•The committee established that only 1, 163 integrated IDPs in Kibera were paid, with 471 of the given Sh10, 000 each and 692 getting Sh50, 000 per person.
•NCCC was established by an Act of Parliament in 2012 to handle all matters relating to IDPs in the Country.
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A Senate committee wants a special audit done and investigations carried out on the utilisation of billions of shillings meant for resettlement of internally displaced persons after the 2007-08 post-election violence.
The National Cohesion and Equal Opportunity committee wants Auditor General Nancy Gathungu to carry out a special audit in the operations of National Consultative Coordination Committee (NCCC) that was charged with the utilisation of the money.
NCCC was established by an Act of Parliament in 2012 to handle all matters relating to IDPs in the Country.
“The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Authority (EACC) and other relevant state agencies investigate and prosecute in the event that the Auditor General ascertains that there was misappropriation of funds,” reads a report by the committee.
Committee chairperson Noami Shiyonga tabled the report in the Chamber after two months of investigations after a petition was filed in the House alleging non-settlement of IDPs in Kibera, Nairobi.
Reverend David Muganada petitioned the house on September 19, 2018 alleging that 9,000 people displaced by the violence in the city’s biggest slum had not been resettled – more than 10 years after the deadly skirmishes.
“There was inequality in compensating IDPs in Kibera where cash payments of Sh50, 000 400,000, 200,000, 150,000 were given out to different groups of IDPs as compensation while others never got a penny as per the government records,” the petitioner said.
The petitioner asked the House to ensure full compensation of the IDPs, scrutinise the records of payment of the NCCC and ensure all should get equal share as per the government’s resettlement programme.
The committee established that only 1, 163 integrated IDPs in Kibera were paid, with 471 of the given Sh10, 000 each and 692 getting Sh50,000 per person.
“The Committee noted with concern that the amounts given out as compensation were inadequate given that the affected not only lost livelihood but some also lost their lives,” reads the report in part.
According to presentation by the Interior Ministry, where NCCC is domiciled, said 663, 921 people were displaced, 80,000 houses destroyed countrywide and 1,300 killed during the violence.
“Out of these, a total of 350,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) sought refuge in 118 camps spread all over the country and 313, 921 were integrated within communities across the Country,” Interior CS Fred Matiang'i said.
Soon after the violence, the Ministry noted, the Government established the National Humanitarian Fund through legal Notice No.11 of 2008 dated 30th January.
The CS reiterated the government’s commitment to assisting all the genuinely IDPs was intended to facilitate the affected persons start rebuilding their lives as it was not possible to fully compensate those affected for the enormous losses they suffered.
To date, the government has provided startup capital of Sh10,000 to a total of 124,974 households who were successfully persuaded to voluntarily return to their farms.
Some 48,662 households were each paid Sh25, 000 to reconstruct their partially damaged houses and some 71,473 low cost houses constructed for those whose houses were totally destroyed.
In addition, a total of 7,315 IDPs households including host communities were settled on government procured farms in various parts of the Country with each household given 2.25 acres of land.
Another 8,409 households were resettled through cash payment of Sh400,000 each through Equity Bank, 5,387 IDPs and forest evictees were each paid Sh200,000 in lieu of land 5261 IDPs and forest evictees and each was paid Sh200,000.
“The Government through the NCCC repatriated 258 Kenyan IDPs who were living in Uganda as refugees and each was paid between Sh100, 000 and Sh150, 000 depending on family size. This was after profiling was done by a multi-agency task force,” the CS told the committee.
The committee, however, noted that the Ministry has yet to conclude the drafting of a National Policy on IDPs as well as gazette NCCC to succeed the one whose term ended in 2017.
“NCCC on IDPs should be fully funded and operationalized to achieve its mandate as per the Act to deal with frequent cases of IDPs around the country as well as other previous cases that were not fully settled like the Kibera IDPs,” the committee recommended.