Kenyans woke up to good news this morning – there are no more IDPs!

By MACHARIA GAITHO (email the author)

Posted Monday, March 7 2011 at 19:13

Only the blind who do not see and the deaf who do not hear can fail to appreciate the tremendous efforts the government has made in ensuring that all those who became internal refugees out of the post-election violence are now living securely with roofs over their heads, land to till, and no fear of hostile neighbours.

Former Cabinet Minister Njenga Karume must be one of the blind enemies of development who refuse to see the good work of the popularly-elected government.

The man had the cheek on a visit to Eldoret at the weekend to criticise the government, alleging that IDPs were enduring terrible conditions in refugee camps because nothing was being done to resolve their plight.

Mr Karume is obviously a saboteur out to incite citizens against their government.

The people the former minister addressed were obviously not IDPs. Kenya no longer has IDPs.

It follows, therefore, that the camps he claimed to have visited were not IDP camps because there are no IDPs in the first place.

They could only have been imposters planted there by those who wish to embarrass the government, or maybe sell it land for re-settlement of fake refugees.

What Mr Karume and his ilk must appreciate is that since President Kibaki and Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta signed a peace deal with Mr William Ruto, the IDP problem was instantly solved.

The communities ran out of the Rift Valley by the post-election violence were instantly free to return to the homes and farms they had abandoned.

They were welcomed with open arms by their neighbours who were truly remorseful for the wrongs they had caused. That is, they helped them rebuild their burnt-out homes, and provided them with food and clothing to help them settle down.

If there are any former IDPs who have not taken advantage of the rapprochement, they can only be ungrateful malcontents. They are probably out to blackmail the government into buying them alternative land while they continue owning and farming land they claim to have been evicted from.

Others, instead of going back home, are selling their land and pocketing the money; and then continuing to agitate, with the assistance of trouble-making politicians and NGOs, for the government to buy them land elsewhere.

This is something this government will not do. To buy land to resettle the former IDPs is to become complicit in the policy of ethnic cleansing that ran them out of their homes in the first place.

Every Kenyan has the right to buy land and settle anywhere in the country. Therefore, the government will not be part of any conspiracy that evicts people from one part of the country where they are classified as aliens and resettles them in strange places they are supposed to call ancestral homes.

It was only recently that President Kibaki and Mr Kenyatta led a strong delegation to the Eldoret bastion of Mr Ruto, where they were warmly received and assured there would be no more hostilities.

A new era of peace and harmony between the various ethnic communities that reside in the Rift Valley was signed sealed and delivered on the day.

It came with cast-iron guarantees that all the communities violently evicted from those sections of the Rift Valley because of minor political disagreements were now free to return and assured lasting peace and security.

It became clear during the visit that the misunderstandings were caused by an evil wind that had passed, never to return.

The evil wind has been banished for ever, and that is why, also, there is no need for one Luis Moreno-Ocampo to stir up trouble.

The communities that were at war during that period have reconciled and are now living in peace and harmony, as exemplified by their leaders.

Any trials before the International Criminal Court, or even local tribunal, will serve only to exhume the ghosts of the past.

Kenyans are now living in perfect peace. Healing and reconciliation have been a tremendous success, so there is really no need for inciters and troublemakers to talk about non-existent IDPs or threaten to try post-election violence suspects at The Hague.

mgaitho@ke.nationmedia.com