FREE LAND

The government fulfilled its pledge to more than 40,000 internal refugees by allocating them alternative land following last year’s post-election violence. The displaced would live in new settlements known as Eco-villages where each family would get two acres for agriculture and a quarter-acre residential plot.

The ministries of Special Programmes, Land, Internal Security, which are coordinating the resettlement programme of the 6, 802 families still in 19 camps — 16 of which are in Rift Valley — expressed their commitment to relocate the displaced from the camps.

Speaking during a balloting process for 502 families settled at Giwa Farm in Rongai District where the government bought 1,171 acres of land, Special Programme minister Naomi Shaaban appealed for patience among the displaced people.

Dr Shaaban was accompanied by the permanent secretary, Mr Ali Mohammed, and the Internal Security counterpart, Mr Francis Kimemia. She said the two-week presidential directive issued last September was extended because of conflicts surrounding the process.

The minister noted that some of the land parcels identified to be bought by the government were later abandoned because of ownership wrangles. The beneficiaries are part of about 1,000 families relocated from the country’s largest camp at Mawingu in Central Province.

Dr Shaaban said the government has so far bought a total of 3,422 out of the required 17,000 acres. She added that the Chinese government had donated iron sheets worth Sh200 million to support the resettlement programme. She also said that the government will spend Sh1.4 billion to buy land and another Sh432 million to compensate integrated IDPs s in Nyanza, Western and Central provinces.

However, Rongai MP Luka Kigen and his predecessor, Mrs Alicen Chelaite, differed on the manner in which the resettlement programme was carried out in the area, with the former calling for the government to give priority to all the victims and the latter calling for more refugees to be settled in the area.

The beneficiaries thanked the government for honouring its pledge to give them land. They also urged the government to investigate the alleged irregular sale of land that had been bought for IDPs. Dr Shaaban denied the allegations that were reported in a regional newspaper early this week. Molo MP Joseph Kiuna and his Subukia counterpart Nelson Gaichuhie as well as Rift Valley provincial commissioner Osman Warfa attended the function.