IDPs to be moved in two weeks

• Kibaki orders urgent action ahead of the El-Nino rains that are expected next mont

President Kibaki has ordered the resettlement of all genuine internally displaced persons within two weeks.

The Head of State directed the ministries of Finance, Special Programmes, Lands, Internal Security and Agriculture to speedily ensure land is made available for the families.

“We should move with speed to resettle the IDPs who are still in camps. This matter has dragged on for too long. We must deal with it and ensure that we do not have persons still living in camps,” said President Kibaki.

Need to help

“We also need to help those who are going back to their land to resettle and undertake their farming. I also appeal to all communities to live peacefully and co-exist harmoniously.”

The President spoke on Friday at his Harambee House office, where he chaired a meeting of the committee overseeing resettlement of poll chaos victims.

This means all the 6,802 people currently residing in 19 camps will benefit from the resettlement programme.

Some of the camps are in Molo, Uasin Gishu and Trans-Nzoia West districts.

The government bore in mind the El-Nino rains, expected any time from next month, in setting the two-week deadline.

Some regions, especially Western and Nyanza provinces, have been experiencing heavy rains in the last one week, which have led to the death of at least five people.

The rains would have worsened the already deplorable conditions in the camps. The inevitable flooding would have caused an outbreak of water-borne diseases and destruction of the temporary structures.

The Finance ministry was directed to provide the funds and that of Lands to identify arable land for the resettlement.

The police, which falls under the Internal Security ministry, was ordered to ensure that no more camps were created by people posing as poll chaos victims.

And the Special Programmes ministry was asked to continue paying Sh25,000 to the victims who are currently being hosted by other families.

At the same time, the government has released more than Sh19 million to pay the displaced at the Eldoret Showground camp so that they return to their homes.

According to Wareng district commissioner Alex Ole-Nkoiyo, the 547 families at the camp will receive Sh10,000 each to purchase household items and an additional Sh25,000 meant to help them restart their lives.

Additional reporting by Barnabas Bii