A Kenyan court has issued a warrant of arrest for a British soldier accused of murdering Agnes Wanjiru Wanjiku, 21, in Nanyuki in 2012.
Justice Alexander Muteti granted the order after prosecutors said the suspect had been charged with murder but failed to appear in court. The warrant is expected to pave the way for his extradition to Kenya.
Agnes Wanjiru Disappearance and Murder
Agnes loved being a mother to her young daughter, but she struggled to make ends meet.
To earn money, she sometimes sold sex, like many young women in Nanyuki. British soldiers from the nearby BATUK base were frequent clients, often paying very little.
On the night of 31 March 2012, Agnes went out with her friends, Florence Nyaguthii and Susan Nyambura, to the Lion’s Court hotel, a place popular with British soldiers. Her friends remembered dancing with her around 11pm and saw her drinking a beer bought for her by a British soldier. That was the last time they saw her alive.
Her family later searched for her for weeks, until her body was discovered two months later, hidden inside a septic tank at the same lodge.
Her death devastated her family, who have carried the trauma for 13 years. Her daughter has grown up without her mother, and relatives say the pain has never gone away.
In Tuesday’s ruling, Justice Muteti also directed that neither the accused nor witnesses be named in the media, in order to safeguard the trial. The case will be mentioned again on October 21.
By Vivian K.