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Kenya: Some Victims Want Root Causes of Violence Adressed Before Resettlement
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The Nation (Nairobi)
5 May 2008
Posted to the web 5 May 2008
Barnabas Bii
Nairobi
A number of Rift Valley residents have accused the Opposition of attempting to derail the planned resettlement of internal refugees in the province, with some of the victims and locals vowing to resist being moved.
"The Government should have initiated genuine reconciliation before relocating internal refugees from the camps to their former farms. Suspicions between the victims and their former neighbours will derail the resettlement," Mr James Kipkoech from Uasin Gishu said.
Some of the residents wanted the Government to resolve the causes of clashes in the Rift Valley during every General Election instead of forcing the displaced people back to their farms.
Root causes
"The planned resettlement is a temporary measure and the clashes are likely to recur unless the root causes of the violence are resolved," said Mr John Maina at the Eldoret Show Ground camp.
Victims said they feared for their lives, although police posts had been set up in areas hit hard by the post-election violence.
"What is required is peaceful co-existence and not a 24-hour security system. In any case, the police are not enough to offer security to every home," said Ann Wanjiru, a victim from Burnt Forest. Some local residents are demanding the release of people arrested on suspicion of inciting the violence. "The police were selective in arresting those said to have been behind the violence. Peace can only be attained if some of the innocent people arrested are released," said Joseph Kemboi from Timboroa. Lack of title deeds and the squatter issue are likely to delay the resettlement.
Most of the internal refugees in various camps in the North Rift region do not have titles to their land.
Vetting process
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According to the Kenya Red Cross manager in charge of the North Rift region, Mr Patrick Nyongesa, some of the victims were casual labourers, while others were small-scale traders, whose premises were razed during the chaos.
"A vetting process has been going on to establish genuine people displaced from their farms with a view of assisting them to resettle," said Mr Nyongesa. Some of the squatters displaced from various public forests in the region have also asked the Government to consider them in the resettlement. More than 3,000 members of the Ogiek community, displaced from Kipkurer forest on the border of Uasin-Gishu and Nandi South, want the Government to also resettle them.
"It was unfair for the Government to evict us without giving us an alternative site to resettle. In any case, the forest has been our ancestral home since time immemorial," said Joel Tanui from Kipkurere.
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