IDPs move into farm after efforts to stop them fail

By Karanja Njoroge

The impasse over the resettlement of IDPs at a farm in Njoro, Nakuru County, has been resolved.

The IDPs from Pipeline camp in Nakuru were relieved after attempts to block them from being resettled on the 1,200-acre farm in Njoro failed.

The displaced families were prevented from entering the farm by a group of squatters, but the Government dismissed the protesting squatters as imposters.

Following a meeting between local leaders and area MP Joseph Kiuna, the IDPs moved into the farm yesterday.

The squatters had insisted that they should be considered for resettlement first before the IDPs are resettled in the area.

Pipeline IDP camp chairman Joseph Thiong’o, who spoke from the farm, said they were now ready to start their lives in their new home after four years of living in camps.

“We are now at the farm and the local leaders who were opposed to our resettlement have softened their position,” said Thiong’o.

He said 300 families out of the 556 from the Pipeline IDP camp had already moved to the land.

Ancestral land

The Government had dismissed the squatters, saying it was only aware of workers at the farm who were preparing to leave.

Elsewhere, a new row has emerged after the Government announced fresh plans to resettle IDPs at Rose Farm in Mau Narok.

A previous attempt to resettle the families at the 2,400-acre farm two years ago was thwarted following protests from the local Maasai community.

The community claimed the farm was part of their ancestral land and was the subject of a court case seeking to have all their ancestral land returned.

Last week, the farm was among land identified to resettle the IDPs sparking protests.