British Army soldiers are set to resume their training in Kenya on Tuesday after the new Nyati Barracks was built at the British Army Training Unit Kenya (BATUK) in Nanyuki, Laikipia County.

The UK training unit located in Nanyuki had been recalled in March last year when Covid-19 pandemic was reported in the country and started spreading fast.

Nyati Barracks was opened Wednesday by Kenya’s Defence Cabinet Secretary Monica Juma and UK Secretary of State for Defence Ben Wallace to enhance military ties between Kenya and UK.

“We want to develop the facility to something beyond just training and use it as a demonstration of our deepening partnership,” said Wallace at the launch.

Britain evacuated all her troops and their families from Nanyuki as Kenya started grappling with Coronavirus and its adverse effects after the first case was reported in March, 2020.

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But now, a year later, UK has resumed deployment of her troops to the newly-built barracks which neigbours Kenya’s Laikipia Airbase and more will follow in the coming weeks.

They are set to undergo a 15-day adaptation and quarantine period before they officially start their regular training.

Usually up to 10,000 British army soldiers train in Kenya but last year saw only 4,500 troops trained in Nanyuki as all countries remained cautions amid restricted international travel.


Britain finds the Kenyan weather and rough terrain ideal for training her troops and the launch comes as Britain signed an enhanced Security Compact deal with Kenya on Monday.

“The troops from both countries learn from each other. As a matter of fact, we have a lot of experience in Somalia so it is a mutual engagement,” Defence CS Juma said.