Families in camp told to go home as calm returns

Families displaced by ethnic clashes in Olpusimoru, Narok County, narrated the pain and anguish they had had to endure in the last four days of the fighting which has left three people dead and hundreds displaced.

Calm had by Sunday returned to the area with the families camping at the Township Primary School in Olenguruone town being asked to return to their homes if their houses were not burnt down.

Families have been sleeping on cold classroom floors, raising fears of a disease outbreak in the camp.

Some of the displaced people have also been receiving counselling and food supplies from the Kenya Red Cross Society.

Those whose relatives were missing or who were separated as they fled their homes were also being assisted to trace their loved ones.

RED CROSS

A table has been set up by the Red Cross team at the Olenguruone displaced persons camp specifically for this purpose.

Red Cross has also established a tent where its offering treatment for minor illnesses.

Some of the small businesses that had been closed down were opened on Sunday, a day after Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery warned that those behind the violence would be arrested.

On Sunday, each family at the camp received a humanitarian kit containing a kitchen set, two blankets, mosquito nets, bar soaps, water treatment tablets, clothing and special hygiene kits for women.

READ: Narok violence forces hundreds to spend Christmas night in the cold)

“This is the first disbursement and we will continue distributing to the displaced families in Olpusimoru on Tuesday,” said Mr Benedicto Omondi, Red Cross Regional First Aid Officer for the South Rift region.

Nakuru County Women Representative Mary Mbugua who visited the school yesterday called for calm among the displaced persons and assured them the government was in control of the situation.

She, however, said those behind the fighting must be arrested, regardless of their status.

RECONCILIATION

Meanwhile, local leaders were in the process of naming a reconciliation committee comprising representatives from both communities who will hold their first official reconciliatory meeting tomorrow.

A cleansing ceremony is expected to be conducted where the clashes occurred.

Olpusimoru Ward MCA Wilson Masinkonte said meetings have been held with members of both communities and an agreement reached to stop the fighting as ordered by Interior Maj-Gen (rtd) Nkaissery on Sunday.

“Both communities have given dialogue a chance and we are in agreement to engage opinion leaders and seek a way forward,” said Mr Masikonte at Teergat village.

Narok County Commissioner Mr Magu Mutindika said security had been maintained in the area and businesses had slowly started picking up at Olpusimoru shopping centre.

He said the youth who had been engaged in the fighting had gone back to their homes and he was optimistic that the situation would return to normal.

HUMANITARIAN AID

The Kenya Red Cross team, which delivered its first batch of humanitarian relief supplies, put the number of the affected at the Township Primary School camp at 680 families.

With an average of about five people in each family, the camp was holding close to 3,400 people.

It has not been possible to establish the exact number of displaced families because some were living with relatives and others had set up temporary shelters where they retire for the night.

On Sunday, Maj-Gen (rtd) Nkaissery and Inspector General of Police Joseph Boinett held a security meeting with local leaders and security chiefs from the area and later addressed the warring communities, warning them to stop the fighting or face arrest.

He ordered that a police camp be immediately put up in Olpusimoru Trading Centre and directed that anyone found walking in the night be arrested.