Pastoralist compensation claim materialises

The mood is very positive this week among pastoralist victims of detonations of unexploded ordnance (UXO) on British army training grounds in northern Kenya, as the group's lawyer explains how much each of them will be paid of the almost US $7 million compensation they are being offered. All the 190 victims Martin Day had met so far in Archer's Post and Dol Dol (Samburu area) to explain the compensation package they were being offered by the British Ministry of Defence (MoD) had been satisfied, Day told IRIN on Thursday. The remaining 38 would be met in Maralal on Friday. Clients are being offered from between US $1,500 for minor injuries and US $460,000 for amputations of limbs or loss of sight. In addition to the 228 clients who had made the original claim, a further 15 new cases of injury caused by UXO had come forward in the last two days, which might be incorporated into the same claim, he said. Once all of the victims had agreed to the amount on offer, which was about 67 percent of the original claim, he would return to the UK to proceed with the case. So far, the response to the offer had been very positive, he added. The cheque from the MoD was expected to arrive by 21 November, employees of the Standard Chartered Bank having assisted the recipients to open accounts, John Olekeshine of the Organisation for the Survival of Il-Laikipiak Indigenous Maasai Group Initiatives, the local NGO which had pursued the compensation case on behalf of the victims, told IRIN. For any new UXO injuries which occurred, the MoD could be approached for extra compensation. "We know there are still hundreds if not thousands of unexploded bombs still out there. We have begged the British army to clear them up." The Archer's Post range extends over about 1,500 sq km, of which some 300 have already been cleared. "Each time they found four to five pieces of ammunition per square kilometre," said Day, "but they do not seem to want to put the resources into cleaning the whole range." Whereas in Britain, where there were detailed procedures in place with regard to clearing such training areas, these had been largely ignored in Kenya. "Over the decades, they have not applied those procedures. They have relied on the voices of the Maasai hardly being heard," said Day. He added that it would only take one more death for the British army to be shamed into clearing up the range properly. The British MoD agreed to pay the compensation plus costs to the 228 victims - members of the Maasai and Samburu tribes - last month in an out-of-court settlement, while not accepting full liability for the victims on the grounds that other armies also used the same firing ranges. The British army has conducted live-fire weapons training in Kenya for a number of months each year since 1945, when Britain was still the colonial power. According to Day, about 500 people may have been killed since the exercises began, and many more injured, by UXO left behind by the soldiers. Many of the victims were children, attracted to the UXO by its shiny exterior. Many of the Maasai and Samburu tribes people are also illiterate, and therefore unable to read warning signs.