment made outside of any legal obligation – was the fastest way to compensate the affected community instead of pushing for a full trial that could have lasted years.

The British army pays Kenya about $400,000 a year to allow BATUK to train in the country. The UK troops operate mostly in large wildlife conservancies in Laikipia and the neighboring Samburu County. But allegations of human rights abuses including rape and murder have dogged BATUK for decades, leading to an ongoing Kenyan parliamentary investigation. Military officials say they investigate all reported claims of misconduct against officers in Kenya, but they do not comment on individual cases.

The British High Commission in Nairobi, which represents BATUK in country, said it was “pleased that a global settlement has been agreed with the claimants’ appointed legal representatives” and called the fire “extremely regrettable” but declined to say if any officers had faced disciplinary action for it.

“The UK has devoted considerable time, effort and resource to resolving these claims for the people affected,” a spokesperson told CNN in a statement.

CNN has also contacted the British Ministry of Defence for comment.

‘If we get this money, we will leave’

Community members have previously demonstrated against BATUK and the British government. When CNN met a group of area residents outside the fence of the Lolldaiga conservancy in June last year, many hoped for a substantial payout so that they could move away from the area.

One woman raised her inhaler above her head as she explained that she and most of her neighbors had developed breathing difficulties requiring medication and frequent hospital visits following the fire.

Nearby, Hannah Wanjiku fought back tears as she spoke of the British troops who train near her home. She said that her grandchildren are sick and that she has developed chest problems. “We live a difficult life. If we get this money, we will leave,” Wanjiku added.

The community meeting in June 2024 was convened by activist James Mwangi who has campaigned for the residents since the blaze. “In March 2021, this area was a furnace for seven days. Over 10,000 people were choked by smoke, toxic smoke,” he told CNN at the time.

In environmental terms, one report, by consultancy firm Howard Humphreys – commissioned by Lolldaiga Hills Limited – found it would take until at least 2060 for the land to fully recover from the effects of the fire.

Previously a private livestock ranch, Lolldaiga became a conservancy in 2021 and is home to the endangered Grevy’s zebra, elephants, buffaloes, lions, hyenas, jackals, vervet monkeys and baboons.