A section of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Nyanza region have petitioned the National Assembly to fast track their compensation following the losses incurred during the post-election violence.
The IDPs, mainly victims of the 2007-2008 post-election violence from Kisumu, Kisii, Nyamira, and Homa Bay counties said they have undergone untold suffering after they were forcefully evicted from their land and business premises during the skirmishes.
Appearing before the National Assembly Departmental Committee on Administration and National Security in Kisumu, the IDPs claimed they were yet to receive any compensation as promised by the government.
The session chaired by Homa Bay Town Member of Parliament (MP) George Kaluma and his Seme counterpart James Nyikal was told of the suffering meted on the survivors who two decades down the line have not been compensated.
Maurice Opondo, a representative of the IDPs in the region told the committee that the government issued Sh7.9 billion to compensate IDPs in the country but only Sh3 billion was paid out.
“Unlike IDPs in Rift Valley and Central regions who at least got compensated, the IDPs in Nyanza, particularly Kisumu, Kisii, Nyamira and Homa Bay are still waiting,” he said.
He asked the committee to probe the matter and find out what happened to the balance of Sh4 billion which was meant to compensate those left out of the program.
Richard Osoro, an IDP Network coordinator for Nyamira County claimed he lost all his property during the violence.
“The government should consider our case having pleaded for more than ten years. Some people’s lives completely changed after the post-election violence,” he said.
Nerea Atieno, the IDP Network coordinator for Kisumu County told the committee that most of the IDPs lived in squalid conditions and had lost hope.
“It is not fair. We need to know the progress. Some of us lost their loved ones and even their vital body parts in a horrific manner and therefore cannot carry out normal day-to-day activities. We need help,” she said.
The 2007/2008 post-election violence resulted in the deaths of at least 1,300 people and displacement of 663,921 countrywide, according to an IDP status brief by the Ministry of Public Service and Special Programmes.
Almost 78,000 households were destroyed in the country while over 300,000 IDPs sought refuge in camps and others integrated among various communities according to the State Department.
The coordinators submitted to the committee the names of registered IDPs from the region urging the legislators to fast track the matter.
Kaluma said the committee would submit its report to the National Assembly so that all the deserving cases are compensated.
