It was an honour and a privilege to meet these 'children' - from young babies, through to one who was almost 70 years of age. Most of them had given up hope of confirming their heritage and were very wary having been promised so much over the years."
Denise Syndercombe-Court, Professor of Forensic Genetics, King’s College London
29 April 2026
DNA tests identify British fathers of Kenyan children born near military base
An international investigation headed by King’s researchers has identified and formally recognised 20 British men who fathered children with local women near a military base in Kenya.
Led by Denise Syndercombe-Court, Professor of Forensic Genetics, and James Netto, an international family lawyer and Visiting Senior Researcher, the investigation combines genetic analysis with legal action to enable children born in the region to establish their paternity. This has opened the door to British citizenship, inheritance rights, and potential child maintenance claims.
The initiative, funded by King’s Together, began in December 2024, when the multidisciplinary team travelled to the rural town of Nanyuki, working locally with the Kenyan human rights lawyer Kelvin Kubai.
Nanyuki hosts thousands of British Army personnel each year at the British Army Training Unit Kenya (BATUK), the UK’s largest military base in Africa. During their visit, the team met numerous individuals who believed their fathers had served there. DNA samples and personal testimonies were collected from people in the surrounding communities.
These samples were initially analysed using genetic genealogy techniques, with profiles compared against commercial DNA databases to verify their paternal heritage. By identifying and mapping extended family connections, researchers were able to trace lineage and ultimately identify the fathers.
The findings have since formed the basis of a landmark legal case. Representing dozens of mothers and adult children, lawyers, working with DNA@Kings, have confirmed and secured formal paternity rulings in 12 cases made by a senior UK Family Court judge.
Many of these children experience significant discrimination in their home country. Often early promises were made yet faded when the fathers returned home. The research has given many of the affected individuals significant knowledge about their origins and fresh hope for their future lives. Most of those whose paternity has been established are now eligible to register for British citizenship. In addition, children under 18 - or those still in education - may qualify for child maintenance support.
"We aimed to give them control over their genetic heritage along with information and legal assistance to pursue citizenship rights if that was what they wanted. I hope we justified their trust in us and we will continue to work with others that now may come forward."
The project has received significant media attention and has been described in a five-part season of the BBC’s global investigations podcast, World of Secrets and a BBC Africa Eye documentary titled Searching for Soldier Dad.
BATUK, based in Nanyuki since 1964, has long been the subject of controversy. A Kenyan parliamentary report published in December 2025 detailed decades of allegations, including sexual abuse, abandonment of children, environmental damage, and unlawful killings. The inquiry described a “culture of impunity” and highlighted cases such as the 2012 murder of Agnes Wanjiru, alongside wider concerns about paternity claims and injuries caused by unexploded ordnance. According to the legal team, there are nearly 100 documented cases of children born near BATUK, with many more potentially unrecorded
The work builds on similar efforts by Andrew MacLeod, a Visiting Professor at King’s College London and co-founder of the charity Hear Their Cries. The group will continue their efforts in Kenya but hope to visit Sierra Leone in the future, working to identify children who may have been fathered by charity workers.
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Professor of Forensic Genetics