IDPs to move from camp amid protest

By Dedan Okanga

Displaced people (IDPs) at Eldoret Showground will today leave the camp to their homes.

The Government is expected to give the IDPs Sh35,000 to facilitate their relocation. The move coincides with the Friday directive by President Kibaki to relevant ministries to ensure all IDPs are resettled in two weeks.

The announcement was met with widespread celebrations on Friday evening, as the IDPs lit bonfires and held nightlong parties to mark the end of their 16-month sojourn at the camp.

But hundreds of the IDPs scheduled to receive the funds have vowed not to leave the camps before they are given land.

"We shall receive the money, but we shall stay put until we receive the land the President has ordered for us," said Mr Samuel Githinji.

Mr Wanjohi Ndung’u, an IDP representative, said Kibaki’s order would mark the end of their woes.

Double compensation

"This is our great moment of joy after 16 months of suffering, we now feel as Kenyans although the Government waited for too long to remember us," he said.

Earlier in a meeting between the IDPS and Eldoret South DC Alex ole Nkoyo, they had agreed to leave the camp once they get their dues.

Many of those who had remained in camps were tenants around town and claimed they did not have money to rent houses, but now want land to resettle following the directive.

Those resettled earlier have complained the Government had favoured their colleagues.

"Provision of free land and Sh35,000 amounts to double compensation in this phase, yet earlier returnees were only given money," said Mr Joel Waita, a former IDP.

The President directed that the ministries of Finance, Special Programmes, Lands, Internal Security and Agriculture to ensure that land is made available for IDP resettlement.