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Kenya: Victims Rush to Value Property for Payouts
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The Nation (Nairobi)
10 May 2008
Posted to the web 12 May 2008
Barnabas Bii
Nairobi
Thousands of internal refugees in parts of Rift Valley have carried out their own estimates of losses they incurred in the post-election violence and are armed with documents ready to demand compensation from the Government.
Another group wants the Government to value their lost property and compensate them in terms of cash before they can vacate the camps.
"I had to move fast and carry out the valuation following a pledge by the Government to compensate us for the losses," said Samuel Njoroge from Kaptagat who estimates to have lost Sh800,000.
It includes a razed semi-permanent house, five dairy cows, a flock of sheep and goats and several bags of maize and beans that were burnt in the store.
"There is no way the Government should expect us to move to our homes without compensating us. Most of us have suffered a similar fate in previous politically instigated violence, with the Government failing to honour its compensation pledge," added Mr Njoroge.
Property valuers in Eldoret and its environs have recently been doing booming business due as more victims of the violence seek to know estimates of the property they lost.
"There is a rush by some of the internal refugees to carry out valuation of their property ready to take up the matter with the Government," confirmed Nick Kiprono, a property dealer in Eldoret.
Some of the post-poll clash victims have also censured the Government for failing to compensate them for losses they incurred in previous political violence.
Cannot dictate
"The Government failed to pay us for losses we incurred in the 1992 and 1997 politically instigated chaos and we do not want a repeat of the same," said Mr Gabriel Gitau Ng'ang'a, a businessman who estimates his losses at over Sh1 million.
He wants compensation for at least a quarter of the losses.
"We cannot dictate to the Government the amount of money it should pay us as compensation. However, we are ready to move to our farms so long as we are paid any amount, even as low as Sh10,000, to start a new life," said Mr John Njoroge Mbugua at Eldoret showground camp.
The father of four says he lost over Sh400,000 after his maize crop was burnt and house burnt down.
The showground camp hosts more than 15,000 who fled various parts of the North Rift region during the violence sparked by the disputed presidential results.
But Rift Valley Provincial Commissioner Noor Hassan Noor and the Permanent Secretary for Special Programmes, Mr Ali Daud Mohammed, have maintained that compensation will be done in the farms to ensure that it benefits genuine victims.
"We want the evicted people to first settle in their farms and proper documentation put in place to facilitate the compensation," said Mr Noor when he launched the resettlement of 3,855 people in Geta Farm in Trans-Nzoia District.
According to Mr Ali, the Government will provide building materials for those who have returned to their farms. It will also give them financial assistance to enable them purchase household items.
The move to compensate victims in their farms follows fears that some people who were not affected by the violence have registered as victims, with a view to benefiting from the compensation.
The fears have been confirmed by victims in some of the camps in Uasin Gishu District and humanitarian organisations operating in the area.
"Some of the people in the camps were casual labourers while others had rented houses which makes it difficult to trace their actual homes. However, vetting has been going on to establish genuine cases," said Kenya Red Cross manager in charge of the North Rift, Mr Patrick Nyongesa.
Investigation by the Nation established that most of those still in camps in the region are people who rented premises for business or casual labourers who worked in tea and sugar cane plantations.
Ms Mercy Wambui, who says she lost over Sh600,000 after her business was looted in Kapsabet, asked the Government to allocate affected entrepreneurs capital to enable them set up business.
Relocate them
"Not all the internal refugees owned land. There is need for the Government to allocate us financial compensation to serve as capital and rent for business premises," appeals Ms Susan Ayuma who fled from a tea plantation in Nandi Hills.
And other victims want the Government to take over their farms and relocate them to "safe areas."
"The Government has the capacity to determine the size of land in areas affected by the violence. It also has the mechanism to relocate us to safer areas after taking over what we owned," argues Mr Njoroge Mungai, 65, from Yamumbi Farm.
But officials in the ministry of Lands say they have not received any directive to have people unwilling to return to their farms surrender them to the Government and be relocated to areas of their choice.
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But as the victims demand compensation before they vacate the camps, it remains uncertain if the Government has the money to implement the process.
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