An Internally displaced Person in a camp at Eldoret

May 19, 2008

Last week the question of whether youths arrested during the post-election violence should be granted amnesty took center stage with leaders mainly from the larger Rift Valley province calling on the government to release the youths “unconditionally.”

Hon William Ruto, Minister for Agriculture has been in the forefront of the campaign to have the youths released. He was over the weekend joined by fellow cabinet ministers, Charity Ngilu, James Orengo and Paul Otuoma who echoed his call as they attended a homecoming ceremony for assistant minister Omingo Magara in Gusii.

Prime Minister Raila Odinga has since joined the queue. On Sunday, while addressing a rally in Tinderet, Nandi during a thanks-giving service for Industrialisation minister, Henry Kosgey. The Prime Minister said the youths were languishing in jails in Nyanza, Rift Valley and Nairobi, and it was time they were released.

On this particular one, the government seemed to be reading from different scripts. The Justice, National Cohesion and Constitutional Affairs minister Martha Karua has a different view altogether. Hon Karua opposed calls for the release of those who took part in the post-election violence that left over 1,200 people dead and more than 350,000 homeless.

But as the debate on the granting of amnesty for the perpetrators of post -election violence rages on, there are those who share the opinion that priority should be given to the exercise of resettling the IDPs to their original homes which commenced a couple of weeks ago, dubbed “Operation Rudi Nyumbani.”

This debate and the simmering disagreement-both in private and public- of the two major players, ODM and PNU and their associates turns out to be a major test to the survival of the grand coalition government. The manner in which the issue is determined will be a pointer to whether the coalition government will survive the five-year term or not.

Special Programmes Minister Dr. Naomi Shaban last week fired the salvo at politicians agitating for amnesty for the perpetrators of post-election violence to shelve their demands and give the resettlement exercise a chance and spearhead dialogue among the affected communities. Dr. Shaban ruled out amnesty but called upon the affected communities to dialogue and come up with a solution that “would facilitate future peaceful coexistence.”

Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka is also on record to have dismissed calls for the release of the youths involved in the violence, maintaining that anyone who had a hand in the post election violence “must face the law.”

As its first major assignment, the coalition Government has a herculean task of dealing with the question of resettling internally displaced persons, many of whom continue to spend cold nights in the camps.

Already a commission has been set up to investigate the post election violence. The commission is headed by Court of Appeal judge, Justice Phillip Waki. Kenyans are keeping their fingers crossed on whether this commission will reach any water-tight conclusions.

But of pertinent concern to majority of Kenyans is the issue of resettling the displaced persons who continue to wallow in misery and grueling circumstances. The Government however is confronted with the difficulty of establishing genuine IDPs from “fake” ones. Media reports continued to indicate that a number of camps were witnessing an influx of more refugees after the government announced a compensation scheme for the affected people.

Recently, in what could easily frustrate “Operation Rudi Nyumbani,” Dr Naomi Shabban ruled out compensation of internally displaced persons who are still living in the camps. On the other hand, the displaced persons seemed to be throwing spanners into the works as they remained resolute that they will not relocate unless they are compensated first. The Minister however maintains that compensation would be in the farms “in order to avoid imposters who were out to benefit fraudulently.”

Of course the question of IDPs who had lived in rented houses then begins to linger. And some have expressed this as a factor to why some displaced persons have declined to return home; they have no home to return to.

Reports also continued to indicate that there are people hell-bent on ensuring that the IDPs don’t return to their homes, and the Government through the Ministry of State for Provincial Administration and Internal Security, warned individuals inciting the displaced persons against leaving the camps of dire consequences.

Whether the government will hid ODM’s call to give amnesty to perpetrators of the post-election violence-which Hon Karua maintains, “justice must run its course,”- the condition of the people living in camps is at best, agonizing. The Government needs to put its act together.