Bernard Namunane
25 April 2008
Nairobi — As President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga sought to pave way for the resettlement of internal refugees in the Rift Valley, local MPs were opposed to the approach.
The MPs, who have stated their position clearly in and outside Parliament, are against what they call a "superficial" solution to the problem without addressing the underlying causes.
Rift Valley MPs hold that the Government was rushing to resettle the more than 150,000 people who were displaced from their homes before solutions to the causes of the frequent fighting in the multi-ethnic region have been found. MPs Franklin Bett (Buret) and Isaac Ruto (Chepalungu) have prescribed a process that would lead to lasting peace and harmony among the ethnic groups living in the area. In an interview with the Nation, Mr Bett said: "A rush exercise is not a solution to the frequent bouts of political violence. Resettlement of the displaced people should not only be for political expediency. Let us do it for the coming generation and for peace."
To avoid a superficial solution, the ODM MP posed a question that he said MPs from the region were in agreement should be resolved. "Why is this problem coming up every election year? There must be a problem that is embedded in the minds of the people of the Rift Valley and this problem must not be superficially solved," he said.
Key among issues the MPs want addressed through the Justice, Truth and Reconciliation Commission is land ownership.
A proper census
Their demands also include the unconditional release of all those arrested during the post-election violence, a proper census of the refugees and identification of those willing to return to their homes.
They want an end to evictions in Mau Forest. They also want title deeds to be respected and special DOs who were sent to affected areas to be withdrawn. Other demands are stoppage of military action in Mt Elgon, withdrawal of firearms from civilians, a series of rallies by a committee of MPs to prepare the ground and fair distribution of relief farm inputs. Konoin MP Julius Kones said that they wanted hundreds of people from the region who were arrested during the post-election violence released by the Government and charges against them dropped.
"Apart from getting to the root cause of the chaos, we demand that the people who were arrested during the post-election violence be released unconditionally in the new spirit of reconciliation. We are just assisting the Government to ensure that when people are resettled, the violence will not erupt again," he said.
Mr Bett traced the land problem to the colonial period and blamed the founding father of the nation, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, for failing to allow 'original owners' to take over the land that was left by the settlers.
"In 1963, there was an agreement that when the white settlers leave, the land they tilled should revert to the original owners. But Kenyatta decided to trash the pact with leaders and this continued well into the seventies. People who were in the know - home-guards - expanded their land in central Kenya and in the process created IDPs (internally displaced persons)," he said.
He said that the displaced people were assisted to buy land through companies that came up.
"These are the people who were brought to buy land cheaply in the Rift Valley through groups such as Nyakinyua I, Nyakinyua II and Nyakinyua III to create space for homeguards.
Large tracts
"This is why we have large tracts of empty land in Central Province belonging to homeguards," he said. He submitted that retired president Daniel arap Moi was appointed vice-president to 'camouflage' the scheme.
"He was appointed to keep blind the eyes of the Kalenjin people and that is why we say that Moi connived," he said. Mr Bett, who served as State House Comptroller under Mr Moi, said the idea has been passed down to the present generation. "Somebody can say that I bought the land on which I am living. These are later cases, but the original buyers got it for a song," he said. Mr Bett said the belief that they were 'robbed' of their land has been passed on from one generation to another generation.
"This thing has been passed from one generation to another and the youth know it. This is why we are saying that all issues must be handled properly, conclusively, comprehensively and fairly," he stated.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 The Nation. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
