Nairobi Star (Nairobi)
24 December 2011
editorial
As the year draws to a close, it is only natural to look back and give thanks for the blessings received over the past twelve months.
And here in Kenya, such thanksgiving has in recent years focused on being grateful that our country did not continue in its downward spiral towards civil war following the disputed 2007 General Election.
Indeed in so many ways we seem to be “back to normal” with the remarkable economic growth that Kenya has enjoyed despite having to cope with the global economic recession.
There is however one piece of business still outstanding from the dark days of late 2007 and early 2008; and this is that we still have thousands of people who had to flee for their lives during the post-election violence, who have neither been able to go back to their old homes, nor found new ones.
Yes, we still have thousands of internally displaced persons within our borders, who are now preparing to spend their fourth consecutive Christmas under tents and other makeshift dwellings.
The tragedy for these unfortunate people is that the country has somehow got used to having them as part of our landscape, and there is no longer any signs of the outrage which used to coalesce around this issue in the early days.
We seem to have reconciled ourselves to the idea that some of our fellow-citizens were brutally dispossessed of their land and personal property; forced to flee for their lives; and been prevented from returning to assert their rights in what were once their homes.
Maybe this is because the greater numbers of these IDPs seem to have been resettled one way or another; or maybe it is because there are frequent assertions that many of those now claiming to be IDPs were not landowners in their former lives, but rather hawkers and small-scale traders, who are hoping to obtain land under false pretenses.
Whatever the case, the festive season should give us reason to reflect on the fate of these IDPs. And to resolve that this national shame should be resolved before the next General Election.
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