Former UN secretary-general, Kofi Annan. Photo/FILE
By NATION CORRESPONDENT
Posted Wednesday, January 25 2012 at 22:30
Posted Wednesday, January 25 2012 at 22:30
The government was on Wednesday urged to resettle everybody displaced during the 2007 post-election violence.
The call came from former UN secretary general Kofi Annan, who reminded President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga not to forget the plight of the victims, even as focus shifted to the four suspects whose charges have been confirmed by the ICC.
“Four years after the post-election violence that engulfed Kenya, let us remember the victims and the plight of internally displaced persons who must be resettled and compensated,” Mr Annan said in a statement.
He said the period leading to the next elections would be challenging and called on the country to focus on preparations for the polls and devolution.
About 600,000 people were uprooted from their homes in 2008 after the announcement of the bitterly contested presidential election results.
Another 1,133 were killed.
While more than 300,000 people have returned to their farms, and others to their homelands in Central, Nyanza and Western provinces, there are those who have sold the homes they were forced to flee from and bought land elsewhere.
More than 15,000 families are said to be awaiting settlements in Rift Valley.
In a report released on Monday, the UN said that Kenya was among 15 countries that had failed to adequately protect internally displaced persons.
President Kibaki on Monday gave an assurance that IDPs resettlement would be fast-tracked as the country headed to elections.
Mr Annan said that Kenyans had the opportunity to lay a solid, democratic foundation for the future of their country, building on the spirit, letter and intent of the Constitution.
He reiterated that the challenge now was to build a country that was peaceful and stable, to ensure sustainable development, rooted in respect for the rule of law and human rights.
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