IDPs of the 2007-8 post-election violence living in Kikuyu constituency are asking the government to resettle them.
They were displaced from their homes in different parts of Rift Valley such as Eldoret, Koibatek, Molo, Njoro and neighbouring regions.
Simon Waweru, a victim, says when retired President Mwai Kibaki’s government closed all IDP camps with most of them being settled, a lot of the integrated IDP’s were left unsettled.
Speaking on Sunday at Zambezi in Kikuyu, the group said they are planning to block the Nairobi-Nakuru highway to draw the attention of President Uhuru Kenyatta to address their plight.
“Very soon we shall protest along the highway. We want the government to realise we are still waiting,” he said.
A week ago, about 1,000 of them protested at the Kiambu county assembly urging the MCA’s to address their resettlement issue.
They said despite some of them starting businesses and others securing causal jobs, they were left without land to call home.
“We had to start renting houses and until today, we still rent houses. Where are we headed, at times, paying Sh1,000 or even Sh800 for a house is a challenge” said Peter Kamau, an integrated IDP.
“Before the 2007 post election violence, we lived in our farms where we did farming and other activities that earned us a lot of money, but we were flushed out,” Kamau said.
They became homeless after chaos erupted in different parts of the country after the disputed presidential results.
Kinoo MCA Samuel Kimani said some of those displaced started living in IDPs camps while others were accommodated by their relatives and well wishers in other parts of the country.
However, the IDP camps were closed and most of the displaced persons resettled.
Kimani said the IDPs handed to them a petition which will be debated in the assembly to look for a way forward.
“These people have a right to do that. The government can purchase lands and resettle them. We shall discuss the issue at the assembly soon,” the Kinoo MCA said.
-Edited by SKanyara
