• Over 500 IDPs from Nakuru are urging the government to resolve long-standing land disputes.
  • Led by Peter Tena of KIDPO, they claim past resettlement efforts excluded some victims and were marred by corruption.

Over 500 internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Nakuru county are calling on the government to resolve long-standing land disputes.

Speaking in Nakuru, the group, comprising individuals displaced during the 2007 post-election violence, acknowledged that previous administrations under Presidents Mwai Kibaki and Uhuru Kenyatta had made progress in resettling victims. However, they noted that some people were left out of the process.

Led by Peter Tena, the patron of the Kenya Internally Displaced Persons Organization (KIDPO), the group urged the government to address historical land injustices, which he said date back to the pre-colonial era and the 1960s.

"It is time for the current government, led by President Ruto, to intervene and assist victims who have not received their share. Our people are suffering, especially during this planting season, and they are living very miserable lives," said Tena.

Tena pointed out that officials within the Provincial Administration—including district commissioners, district officers, and chiefs—who were responsible for overseeing resettlement, were among the primary beneficiaries of the first phase of financial compensation after the post-election violence.

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He added that due to a lack of oversight, these officials manipulated the process by including fictitious names, close associates, and family members in the list of beneficiaries, leading to a flawed compensation program.

In the initial phase, known as ‘Operation Rudi Nyumbani,’ the government allocated an estimated Ksh 1.5 billion to help landowners return to their properties, despite many of their homes having been destroyed during the violence.

The group also called on the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to reopen investigations into the former members of the National Coordination Consultative Committee (NCCC) on IDPs over allegations of misappropriating billions of shillings meant for resettlement.

Tena claimed that while the committee was expected to play a key role in facilitating the government's resettlement efforts, those responsible for the financial losses had yet to be held accountable.

Meanwhile, Pastor Harrison Kariuki, a member of KIDPO, expressed concern that large parcels of land purchased by the government in Uasin Gishu, Laikipia, Nyandarua, and Nakuru counties for IDP resettlement remain unused. He said these lands are now being encroached upon by herders or taken over by land grabbers.

Pastor Kariuki urged the government to allow the displaced families to settle on these lands.

According to human rights organizations, at least 660,000 people were displaced during the 2007/2008 post-election violence.