Following a two-year investigation, multiple British soldiers who had been stationed in Nanyuki, Kenya, have been exposed for fathering children with local women and leaving them behind.
As reported by the BBC World of Secrets podcast and BBC Africa Eye, UK-based international children’s rights lawyer James Netto and Kenyan human rights lawyer Kelvin Kubai worked with geneticists to help children born near the British military base discover who their fathers are. Through the use of commercially available DNA ancestry bases, they found that almost one hundred children, many of whom were lighter in skin tone, were found to have been fathered by men who served at the British Army Training Unit army base in Nanyuki.
“These people aren't looking for a quick buck or a payout. They want to know who their dads are... It's your fundamental right to know who your family is, your identity, and your heritage,” said Netto. Of the confirmed cases, they said a woman named Cathy grew believing that her father, who was engaged to her mother before leaving without warning, was dead. Another case included Peter, who said he was ostracized in his community for being the only mixed-race child.
“This is the beginning of justice for children who've been in the circumstances of this small number of cases that we've been able to prove here in Kenya. Your DNA, even when dead, still lives,” Kubai added. “It might not be through you, but through your living relatives. Your DNA will always be living. And as long as it's living, we'll always find you.”
One of the former soldiers, who was identified as a father, said that he was previously contacted by his daughter in Kenya, but he was homeless at the time. “She got in touch with me on Facebook, but I wasn't in the right frame of mind at the time,” said the former soldier, Phil. “I know a lifetime's not going to make it up for, but at least I can try.”
World of Secrets presenter and producer Ivana Davidovic said it was a “privilege” to report on the investigation. “Through legal and genetic evidence, this investigation set out to examine questions of accountability, including the long-standing behaviour of some British forces deployed in Kenya, and the Army’s role in addressing its impact, as well as the wider, long-term consequences of Britain’s post-colonial legacy and military presence in the country,” said Davidovic. “I am grateful to the families who trusted us with their stories.”
