Final phase of IDPs resettlement to cost the government over Sh4.48Billion

The resettlement of 2007-2008 PEV victims, forest evictees and other Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) is set to cost the government over Sh4.48Billion.
The government has already spend over Sh15.4 Billion in resettlement of 173,809 households displaced from the 2007-08 post-election violence.
According to recommendations from National Consultative Coordination Committee on Internally Displaced Persons (NCCC) there are 98,327 households awaiting resettlement from government.
The victims comprise of 75,293 Households integrated IDPs, 2,127 Households- Kipkurere Forest Evictees, 357 Households-Sambalat landslide victims, 1, 000 Households- Mandera IDPs, 13,618 Households unprofiled IDPs and 5,932 Households un-profiled forest evictees.
The committee in its recommendations after a meeting chaired by Deputy President William Ruto in August 18 this year want the resettlement of 75,293 integrated IDPs to be finalized and chapter closed.
The committee wants the National administration to conduct fresh profiling of 2,127 households evicted from Kipkurere forest to weed out individuals how have since been resettled by government before finalizing the resettlement.
The committee also asked the government to re-profile Sambalat landslide IDPs alongside 13,618 IDPS in unprofiled camps and 5,932 forest evictees before being resettled.
The committee notes that the entire resettlement of IDPs will cost the government Sh4.48 Billion out of which the Committee has Sh2,323,820,147 available this financial year.
Treasury in the 2015-16 budget allocated Sh2,205,000,000 in a bid to finalise the exercise which has dragged for several years.
The Committee was forced to reduce an initial budget of Sh891million which was meant for construction of IDP houses in Government procured farms, profiling of IDPS and forest evictees among other activities in cost cutting measures which saved the government Sh425Million.
The resettlement excise will see each household receive Sh200,000 cash benefit from government to enable them purchase land with the government considering on using NYS to build houses for IDPs to reduce costs.
The Committee has asked the government to immediately release funds to 470 households who were displaced in Mandera and were recently paid Sh150,000 each.
According to the committee each household should be paid an additional Sh50,000 while the County government of Mandera is set to receive sh50 million to facilitate the resettlement of the IDPs.
The committee also wants the government to resettle all integrated IDPs together with forest evictees to allow the government issue a new policy declaration of future IDPs.
"Once the current IDPs are assisted there is need to issue a policy declaration to bring the matter to closure to enable NCCC embark on new chapter on internal displacement," the Committee recommends.
The Committee comprises representatives from the Ministry of Devolution and Planning, Interior and National Coordination, National Treasury, Land, Housing and Urban Development, Attorney General's Office and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Other members include the Chairperson of the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, the Chairperson of the National Lands Commission, Non -State Actors, the Donor Community and representatives of the IDPs.
Already around 1,000 household evicted Mau forest in Njoro Sub-county have received Sh200,000 each.