File on 4 Investigates - Searching for Soldier Dad

DNA detectives track down the British soldiers who fathered children in Kenya then disappeared, leaving the children and their mothers without support.

With exclusive access to every stage of this cutting-edge process, we follow as a team of lawyers and a leading geneticist travel to Kenya. We witness the groundbreaking legal and scientific detective work used to find the missing military dads.

Lawyers believe British soldiers stationed at the army base in Nanyuki, Kenya, may have fathered hundreds of children over decades — the oldest we meet is now 70 the youngest just three years old.

What’s at stake is not only the reputation of the British armed forces and the UK’s post-colonial legacy. The mixed-heritage children have in some cases been ostracised by their communities and denied a chance of British citizenship since birth.

Presenter: Ivana Davidovic
Producer: Josephine Casserly

A Long Form Audio production.

Published on Tuesday, 28th April 2026.

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