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
26 January 2012
editorial
KOFI Annan has issued a statement that justice should now take its course at the ICC but reminded us that internally displaced persons should be resettled and compensated.
Tens of thousands of IDPs have been resettled, often on very poor land, but thousands remain in the camps.
Between 250,000 and 600,000 people fled their homes, mainly in the Rift Valley, in 2008. Many have not returned home even though they may have valid land titles. They remain off the radar because they chose not go into the IDP camps. There has been a fundamental injustice in Kenya. People who owned property have had it taken away from them. The state did not intervene to protect them, or to restore their property.
The right to property is enshrined in the new constitution. Anyone who lost land, in the Rift Valley or anywhere else, has the right to recover it. This may be politically inconvenient but it is justice. The state should not only ensure that the remaining IDPs leave the camps, but it should also insist that all displaced people be allowed to return home with government protection. Four years after the violence, there are still many people who cannot access their property.
Quote of the day: "This is not a changing of the guards. This is a fundamental change." - President Yoweri Museveni captured power in Uganda on January 26, 1986.
