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Kenya: Why Kenyans Still Fear Home
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The Monitor (Kampala)
OPINION
22 March 2008
Posted to the web 21 March 2008
Carolyne Muyama
At long last a new year has begun for Kenyans who wished one another a 'happy new year' after the power sharing deal was signed in Nairobi. One great fear has been overcome.
Kenya President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga signed an agreement to end the post-election violence in the country on February 27. It was attributed to Kofi Annan's patience.
The December 2007 elections dented Kenya's good democracy record in East Africa. Within no time machetes were flying everywhere, women and children crying helplessly with little hope to live up to the next day. Many fled Kenya.
Nobody can walk into death with eyes wide open. So before long many areas along the Kenya-Uganda border were congested with people trekking in day and night. The UNHCR and other national and international agencies were at the spot to save the situation. The displaced people were moved to Mulanda Transit Camp with a hope of a better solution soon.
Expectant faces greet you as you disembark at Mulanda camp. Children playing around, chasing each other and laughing merrily, which gives you a false picture that 'everything is fine'.
In the backyard, the tents are wearing out, drugs are not sufficient, children are not getting proper education and those supposed to join secondary school seem to be losing hope. Life is no picnic here! The wrangles within the camps are evidence of how bitter these people are for what they went through. This is the time we should see them eager to go back home.
But surprisingly, they have no such intentions. They are skeptical about the power sharing deal and they think it is only beneficial to Odinga and Kibaki.
"The peace pact has a long way to go. We feel peace has some steps; it's not time for us to leave," one of them Joseph Githui said.
Apparently issues of land are of profound interest throughout Africa. The conflict in Kenya was long over due especially in the Rift Valley areas. The registration of land increased tenure security for land owners but also increased the disputes. This appears to have been an opportunity for a quick revenge.
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The power sharing deal could be an immediate solution now but the real problem of land has to be addressed squarely. If the deal was the solution, these people bundled at Mulanda would be on their way home. Forgiveness and reconciliation has to come from within for a lasting solution.
"You can think there is peace now in Kenya but we haven't made peace with the people that burnt down our homes. Help is needed where we come from, not in Nairobi," said John Njoroge, a leader in the camp.
This is a clear indication the refugees in Mulanda and the rest in other areas would rather stay here than go back home to meet their neighbours.cmuyama
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