Tana River IDPs receive aid

Tana River IDPs receive aid Written By:KBC Reporters,    Posted: Sun, Aug 26, 2012

The displaced are mainly women and children The Kenya Red Cross Society Secretary General Abbas Gullet said Sunday the continued movement of people from the Tana Delta for fear of retaliatory attacks is hampering humanitarian efforts by aid organizations. His concerns came as a section of Garissa residents staged a demonstration in support of acting Internal Security Minister Yusuf Hajji calling on the government to prosecute those behind the Tana delta clashes that left at least 50 people dead. Led by Garissa community leader Ahmed Dualle, the locals want the two coalition principals to take action against those found culpable. The organization and the Ministry of Health Sunday donated assorted foodstuff and free Medicare to over 1,900 Internally displaced persons in Kau , Kilelengwani, Tizama Lako and Ozi in Tana Delta. The IDPs are part of the over 6,000 displaced as a result of the tribal instigated violence in the expansive Tana Delta last week that left a trail of death and destruction. The displaced families are faced with the possibility of an outbreak of sanitation and weather related illnesses as they continue to huddle in the forest without clean water, food or basic amenities. The heavy rains, chilly weather and swampy conditions have made matters worse for the victims. The Kenya Red Cross  earlier established two camps at Witu and Didewaride primary schools from where they are assisting survivors and victims' of the clashes. An information centre has also been set up to assist the residents with any useful information on missing persons. A whole village was burnt down last Tuesday in attacks said to be instigated by a conflict over land and water spanning several years between the Pokomo and Orma communities. In 2001, at least 130 people were killed in a string of clashes in the same district and between the same communities about access to land and a river. Meanwhile, Team Uhuru political campaign group Sunday donated food and assorted items to the over  six  thousand Kenyans affected by the recent skirmishes in Tana Delta, Wajir and Mandera.