Kenyans take British Army payout

Tribespeople were maimed or killed by abandoned bombs

More than 1,000 Kenyans have accepted a British Army offer of £500,000 ($950,000) compensation for injuries they sustained from abandoned bombs.

They are the second group of Kenyans to receive the compensation.

In 2002, 228 herdsmen won £4m ($7m) for injuries received on a firing range used by the British Army.

The claimants' lawyer said the new sum was smaller because the ranges had also been used by Kenyan troops, so it was unclear whose arms were responsible.

The British Army made the offer last month to 1,046 Maasai and Samburu tribespeople who filed suit in a British court in January 2003.

British troops have been training in Kenya, which is a former British colony, since World War II.

My clients have today taken the view that they would rather walk away with a reasonable amount in their pocket then fight on for the next two years and stand the chance of getting nothing Lawyer Martyn Day

During that time, tribespeople have grazed their cattle in the unfenced areas of the ranges, in Archers Post and Dol Dol, in the centre of the country.

The claimants said they had been maimed or had had relatives killed by bombs and artillery left behind after British soldiers conducted military exercises.

In a statement issued in London, their lawyer, Martyn Day, said new evidence had come to light during the course of the case.

This had suggested that the Kenyan army was responsible for a greater portion of the munitions left on the ranges than had been realised when the July 2002 settlement was made, he said.

His clients, he said, had decided they would rather walk away with a reasonable amount than "fight on for the next two years and stand the chance of getting nothing".

"In accepting the payment, they feel that some recognition has been given for all they have been through, and they can at last start to move on in their lives."