Post-Election Violence
A group of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from Nyanza and Western regions are demanding compensation from the government for losses and suffering endured during the 2007/2008 post-election violence.
The victims argue that while the government has compensated those affected in the Central and Rift Valley regions, they have been overlooked. They say, many of the individuals in the caucus are still without homes and struggling to pay school fees and called for immediate support from the national government.
One of the victims, Robert Migore, complained saying, “The government of Kenya has not paid us while it has already paid the aggrieved in the Central and Rift Valley. We have suffered greatly as we do not have homes and money to pay for school fees.”
He further highlighted some of the challenges they have faced since the post-election violence and called upon the government to compensate them. “Some of the victims are now old while others have since died. We are pleading with the government to compensate us for the suffering we have faced all these years,” pleaded Migore.
Mary Ombese, one of the victims, expresses her distress over her lost seven-year old child during the post-election and is pleading with the government for support.
Mary Ombese, another aggrieved mother, expressed her distress over her child who went missing at the age of 7 while she was in Naivasha when the 2007 post-election violence erupted and she has never found him ever since. She says she has no home and as a result she has suffered with the remaining children and her business does not sustain the family.
“I have not yet found my seven-year-old child who went missing in 2007 during the violence. I am pleading for support from the government in looking for our kin and finding a home,” she said. Gabriel Mwite claimed that the government has been making empty promises when they ask for compensation. He urged the government to fast track the compensation saying they need the money.
“The government has been giving us fake promises, saying we would be paid. I extend my plea to the government to meet its promises and pay us this year,” Mwite alleged. The caucus said the delayed compensation has exacerbated their suffering and pleaded with the government to pay them urgently.
