MEDIAWATCH: Displaced Kenyans caught in deadlock
Written by: Joanne Tomkinson

A woman from Kikuyu tribe displaced during post-election violence sits next to her temporary shelter in Nairobi's Mathare slum.
REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra
REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra
Children still not reunited with their parents; camps hit hard by heavy rain; malaria and flu flourishing - this is the picture for 300,000 Kenyans still displaced by violence after last year's disputed elections. As the political crisis deepens, many are concerned about the implications for those still homeless in the country. For Jeffrey Gettleman, writing in the International Herald Tribune, it's the country's internally displaced people (IDPs) who are paying the highest price for the political deadlock that has hit Kenya's power-sharing process. "Top politicians have been preoccupied with haggling over cabinet posts and forming a coalition government," Gettleman writes, adding that many are worried the new expanded government - predicted to be over 40 ministries strong - will eat up money needed to help resettlement efforts. The rainy season is expected to hit people living in camps hard, and many would like to return to their homes. But fear is a major obstacle, leading many to resettle in areas where their ethnic group dominates. Without adequate government protection, this is seen as the only way to guarantee safety, he writes. For the Kenyan media, meanwhile, the plight of the country's internally displaced population raises many questions about the country's future - and its past. Writing in Kenya's Daily Nation newspaper, Justin N. Kimani says the country's future depends on political leaders giving sufficient attention to resettling IDPs. Ongoing peace hinges on forgiveness and reconciliation, he says, and so far politicians have spent more time on the details of power-sharing than helping people back to their homes. "The patience of the refugees, their relatives and friends is fast running out," Kimani writes. "If this happens, any calls for reconciliation, whose prerequisite is forgiveness, will now be more difficult to heed." Conditions look set to get even worse for those living in camps as the rainy season has now started. The prospect of water-logged tents and over-spilling latrines looks set to increase the hardship for those who still remain displaced by violence. "The government should mobilise resources speedily to show real commitment to resettling the refugees immediately and institute the reconciliation process," he writes. For Dennis Onyango, writing in Kenya's East Standard newspaper, the needs of the country's IDPs raise serious questions about the country's historical legacy. Long-running disputes over the unequal distribution of land still haunt Kenya and must be dealt with as a priority, according to Onyango, who says that many of today's displaced people have been suffering due to land clashes for years. "It is now acknowledged that buried in the violence that rocked Kenya over disputed election results are issues like land ownership, anger over past unpunished crimes and unequal distribution of resources," he writes. For Kenya to move on, history must be properly dealt with and that means giving IDPs proper attention, Onyango says. "Land or lack of it is a recurrent problem that has gripped Kenya since independence", and this is the issue that should be dealt with above all others, he writes.
Reuters AlertNet is not responsible for the content of external websites.
Leave a Reply
When you submit a comment to us we request your name, e-mail address and optionally a link to a website. Please note where you submit a website address, we may link to it via your name. By sending us a comment, you accept that we have the right to show the comment and your name to users. Although we require your email address, this will not be published on the site, and is only required to enable us to check facts with you, e.g. if you are making a claim we can not confirm easily. Additionally, if you would like your comment removed at anytime, you'll have to use this e-mail address when you contact us. To remove a comment at any time please e-mail us at blogs-(at)-reuters-(dot)-com (address obscured to avoid spam) specifying who you are and what you would like removed. We moderate all comments and will publish everything that advances the post directly or with relevant tangential information. We reserve the right to edit comments in order to maintain the quality of the comments, and may not include links to irrelevant material. We try not to publish comments that we think are offensive or appear to pass you off as another person, and we will be conservative if comments may be considered libelous. Reuters will use your data in accordance with Reuters privacy policy. Reuters Group is primarily responsible for managing your data. As Reuters is a global company your data will be transferred and available internationally, including in countries which do not have privacy laws but Reuters seeks to comply with its privacy policy.
Unlike some other content on this website, the written content in this article may be republished or redistributed by any means free of charge. Any use of photographs and graphics on this website is expressly prohibited. You must check whether written content contained in other articles on this website may be republished or redistributed without the express permission of Reuters or the relevant third party provider.
%}



