Kenya: One killed, another injured as IDPs march to State House

An elderly woman died after she was hit by a truck during a protest march by more than 3,000 Integrated Displaced Persons from Nyandarua County. The Medical Superintendent in charge of Naivasha sub-county hospital Dr Joseph Mburu said the elderly woman was confirmed dead upon arrival at the health facility. “She had multiple injuries and died soon after being brought to hospital at around 8.00 pm,” said Dr Mburu. Another woman who was hit by a speeding motorist was recuperating at the health facility, after she suffered a broken leg during the incident. The two were among the IDPs who were marching to Nairobi and present their grievances to the President They were, however, prevailed upon to abandon the journey after reaching Naivasha where they spent the night at a petrol station.

A high powered government delegation that included Devolution Principal Secretary Mwanamaka Mabruki and her Special Programmes counterpart, Josephta Mukobe visited the IDPs and assured them of government support. “The government will be looking into your plight starting next month... I am relatively new in the docket but I want to assure you that we will address your concerns,” said Ms Mukobe. The IDPs had complained of “negligence” by the government and being given false promises, hence their decision to march to Nairobi.

“We have been treated like second class citizens and we have now declared that enough is enough,” said their coordinator James Mwaura. He said they were not ready to participate in another general election before they are resettled by the government, adding they will not register as voters before their complaints were addressed. But a reassuring Ms Mukobe promised her personal input to ensure their listed grievances were adequately addressed. Members of Parliament Moses Kuria and Kimani Ngunjiri attended the meeting and guaranteed them of their support in quest for justice. “We fully support your course but make sure you weed out masqueraders amongst you,” said Mr Kuria.

He said the President was aware of their plight hence the decision to dispatch government officials to listen to them. This was the second time the IDPs were embarking on a trek to Nairobi having attempted to do the same thing in the past. Baringo South MP Grace Kipchoim, however, blamed Cord coalition of inciting residents who claim to be integrated IDPs to protest against the Government.

Speaking at Kimoriotn sub-location in her constituency, she claimed the Opposition coalition was behind the IDPs’ actions and that it was not a coincidence as it coincided with resumption of ICC cases facing Deputy President William Ruto and Joshua Sang in The Hague. Mrs Kipchoim alleged that the “integrated IDPs” had been paid by the Opposition to demonstrate so as to show the ICC that they had not been resettled by the Jubilee administration.

“It is not just a coincidence that this is happening just two days after the deputy president left the country for his trials in The Hague. We believe that there is someone behind this and it is clear that the Opposition had hired them to demonstrate,” she said. She noted that Government records were clear that all post-election violence victims living in camps had been resettled and compensated wondering where the issue of these IDPs had come from. “Everyone could see that they were not genuine IDPs but hired people to tarnish the name of the Jubilee Government. We will not allow this to happen under our watch, “she said.