2011 deadline for IDP resettlement

BY BEATRICE OBWOCHA

The Government will not beat the December deadline it had set to resettle Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), but will complete the exercise before the end of 2011.

Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka said the Government was committed to resettling the IDPs, and urged them to be patient despite the delay.

"I will personally visit all IDP camps next year to ensure that no one is left behind," he said.

Live anywhere

He said all Kenyans have a right to live anywhere in the country, citing the recent controversy over resettlement of IDPs in Rose Farm in Mau Narok.

Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka presents food donation to Mama Jane Wambui of Pipeline IDP Camp, Nakuru . The VP helped to distribute food donations as Christmas gifts to IDPS in various camps in Nakuru County. The food was donated by well wishers, led by the Kalonzo Musyoka Foundation, and the Ministry of Special Programmes [PHOTO: BONIFACE THUKU/STANDARD]

Speaking at Pipeline IDO camp in Nakuru while distributing food donated by Kalonzo Musyoka Foundation, the VP urged Lands Minister James Orengo to hasten any pending processes on land bought for resettlement of those displaced during the 2008 post poll violence.

"The Government can act on land issues and in some cases invoke compulsory acquisition," he said.

Special Programmes Minister Esther Murugi said IDPs at the camp would be resettled at the controversial Rose Farm in two weeks.

"Surveyors are on the ground subdividing the land and they will finish the work in the next two weeks. You will be resettled there immediately after," she said.

She said the Government will not be intimidated in the resettlement of the displaced in the land, since the new constitution clearly states that any Kenyan was free to settle anywhere in the country.

National Humanitarian Board Chairman Ndingi Mwana Nzeki and Board Member Moses Akaranga accompanied Kalonzo.