Raila has no moral right to advice government on IDPs

“In all honesty concerning 2007/2008 post-election violence victims: The grand coalition government did very poorly in attempting to compensate and resettle them” A friend of mine recently wrote. He makes an important point given all the noise about Internally Displaced Persons that have lately hammered our ears.

According to reports, between 28th December 2007 and the end of February 2008 some 1500 Kenyans were killed and more than 500,000 evicted from their homes after a disputed presidential election. That’s massive!

The IDP debate resurrected after International Criminal Court let go off William Ruto and Joshua Sang. In Kenya such debates often spiral in to tribal viewpoints. We are an interesting country: You see around here, you seemingly either belong to Jubilee or CORD and depending with which side of the political divide you come from, you will have default perception about different things happening in the country.

Tribalism is the beast that is us. But I will pursue this some other time, for now let’s talk IDPs.

Internally displaced persons (IDPs), according to the dictionary, sorry, my dictionary, are refugees roaming around in their own country that has for political reasons forgotten about them.

Raila Amollo Odinga was made the Prime Minister in 2008 after the highly contested elections resulted to violence. Together with the President Mwai Kibaki they formed what would popularly be called the ‘Nusu Mkate’ coalition.

Back then, the issue of IDPs in the country was real because we could all see tents of the displaced set up in police stations and outside our towns.

While in France, Raila Odinga recently said that the Jubilee celebrations in Afraha Stadium was a dance on the graves of the victims. That’s a sensitive thing to say but I cannot disagree or approve of his words. He is Raila Odinga and has his own reasons.

But let’s pause for a minute: What did Raila in his years as a Prime Minister of the Republic of Kenya do about the IDPs? Did he care about them or did he simply whine about the ‘nusu mkeka’ coalition government? Did he legislate for their resettlement and integration; or did he complain the he had no toilet in a public function like his coalition partner Kibaki had?

Back in 2009, when the coalition was in power, a ‘startup fund’ of about KSh10, 000 each, yes that’s right KSh10, 000,  was to be given to every affected households that were willing to return! I find this baffling and petty (pun intended to the moon and back).

Forgive my skewed perception but if there was any government that was in a better position to do something about the IDPs, then it would have been the ‘nusu mkate’ government. The same government that, for the record, was run by President Kibaki and the then the Prime Minister Mr Odinga.

The jubilee duo inherited the IDP issue. While the two (Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto) have done something about it, it has evidently been riddled by controversies over authenticity of some IDPs and funds set aside for the same. I am not an expert and would not claim to be one, but some of these things are too basic to misconstrue.

The resettlement of IDPs  by Jubilee government, it appears, has not been to the satisfaction of some Kenyans. Some have genuine reasons, others have political reasons and the rest, simply want to contribute something in the debate. I find it both annoying and hypocritical when a figure who was well-placed to help IDPs, shout about it to possibly gain political mileage.

Retired President Mwai Kibaki and Hon Raila Odinga should have done more than argue about protocol and red carpet availability during public functions for Christ’s sake. It’s a shame that almost ten years after the 2007/2008 elections we are still talking about resettlement of the IDPs and the people who are shouting on top of their voices (sorry about my cliché), had the power and the opportunity to change the sad scenario.

ICC diced complications on the Kenyan political equation. But now, the cases have all been thrown out with suspects claiming to have also been the victims (I need a definition of victims though).  While the Ocampo 6 now breathe with ease in their homes and blissfully taste the air of freedom, they should remember that IDPs out there too deserve the warmth of their homes and a feel of their beloved country. They deserve an assuring roof that won’t be blown away by the evening storm when the rains return. Mothers in the camps want their babies to suckle without having to worry about the biting cold.

Raila Odinga should go slowly on lecturing the Jubilee government about IDPs resettlement because he was in fact, the best person to do that five years ago when he was the Prime Minister. He should consider meeting up with retired President Mwai Kibaki to discuss how they missed out on taking the IDPs out of their tents when they had the chance and time.