WILL KING CHARLES ADMIT TO CRIMES?

United Kingdom's King Charles is in Kenya on a state visit, but has he brought along one item Kenyans really want: A formal apology for crimes committed under colonial rule? The Kenyan people would like him to go beyond ‘acknowledging painful aspects of Britain’s past actions’ in the country. The monarch’s visit coincides with Kenya’s 60th anniversary of independence from British rule, which came after a brutal crackdown of the Mau Mau armed struggle for self-rule. The Kenya Human Rights Commission estimates colonial authorities tortured, maimed or killed more than 90,000 Kenyans between 1952 and 1960. In 2013, the British government made a statement of regret over colonial abuses and paid £19.9m to 5,200 elderly victims. However, historian and international relations expert Professor Macharia Munene said in a television interview last week that the visit will be meaningless if King Charles fails to issue a formal apology. Like his mother’s visit to Kenya in 1952—when she lodged in the Treetops Hotel as Kenyans were shedding blood for their freedom—King Charles may well choose to soak in the honours while glossing over grave historical injustices.

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