Evictees call for speedy resettlement

By GILBERT KIMUTAI

Bomet County: Mau forest  evictees from Kusumek IDP camp in Konoin constituency have petitioned the Government to fasttrack their resettlement.

Speaking in Bomet town where they staged a peaceful demonstration, the evictees said their patience in the camps had run out and the Government was dragging its feet despite their suffering.

The more than 350 IDPs braved chilly weather and walked more than 120 kilometres to Bomet.

Kusumek IDP camp secretary Simon Ngeno who led the demonstration accused the Government of bias in their resettlement programmes.

“More than 800 households at the camp in Bomet County were locked out of the resettlement list deliberately subjecting them to a long wait,” said Ngeno.

He said the Special Programmes ministry had only registered a few people with a promise to enlist those who had been left out.

“How can the Government resettle a section of IDPs and leave others yet the eviction was done at the same time?” posed Ngeno.

Pleas ignored

Ngeno said their pleas through some of their leaders at the camp have been ignored.

He added that the evictees go without food for weeks despite the promise by Bomet governor Isaac Rutto to supply them with food every month.

Embomos ward representative Robert Serbai where the camps are located asked the Government to move with speed and stick to its promise to resettle all the IDPs.

“Conditions at the camps are deplorable and the Government should come to the rescue of the IDPs still in camps by providing them with land,” he said.

He also took issue with the county government saying it had neglected the plight of the evictees despite the county setting aside Sh8 million in its supplementary budget for the IDPs in Konoin.

“The IDPs are saying they are going without food yet we set aside and passed at the Assembly a budget of Sh8 million for them. Where is the money? The governor’s office should explain what it has done  with it towards helping the IDPs,” said the ward representative.