Restitution and Apology

Restitution means trying to repair a historical wrong: through apology, compensation, returning stolen property, or telling the truth about what happened. In Kenya, the debate covers colonial abuses, land, stolen objects and injustices committed after independence.

For decades, Britain denied or downplayed abuses during the Mau Mau Emergency. In 2009, five elderly survivors, including Jane Muthoni Mara and Wambugu wa Nyingi, sued the British government in London. During the case, it emerged that thousands of colonial files had been secretly removed from Kenya at independence and hidden in Britain. These 'migrated archives' were revealed in 2011.

The High Court allowed the case to go ahead, and in June 2013 Foreign Secretary William Hague announced a settlement: £19.9 million shared among 5,228 survivors, and a statement of 'sincere regret'. It was not a formal apology, and Britain did not admit legal liability. A memorial to the victims, funded by Britain, opened in Uhuru Park in 2015.

Not everyone benefited. In 2018, a further case brought by around 40,000 Kenyans was dismissed because the judge ruled that too much time had passed for a fair trial. In 2023, King Charles III visited Kenya and spoke of his 'greatest sorrow and the deepest regret', but again did not apologise.

Objects are part of the story too. Museums in Europe hold thousands of Kenyan objects taken during colonial rule, and since 2018 the International Inventories Programme has been mapping where they are. The Nandi have campaigned for the return of the remains and regalia of Koitalel arap Samoei; in 2006 his sacred staffs came home.

Kenya has also faced its own record. The Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission reported in 2013 on abuses from 1963 to 2008, and in 2015 President Uhuru Kenyatta apologised for past injustices. But many of its recommendations, including reparations, have not been carried out.