Noli Irritare Leones

At a business round table in London to kickstart investing and development in Kenya, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown praised Kenya’s ability to “step back from the brink” and the “strenuous efforts made by all sides to live up to the expectations of the Kenyan people.”

So, how is Kenya faring six months after its post-election unrest?

The Kenyan Red Cross reports 28,983 IDPs in 50 IDP camps as of 21 July, and 98,223 IDPs have been recorded in 132 transit sites. This figure (down from an estimated 350,000 displaced persons at the height of the crisis) is at odds with the government’s claim that, two months after the government began its resettlement program, only 30,000 IDPs remain in camps.

IPS: What is the current status of internally displaced persons? How many camps and IDPs have benefited from Operation Rudi Nyumbani?

Prisca Kamungi: All these statistics on IDPs and resettlement are not reliable. The government says only 30,000 people are left in 38 IDP camps; the Kenya Red Cross puts the figure at 68 camps, while OCHA’s latest estimates count about 56,000 people still living in IDP camps.

The statistics are not an indicator of the situation we saw on the ground. Each source gives a number according to its own criteria of who is an IDP and what constitutes a camp. For instance, the government has been doing a profiling exercise to resettle the IDPs. But it only recognises as ‘genuine’ IDPs those families and persons who own land.

If you don’t own land, then for the purposes of resettlement you are not an IDP….

One problem being encountered resettling IDPs from urban areas is that the majority were from slums where land disputes were common, and so they don’t feel safe returning.

Churches and NGOs are working to assist the resettlement of IDPs with counseling services, an economic recovery initiative, and reconciliation efforts in the slums.

Joshua Ebei: “It will be difficult to start a life here but we will try.” IRIN interviews the chairman of an IDP camp in Turkana Central.

The post-election violence resulted in more government attention to the long simmering conflict in Mt. Elgon, near the northern border with Uganda. Results are mixed, according to Human Rights Watch. HRW reports that residents are supportive of the government’s actions against the Sabaot Land Defense Force, which has attacked thousands of civilians within the past couple of years, but have been victimized in turn by government forces.

After the long rains, the Famine Early Warning System Network reports mixed harvest prospects in Kenya, with “a favorable crop in key growing areas and a poor crop in the central highlands.”

There is a cholera outbreak in the Nyanza and Western provinces.

At the same time, one can see recovery in the changed focus of Kenyan bloggers, who are back to talking about sports, poetry, Idols East Africa 2008, fashion, and a new search competitor to Google.

Other posts:

Publisher trains disadvantaged girls.

Kwani Library Event, reviewed.

Not specific to Kenya: 5 More African Conferences/Events.

This entry was posted on Monday, July 28th, 2008 at 7:33 am and is filed under Africa news and blogwatch. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.