Batuk saga

BATUK soldiers during a thanksgiving service for Queen Elizabeth Windsor II conducted by Reverend Anthony Thompson in Nanyuki .[File, Standard]

For the past week, debate has raged over the future of the British Army Training Unit Kenya (BATUK) in Laikipia. As discussions over the Kenya–United Kingdom Defence Cooperation Agreement continue, strong arguments have been made for why BATUK needs to leave the country entirely, citing the atrocities that the region has faced over the years at the hands of the Army, as well as the signalling that the presence of the Army speaks to the fact that colonialism has perhaps never ended.

However, many residents of Nanyuki have expressed concern that the departure of British troops would devastate the local economy. Entire local economies have, over decades, been structured around the predictable arrival of thousands of British soldiers each year. Residents argue that Nanyuki is essentially a military town, an the departure of this primary source of income and business would result in economic collapse.