IDPS DISCRIMINATED IN RIFT VALEY

The government is discriminating against IDPs on tribal lines in its efforts to resettle them, a new report says. Human Rights Watch claims these discriminatory practices are stoking inter-ethnic tensions ahead of the March 4 general election.

The group says research in Nakuru and Uasin Gishu counties late last year revealed significantly preferential treatment for IDPs from the Kikuyu community.

“The authorities have not provided satisfactory justification for the differential treatment. Local government officials, as well as community leaders and civil society activists, fear the government’s policies have increased the chance for another round of election-related violence,” the group claims in the report released last week.

An estimated 400,000 people from various communities in the Rift Valley were displaced by inter-ethnic clashes after the last general election. Many of these are yet to be resettled.

“The government is favouring one community over others in the allocation of homes, land, and money for displaced people and this is causing anger and frustration in the Rift Valley. These policies have exacerbated tensions," says Leslie Lefkow, HRW deputy Africa director.

Violence in the central and north rift regions between members of the Kikuyu and Kalenjin communities formed a significant part of the nationwide upheaval after the December 2007 elections, resulting in killings, rapes, and the forced displacement of about 650,000 people countrywide.

The violence led to indictments of people from both communities by the International Criminal Court, including Jubilee Coalition Presidential nominee Uhuru Kenyatta and his running-mate William Ruto.

The trials against the two and their co-accused former Cabinet Secretary Francis Muthaura and radio presenter Joshua Sang are to kick off in April, a month after the country elects its leadership, if there is no run-off.

HRW says in late 2012 it spent a week each in Nakuru and Uasin Gishu speaking with local government officials, police, tribal elders, civic groups, and community members from the Kikuyu and Kalenjin.

“The prevailing view of interviewees in both counties, including government officials, was that the national government has been favouring displaced Kikuyu at the expense of other communities,” the report says.

The group claims that the discrimination in Nakuru and Uasin Gishu counties takes two general forms. First, the government has given priority to displaced Kikuyu when rebuilding homes and providing new homes, land, or money.

“Some Kikuyu families have received more than one new home,” the group claims. Second, the vast majority of Kalenjin displaced in the 2007-2008 violence, roughly 300,000 people across Kenya, have not been officially registered by the Ministry for Special Programmes, which has responsibility for internally displaced people, or received any government support, the HRW research indicates.

However, the government says it is providing equal assistance to internally displaced people from all communities, but has not provided data on the ethnic breakdown of people who have received government assistance.

Government officials also argue that it is difficult to identify displaced Kalenjin because most of them chose to stay with relatives rather than go to camps.