IDP Question

The government is playing the Russian roulette with the IDPs. Since 2008 the government has failed to come up with a clear concise resettlement plan for the IDPs. There were very informed ideas that were being suggested after the unfortunate violence of 2007-08 but which the government never took into account. Now all its efforts have come to not. Although I sympathise with the IDPs I also empathise with those who are opposed to them being resettled in their midst.
First as in case of all emergencies the need to provide a roof for the victims overshadows anything else. After establishment of refugee camps the government should have established a resettlement department with clear mandate of finding a long term solution. Money should have been availed to build proper houses in the camps. After providing decent houses the department would then be free from pressure to resettle quickly the IDPs.
The department first mandate should have been to establish a register of peoples, land and properties (both destroyed and undestroyed). Thereafter a field survey to identify and secure such properties should have commenced. Hand in hand a consultation period should have been set. This should have brought all stakeholders in a round table.
Interested groups would be able to present their views. Afterwards decisions would be arrived at whether to resettle these victims back into their original land, buy the land off them, encourage them to build in one secure area and farm in the rest etc.
What we are currently seeing is a one tribe affair that is generating hatred and bitterness (before you curse me I know majority of victims were Kikuyus but we need a settlement plan for all victims regardless of tribe). The kind of leaders like Wa Murugi (minister in charge of resettlement) will only make these victims more vulnerable to future attacks and deaths. All her efforts will end in tears and more sorrow.
Kenyan divisive society continues not to invest in peaceful resolutions but more on more discordant and frictional policies. All stakeholders i.e. the government, new settlers and indigenous inhabitants must come to terms before any new settlements are established.
Last but not least the post-election displacement of 1000’s should have become a blue print of solving our land tenure system. The government should have used this chance to encourage victims to form farming cooperatives where land is group owned and farmed communally. This would ensure no more sub division of land as this practice has led to a starvation cycle even in places where food used to be abundant. The government too seems stuck in this outdated peasant practice. Or else how does it justify buying a 2000 acre piece of land in Mau and trying to subdivide it into 2.5 acre pieces.
The government is playing the Russian roulette with the IDPs. Since 2008 the government has failed to come up with a clear concise resettlement plan for the IDPs. There were very informed ideas that were being suggested after the unfortunate violence of 2007-08 but which the government never took into account. Now all its efforts have come to not. Although I sympathise with the IDPs I also empathise with those who are opposed to them being resettled in their midst.
First as in case of all emergencies the need to provide a roof for the victims overshadows anything else. After establishment of refugee camps the government should have established a resettlement department with clear mandate of finding a long term solution. Money should have been availed to build proper houses in the camps. After providing decent houses the department would then be free from pressure to resettle quickly the IDPs.
The department first mandate should have been to establish a register of peoples, land and properties (both destroyed and undestroyed). Thereafter a field survey to identify and secure such properties should have commenced. Hand in hand a consultation period should have been set. This should have brought all stakeholders in a round table.
Interested groups would be able to present their views. Afterwards decisions would be arrived at whether to resettle these victims back into their original land, buy the land off them, encourage them to build in one secure area and farm in the rest etc.
What we are currently seeing is a one tribe affair that is generating hatred and bitterness (before you curse me I know majority of victims were Kikuyus but we need a settlement plan for all victims regardless of tribe). The kind of leaders like Wa Murugi (minister in charge of resettlement) will only make these victims more vulnerable to future attacks and deaths. All her efforts will end in tears and more sorrow.
Kenyan divisive society continues not to invest in peaceful resolutions but more on more discordant and frictional policies. All stakeholders i.e. the government, new settlers and indigenous inhabitants must come to terms before any new settlements are established.
Last but not least the post-election displacement of 1000’s should have become a blue print of solving our land tenure system. The government should have used this chance to encourage victims to form farming cooperatives where land is group owned and farmed communally. This would ensure no more sub division of land as this practice has led to a starvation cycle even in places where food used to be abundant. The government too seems stuck in this outdated peasant practice. Or else how does it justify buying a 2000 acre piece of land in Mau and trying to subdivide it into 2.5 acre pieces.