An IDP camp in Nakuru. The government will give each family displaced in the 2007/8 post-election violence Sh450,000 to buy land in an area of their choice.
By RACHEL KIBUI rkibui@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Monday, March 12 2012 at 22:30
Posted Monday, March 12 2012 at 22:30
IN SUMMARY
- Each family to get Sh450,000 to buy land as process is decentralised
The government will give each family displaced in the 2007/8 post-election violence Sh450,000 to buy land in an area of their choice.
The process of purchasing the land has also been decentralised to the district level in a move expected to make it simpler and faster.
According to Nakuru district commissioner Kang’ethe Thuku, the government has asked the internally displaced persons (IDPs) to identify plots whose value does not exceed the amount to kick off the buying process.
Previously, all matters concerning the resettlement of IDPs were done at the Ministry of Special Programmes headquarters in Nairobi.
But IDPs have been complaining that the resettlement process was taking too long since everything has to be approved from Nairobi.
This time, however, IDPs are required to identify land for resettlement. Mr Thuku said the owner of the parcel is then supposed to take his title deed, identity card and PIN number to the local DC’s office for the procurement process to start.
Mr Thuku on Monday asked all the 700 IDP families in the county to start identifying land for their resettlement.
“We have formed district committees that are supposed to visit parcels of land the IDPs have identified,” said the DC in a phone interview.
The committee will first assess the parcels, confirm whether they are suitable for resettlement and value them.
The committee comprises the district land registrar, land valuer, physical planner as well as the district land adjudication and settlement officer.
Others are the district agriculture officer and his counterpart in Special Programmes. The DC is the chairman of the committee.
Mr Thuku said that after the suitability of the land is confirmed, the documents the owner presents for his parcel will be sent to the District Land Control Board.
“If the documents are clean, procurement will commence immediately,” the DC, who chairs the land control board, said.
Form groups
And the government will cater for all the expenses of sub-dividing the land and registering it.
The procurement process is what has been delaying resettlement since it takes too long when it is done from Nairobi.
Mr Thuku explained that the IDPs can form groups of about four to 100 people or more and jointly identify their own land for resettlement.
Last week, he gave the IDPs at Nakuru’s Pipeline camp three weeks to identify pieces of land for their resettlement.
And he expressed confidence that if they are able to get the land, the government would meet its deadline of resettling the displaced by the end of this month.
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