Agnes Wanjiru: Niece of Kenyan woman ‘murdered by British soldier’ comes to UK to seek justice

Esther Njoki was only eight years old when her aunt Agnes Wanjiru was killed in 2012.

She watched as her mother Rose frantically searched for her sister Agnes for 61 days before the body was found in a hotel septic tank.

Agnes’s baby Stacey was only five months old at the time her mother was murdered and in the thirteen years since, Rose has raised Stacey as her own child.

Her daughter Esther has grown to become the family spokesperson, urging the Kenyan and British governments to deliver justice.

In all this time, the British soldier accused of murdering Agnes has been living freely in the UK.

“I knew I had to take this responsibility, especially because of her daughter. She was left at five months old and is turning 14, and I always feel bad for her because it is a lot knowing what happened to her mum and knowing that the government knew and never took any action,” Esther tells us, by the tree that marks her aunt’s grave site in a Nanyuki cemetery.

Esther is now 21 years old, the same age Agnes was when she was killed. Instead of spending her time at university in Nairobi, she is preparing for an important meeting in London.

On Tuesday, Esther will sit with Defence Secretary John Healey and discuss on British soil the case of her aunt’s murder.

“I feel excited but I am also feeling sad because at 21 years, I should not be doing this. I should be doing other things and enjoying my life but since the British government and Kenyan government failed that is why I am planning all this – to go and lobby for Agnes.”

The Kenyan national prosecuting authority has finally issued an arrest warrant for the British soldier charged with murdering Agnes.

The Kenyan government has expressed intent to request his extradition, but the formal process is yet to begin.

“Although they have taken long and [are doing this] because of the pressure put on them, I think something will be done because the warrant of arrest has been issued. But again, it is a long journey ahead of us. Extradition might take as long as five years,” says Esther.

“We want the guy to be extradited here so that he can be a lesson for other soldiers who think they can come to Kenya and do anything that they feel like doing because they have power.”

Agnes worked as a hairdresser and sex worker at the time she was killed.

In November 2022, the Ministry of Defence banned British soldiers from soliciting sex overseas but an internal service inquiry found there have been low to moderate violations of the ban in Kenya.

Maryanne Wangui, an old friend of Agnes and leader of the sex workers alliance in Nanyuki, says that British soldiers are still paying for sex in the town, but much more discreetly.

“They are using Airbnbs and they have their pimps who they are using to bring those sex workers to their houses and they do their stuff there and pay them there. We are not protected because if a girl is killed in an Airbnb – who will cater for that death?” she asks.

The Ministry of Defence has told Sky News: “There is absolutely no place for sexual exploitation and abuse by people in the British Army.

“It is at complete odds with what it means to be a British soldier. It preys on the vulnerable and benefits those who seek to profit from abuse and exploitation.”

The MoD also sent this comment on Agnes Wanjiru’s murder: “Our thoughts remain with the family of Agnes Wanjiru and we remain absolutely committed to helping them secure justice.

“We understand that the Kenyan Director of Public Prosecutions has determined that a British National should face trial in relation to the murder of Ms Wanjiru in 2012. This is subject to ongoing legal proceedings and we will not comment further at this stage.”

Agnes’s hometown Nanyuki is the main base for the British Army Training Unit in Kenya (BATUK).

The market town was first set up as a white frontier settlement in the 1920s after the mass expulsion of Maasai from the Laikipia plateau by British colonial forces.

It became favoured by retired British soldiers who wanted to turn to agriculture and sixty years since Kenya’s independence, the town still feels trapped in the past.

Public hearings last year saw dozens of Kenyans allege violations by the BATUK in Laikipia and Samburu.

Local politicians, religious leaders and village elders were among those from across the region to share their grievances with the BATUK and requested compensation from the UK government.

Esther made her aunt’s case to a committee at a community hall in Nanyuki, and now she will make her case on British soil.

“Neocolonialism is still in Kenya. Even our government knew what these soldiers had done but they never took action, they do not protect their victims – their own citizens,” Esther tells us, hours before her flight to the UK.

“For sure, these guys are still colonising us because why are they training here? They have their own land.”