Starving IDP mauled in the forest

By Vitalis Kimutai

A search for food by a 77-year-old grand father turned tragic when he was mauled to death by wild animals in a forest.

Dismembered body of Mzee Evanson Kairu Githika, an internally displaced person (IDP) from Burnt Forest in the North Rift region was recovered at a forest in Laikipia Central district.

Githika is said to have gone to Laikipia forest to gather wild fruits and honey for his starving seven family members residing at Jikaze IDP camp in Burnt Forest when wild animals attacked and killed him.

A senior administrator in Laikipia Central district who declined to be named confirmed to The Standard Online that the family had reported the incident to the authorities.

"It was a very unfortunate incident bearing in mind that the poor old man had gone to look for food for his family," the administrator said.

A Nakuru politician-cum-businessman paid for transportation of the body to the family’s rural home.

The skeletal remains of the victims were interred in an emotional ceremony at Kamweru village in Burnt forest, Kesses division of Wareng district.

Mourners did not view the remains, which were in a beige coffin.

"He had gone missing for eight days as we mounted a search for him in all neighbouring villages in vain. We decided to look for him in the forest and that is when we stumbled on his dismembered body parts," an elder, Mzee Moses Ndungu said.

Ndungu, who is the chairman of the 271 families living at the IDP camp, told mourners that the body parts were collected and taken to Nyahururu District Hospital mortuary for preservation before being removed for burial on Tuesday.

Ndungu disclosed that tattered clothes, a wristwatch and worn out shoes and a belt littered helped the search team in identifying the remains of the late Githika.

The deceased’s wife, Esther Ngendo told said her husband had gone to the forest in search for food.

Githika and his family fled Burnt Forest during the post-election violence period and camped at Eldoret Show grounds before moving to Limuru and eventually Jikaze IDP camp in Laikipia.

Former Nakuru Kanu branch chairman Kimani Ngunjiri and a Kikuyu elder Mzee Kimani Gathuo said it was sad that the government was yet to resettle thousands of IDPs in transitional camps in various parts of the country.

"It is sad that most of the IDPs who fled their homes as a result of the clashes have returned in coffins yet senior government officials are not concerned about their plight," Ngunjiri said.

He added, "Even with the new constitutional order, Cabinet ministers and senior civil servants are too pre-occupied with jostling for new positions like that of governors and senators while ssues concerning IDPs have been pushed to the back burner," Ngunjiri said.