Some 216 Kenyan IDPs in Uganda have not been resettled because they are arrogant and some are still traumatised by the 2007/08 post-election violence experience, a Cabinet minister has said.
Special Programmes minister Esther Murugi said the IDPs remaining in Uganda are demanding a 5-acre piece of land and Sh500,000 each before they come back to Kenya. “So we decided they might as well be better off living in Uganda as IDPs. They cannot give us ultimatums like that,” said Murugi during a Parliamentary Select Committee on IDP’s workshop in Mombasa yesterday.
Saboti MP Eugene Wamalwa had asked why the government has only returned 400 IDPs who had fled to Uganda and left the others. He said they should all be brought back. “We appreciate that the government resettled 400 IDPs from Uganda but there are others still remaining. How has your ministry helped them? Have you visited them?” posed Wamalwa.
Murugi said some the IDPs in Uganda need continued counselling and some are not ready to come back for fear of victimization. “One woman in Uganda witnessed her children being burnt in Kiambaa. She told me she cannot come back to Kenya for fear of the unknown,” said Murugi. She said the UNHCR in Uganda should continue counselling the IDPs until they are ready to come back home.
The minister also complained of skyrocketing land rates that she said have hampered the resettlement. She called on Finance minister Uhuru Kenyatta to increase the amount set aside for purchase of land for the IDPs. “The amount set aside for purchase of land was Sh200,000 per acre but for the last three weeks the prices have been going up,” she said.
Murugi said verification is necessary because some people masquerade as IDPs to benefit unfairly. She said the ministry is tracking alleged IDPs who sell off or let their houses. “It is disheartening to find out that an IDP has sold off or let his piece of land bought for them by the government,” said Murugi. Wamalwa and Cooperative Development assistant minister Linah Jebii Kilimo said there should be consultations before resettling IDPs to avoid conflicts.
Source: THE STAR
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