Kenya seeks arrest of former British soldier over Agnes Wanjiru murder

A warrant has been issued for the arrest of a British national on suspicion of the murder of the Kenyan woman Agnes Wanjiru, who was found dead in the grounds of a hotel near an army base in 2012.

- Hannah Al-Othman

The high court judge Alexander Muteti issued the arrest warrant yesterday in Kenya, with the prosecution telling the court a suspect had been charged with murder and his extradition to Kenya was being sought.

Witnesses based in the UK would be called on to testify in a future trial, the prosecution said. “The witnesses are in [the] United Kingdom but we will avail them,” the court heard.

The office of the director of public prosecutions informed the court that the accused had been charged with the offence of murder.

Wanjiru, 21, was last seen in the company of British soldiers on a night out in the Lion's Court hotel in her home town of Nanyuki on 31 March 2012. She disappeared that night, with friends and family searching for her until her body was found months later inside a septic tank at the hotel.

Wanjiru, who worked as a hairdresser and sometimes sold sex for extra money, had a daughter, Stacey, who was just five months old at the time that she disappeared.

It is understood that Kenyan authorities will begin extradition proceedings, with the intention that the accused soldier will face charges in Kenya.

"We have lived with the pain of Agnes's death for over a decade," her family said in a statement. "The reports that an arrest warrant has been issued against a UK citizen is a significant moment for us and is incredibly welcome."

Tessa Gregory, the family's lawyer and a partner at Leigh Day, added: "The family now calls upon the British government to do everything in its power to ensure that the accused can be extradited and face trial in Kenya as soon as possible.”