Today's Headlines
- Lessons and Implications of the Confirmation of Charges Against Kenya's 'Ocampo Four'
- Finance Minister Quits Over ICC Charges
- Shortage of HIV Test Kits Raises Concerns
- Living On the Edge in Turkana Region
- Ali Breaks Silence, Describes Delight At Acquittal
- Uhuru, Ruto Eligible for Presidency - CIC
- Tea Sector Posts Record Earnings in 2011
- Resettle IDPs, Urges Annan
- Uhuru, Muthaura Have Done the Right Thing
- All Displaced People Should Return Home
- Concern Raised As Parents Shun Schools in Poll Violence Hotspots
- Ruling On IEBC Hiring in February
- Country Working Towards Conditions Needed for Direct Flights to U.S.
- How ICC Claimed Kibaki's Lieutenants
- Geothermal Project to Receive Sh10 Billion Funding Boost
- Five Million to Get IDs Before Elections
- Speed Up Building Port
- Uhuru and Muthaura Did Well to Quit Posts
- A Full Plate Awaits Githae
- Clashes Continue in Moyale
- Baraza Case to Be Heard Monday
- Two Firms in Joint Venture to Drill for Oil Near Lodwar
- Exit Uhuru, Muthaura
- ICC Charges Hound Uhuru Out of Treasury
- Consumers Grow Despite Inflation
- Poor Relations Between Banks Blamed for Cash Shortages
- Fish Prices Up As Vegetable Supply Dwindles
- Consumers to Pay More for Milk and Bread As Prices Rise
- Kibaki Tasks Ex-Dar CJ to Lead Probe in Kenya
- Mombasa Port Cargo Congestion Forces Three-Month Fees Waiver
Noah Cheploen
8 September 2010
Nairobi — The government's plan to resettle all the 2007 post-election chaos victims living in transitional camps by December is now in doubt.
Special Programmes minister Esther Murugi on Wednesday disclosed that despite having identified land to resettle the 6,800 families the government is yet to buy it.
Ms Murugi, who was speaking on the second day of her tour of Nakuru County, said land owners were quoting "very high" prices.
"When they hear that we are buying land, they increase the price abnormally," the minister told internal refugees at Pipeline internally displaced persons camp near Nakuru Town.
The minister has since last week visited IDP camps in Nyandarua and Nakuru counties. She arrived in Nakuru on Tuesday and toured camps in the town, Rongai, Gilgil and Naivasha.
Ms Murugi said before returning to Nairobi on Wednesday that the parcels of land identified for the resettlement of the displaced were in Laikipia, Nyahururu and Nakuru.
She, however, promised the IDPs they would be resettled by December 31 to start a new life on the farms to be bought by the government.
Some of the violence victims uprooted from their farms in Rift Valley Province have been resettled. They include families now living in Ngiwa Farm, Rongai, and others in Nyandarua and parts of Laikipia.
The minister was concerned that land owners were reluctant to sell the property to the government at the rate of Sh200,000 per acre.
We are doing our best
"Buying land is not like buying a piece of cloth. It is a process that takes time. But we are doing our best," she told the IDPs at Pipeline camp.
Ms Murugi told reporters that the government had so far spent Sh4 billion in the resettlement programme commonly known as Operation Rudi Nyumbani.
"We have another Sh3 billion, which we will use to complete the resettlement programme," she said. The money will be used to buy 15,000 acres to resettle the remaining 6,800 families.
