- He noted that despite this, all parties opted for an out-of-court settlement on the matter, which showed the sincerity of the UK government.
- His remarks come ahead of King Charles III and Queen Camilla's planned visit to Kenya at the end of October.
Image: HANDOUT
The United Kingdom High Commissioner Neil Wigan has explained why the UK will not apologise to Kenya over the atrocities committed during the colonial period.
Speaking on Tuesday, Wigan said it is extremely difficult to offer an apology, and that is the reason they are yet to.
The High Commissioner said an apology would create a difficult legal ground for the UK government.
He noted that despite this, all parties opted for an out-of-court settlement on the matter, which showed the sincerity of the UK government.
"An apology starts to take you into difficult legal territory so to say and the agreement we made was an out-of-court settlement so it showed our sincerity and openness about recognising that abuses had been committed and that is the route that we chose and was accepted by the Mau Mau Veterans Association," Wigan said on Spice FM.
"We haven't made an apology really in any context, it is an extremely difficult thing to do. What we think we want to do is to acknowledge the difficult bits of history, talk about them openly both to affected countries and to individuals and communities."
The UK High Commissioner added that they have also been very careful with the words they use to address the colonial era issues.
Wigan, however, noted that the UK has engaged all affected parties and remains open about the history between the two countries and all affected countries.
"We choose the language carefully, we express deep regret we said it in parliament and in the most public way. We've engaged very closely with Mau Mau Veterans who are affected and we have paid compensation individually and also arranged for the monument which now sits in Uhuru Park. We've been very open about those difficult parts of our history."
His remarks come ahead of King Charles III and Queen Camilla's planned visit to Kenya at the end of October.
This will be Charles's first official visit to Kenya since he was crowned King. The visit will start from October 31 to November 3, 2023.
During their visit, the King and Queen will meet President William Ruto and First Lady Mama Rachel Ruto, as well as other members of government, UN staff, CEOs, faith leaders, young people, future leaders, and Kenyan Marines training with UK Royal Marines.