May 6, 2008

The Government’s “Operation Rudi Nyumbani” to resettle the nearly 300,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) back to their original homes has been described as both dangerous and impractical.

Men for Gender Equality Now (MEGEN) Coordinator Mr. Kennedy Odhiambo Otina said the IDPs were not involved in the decision making process regarding their resettlement, “ even though they are the key beneficiaries of the resettlement programme.”

From the community dialogues forums in Rift Valley Province, where MEGEN and other civil society organisations took part in the healing processes in the camps and in communities experiencing violence, many people living in the camps expressed fear for their lives and were not ready to go back to their homes said Mr.Otina at a press conference in Nairobi.

“Our seminars found out that there are many people who are beneficiaries of the violence and therefore not everybody wants peace. There’s a lot of anger, bitterness and vengefulness in many people’s hearts.” Observed the Megen coordinator.

He said civil society organisations strongly believe that there must be a comprehensive, clear, well defined, participatory and transparent strategy for resettlement.

That strategy, he added, must be owned by the IDPs. Mr. Otina urged the government to take into account the fact that different IDPs have different needs based on their age, gender and economic interest groups.

He asked the government to give special attention to the needs of children, aged, unemployed youth, land owners and the needs of women who experienced gender-based violence as well as the needs of people living with HIV/Aids.

The gender-rights group asked the government to recognise that resettlement of the IDPs is a process and not an event. Both the perpetrators and the survivors, they said, must be given enough time to review and understand the reality that they are faced with. “The IDPs are saying this process was ignored in 1992, 1997 and 2002. Every subsequent repeat of violence has been more severe than the previous one.” Said Otina.

He warned that if due process of healing and reconciliation is not followed the result of the resettlement could be worse. Though it is urgent to resettle IDPs, Mr. Otina noted that there are many underlying issues which must be dealt with “if peace and reconciliation is to be sustained.”

This he said include historical socio-economic injustices, unemployment and underemployment of youth, equitable redistribution of resources, access to justice and equal access to opportunities. The issues he said also include safety and security and respect of the rights of every human being.

The role of law enforcement agents in condoning, tolerating, covering up or perpetrating violence was particularly highlighted by the displaced persons and the communities experiencing violence. Said Otina, noting that peace cannot be nurtured by guns. “Peace has to come from the hearts of the people, where everybody is their neighbours’ keeper.”

Mr. Otina called on the government to embrace the views of the civil society actors in informing the process of resettling of IDPs to avoid situations that may lead to deaths of people as a result of oversight and recklessness. “Let us avoid mistakes that were done in the resettlement of the people who were affected by Molo clashes which has continued to recur.” Warned Otina.