KENYA: Anglican, Catholic leaders want more than talk on displaced

By Fredrick Nzwili, April 30, 2008 [Ecumenical News International, Nairobi] Anglican Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi and Catholic Cardinal John Njue of Kenya have welcomed a joint visit by President Mwai Kibaki and his former political opponent, Raila Odinga, now prime minister, to camps for those displaced by recent post-election conflict. But they are also calling for compensation and a speedy resettlement of those who were forced from their abodes.

"This was a very important visit. We praise the leaders for that," Nzimbi told Ecumenical News International in Nairobi. "It shows the leaders are concerned about the plight of these people."
 
Nearly 300,000 people were forced to take refuge in camps following ethnic violence that erupted after the country's electoral commission announced Kibaki as the winner of general elections held in December. Odinga said the election had been rigged. The conflict ended with the signing of a national peace accord in February. This in turn resulted in the formation of a coalition government between Kibaki's Party of National Unity and Odinga's Orange Democratic Movement.

"It is painful to see innocent people turned into refugees in their own country," said Njue in Embu in eastern Kenya on April 27, while urging the government to create a suitable environment for a speedy resettlement.

Some politicians from the western Rift Valley Province, where most of those displaced are camped, have opposed a quick relocation, saying the underlying issue of land redistribution seen as a cause behind the violence, has not been resolved. Njue, however, urged them to rethink this position. "Let us not be driven by hate, but love, to enable all those displaced to resume normal lives in their homes," said Njue.

Churches and human rights groups are urging the government to award some compensation to the displaced people, most of whom lost what they had built up in more than 40 years after Kenya gained independence from Britain in December 1963.

"It's important they are compensated. They have a right to their property. Some people have been completely grounded," said Nzimbi.

Churches note that some displaced people want to return to their original homes, while others are completely opposed to going back, for fear of further retribution. There are also those who had lived in towns, but went to the rural camps following the election violence. Those who are opposed to returning are said to want alternative settlement places found.

"The government should be conscious about these categories," said Nzimbi. 

While church leaders view visits to camps with displaced people as enhancing inter-party cooperation in the government of national unity, some analysts have expressed fears that the political will to solve underlying problems might not hold due to difficult decisions that need to be taken that could see politicians losing support.

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