Internally displaced persons in Lamu have been accused by residents of selling drugs and alcohol and engaging in sexual misconduct.
The displaced persons at Katsaka Kairu camp are said to be responsible for increased alcohol and drug dens in the area.
Residents have complained over increased drunkenness even among young children and illicit sexual behaviour among those who are drunk in open spaces.
However, IDPs who were interviewed by the Star denied the allegations.
They termed them as misleading rumoirs meant to convince the government to send them packing from the camp.
They are demanding compensation for time spent at the camp and damage to their property from the attacks.
“There is nothing wrong or illegal happening and anyone can come over and see for themselves. People aren’t just happy that we are here. They want this land so they can sell it off," Rama Kahindi, an IDP, said.
"We won’t move until the compensation happens no matter how hard they try."
Local administrators and residents whose villages border the camp say they have no peace as drunkards fight and engage in disorderly behaviour.
An administrator who wished to remain anonymous said a GSU officer was recently beaten for trying to befriend a woman at the camp.
"He had gone drinking in one of the many illicit clubs in the camp and he tried to befriend a woman before he was beaten to a pulp," he said.
Residents want the remaining displaced persons to be forced out of the camp so they have some peace and quiet.
They questioned why the government continues to allow them to stay at the camps when there was no longer an obvious threat to their security back at their villages.
The displaced persons came from Pandanguo, Jima, Poromoko, Kakathe, Maleli, and Nyongoro villages.
They have been at the camp for the last three years.
The camp opened in July 2017 held over 2,000 people who had fled al Shabaab attacks in their villages.
Others went to the camp after they were asked to vacate their villages to pave way for a security operation in pursuit of militants hiding in Boni forest.
The attacks left several people dead and houses torched.
Despite a directive by the government to leave the camp in October 2017, 200 displaced persons have chosen to remain.
Assurances that security in their villages has been improved have also failed to convince the remaining IDPs to go back home.
