Provincial
PC tells off elders for rejecting IDPs
In Summary
- Leaders warned of arrest if they resist the resettlement
Rift Valley Provincial Commissioner Osman Warfa on Friday rebuked elders opposed to resettlement of displaced people in their areas.
The Kalenjin elders, mainly from Rongai constituency, had sought out the PC after a meeting with DC Benjamin Nzioka ended in a stalemate.
Mr Warfa did not take lightly to the elders’ suggestions that they would only welcome IDPs who had originally lived in the area and warned they would be arrested.
“I have no time for misinformation and rumours,” he said, dismissing claims that 14,000 IDPs would be settled in Rongai. He said only 600 people would be settled.
The 30 elders told Mr Warfa that they feared crime and violence would soar, considering there were 25,000 squatters who have lived there for ages.
However, it emerged that the issue was political, with the dominant Kalenjin fearing the influx of Kikuyu people might result in the loss of a seat they have held for years.
The government has bought 1,170 acres of land in Rongai for resettlement.
Area MP Luka Kigen who was at the meeting, dismissed reports that MPs from the Rift Valley had agreed that the IDPs be settled in his constituency.
And as the debate raged, about 3,300 refugees from Mawingu camp were moved to Rongai on Friday.
Initially reluctant to move, the presence of Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta reassured them.
National shame
Mr Kenyatta described the issue as a national shame and called for reconciliation and forgiveness.
Meanwhile, Molo PNU chairman John Kamama has urged leaders in areas where refugees are arriving to welcome them warmly.
Mr Kamama said some leaders were unhappy with the resettlement of internal refugees in their areas, saying they did not belong to the community.
He criticised a Rift Valley MP for allegedly inciting communities against welcoming the refugees.
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Me thinks that the govt should not use force to resettle IDPs in hostile areas. If elders have formerly objected to IDPs being resettled, what will happen next? The govt needed to have done proper ground work. One true fact that govt has always failed to acknowledge is that in Kenya, every area has its owners, even what seems to be empty land in North Eastern.
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Name the MP inciting Kalenjins to be against the resettlement...makes it easy for justice to be delivered.
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