英国王、ケニア公式訪問へ　植民地時代の行為に謝罪求める声も

【ナイロビＡＦＰ＝時事】英バッキンガム宮殿は、チャールズ国王がケニアを公式訪問すると発表した。これを受け、植民地時代に行われた残虐行為に対する謝罪を求める声が上がっている。（写真は英国のチャールズ国王）
　チャールズ国王とカミラ王妃は、１０月３１日から１１月３日の日程でケニアを訪問する予定。英連邦構成国訪問は戴冠式後初で、ケニアには４回目の訪問となる。
　訪問は１２月にケニアが独立６０年を迎えるのを前に、「温かな関係」をたたえるためとされている。
　チャールズ国王は、１９５２～６０年に起きた英統治に対する反乱と英国による弾圧に関する過ちへの理解を深めるための時間も取るという。
　英国は「マウマウの反乱」を容赦なく弾圧し、約１万人が殺害された。
　反乱の指導者デダン・キマティ氏の娘、イブリン・ワンジュグ・キマティ氏はＡＦＰに、チャールズ国王には「国を代表して謝罪」することを期待すると述べた。
　イブリン氏はまた、英国には自身の父親を含む「自由の戦士」の埋葬地の捜索に協力してもらいたいと述べた。デダン氏は１９５７年、ナイロビの最高警備刑務所で絞首刑となったが、遺体がどこにあるのかは今も分かっていない。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2023/10/12-16:59）

Britain's King Charles III faced calls Wednesday to apologise for colonial-era atrocities in Kenya when he visits the country later this month.
Buckingham Palace said Charles and his wife Queen Camilla will visit the East African nation from October 31 to November 3, his first trip to a Commonwealth country since becoming king last year, and his fourth official visit to Kenya.
If he is not coming to apologise for the atrocities they did to us then he should not come, 53-year-old accountant John Otieno told AFP.
Buckingham Palace said the visit was aimed at celebrating the warm relationship between the two countries as Kenya prepares to mark the 60th anniversary of independence from Britain in December.
It said the trip would also acknowledge the more painful aspects of the UK and Kenya's shared history including the Emergency in 1952-1960, a reference to bloody rebellions against colonial rule.
His Majesty will take time during the visit to deepen his understanding of the wrongs suffered in this period by the people of Kenya, the palace said.
About 10,000 people were killed during Britain's brutal suppression of the Mau Mau uprising, one of the British empire's bloodiest insurgencies.
Britain agreed in 2013 to compensate more than 5,000 Kenyans who had suffered abuse during the revolt, in a deal worth nearly 20 million pounds (almost $25 million at today's exchange rates).
We are hoping that he will bring a national apology, Evelyn Wanjugu Kimathi, the daughter of top resistance leader Dedan Kimathi, told AFP, saying she hoped the visit would lead to closure.
Once we have the goodwill from the UK government, everything else will be okay, said Kimathi, who heads a foundation that looks after the interests of veterans of the independence war as well as campaigning on environmental issues.
She also voiced hope that Britain would help Kenya identify graves of the freedom fighters including her father, who was hanged in 1957 at Nairobi's Kamiti Maximum Security Prison but whose remains have yet to be located.
- 'Reset relations' -
Other Kenyans voiced hope that the visit would forge a new path for relations with Britain.
He is very welcome to Nairobi but as someone we can negotiate shared development with, not a colonial master who wants to take more from us, said teacher Kamau Njoroge, 49.
Hopefully the visit will not be about our past but on our future. This is an opportunity to reset our relations, added businessman Kelvin Njuguna, 28.
I pray that it will change the issues we have been seeing in Nanyuki, he said, referring to allegations of abuses by British soldiers at a training camp near Nanyuki, a town about 200 kilometres (120 miles) north of Nairobi.
They continue to do bad things to our people in Nanyuki and go unpunished, added accountant Otieno.
Kenya's parliament announced in August an investigation into the activities of the British troops, including the high-profile killing of a young mother in 2012.
The body of Agnes Wanjiru, 21, was found dumped in a septic tank after she reportedly went out partying with British soldiers at a hotel in Nanyuki.
In the latest development in the case, her family last week launched a lawsuit in Kenya to compel the British government to inform them about the status of its investigation and possible prosecution of the culprit.
Mwangi Macharia, chairman of the African Centre for Corrective and Preventive Action that filed the case on behalf of the Wanjiru family, said he would be seeking justice.
He said he wanted King Charles to be informed about the Wanjiru case and a 2021 fire in an area used for training by the British troops that ravaged about 12,000 acres (4,800 hectares) of land.
Student Emma Orido, 25, said she did not think the royal visit would have any impact.
He will likely be guarded and will not go back to UK (understanding) the feelings of normal Kenyans, she said.