IDPs case seeking compensation from govt adjourned

IDPs case seeking compensation from govt adjourned

The High Court has adjourned the hearing of a public interest litigation case filed by about six thousand Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) to Thursday.

The case, before Justice Isaac Lenaola, seeks to compensate victims of the post polls chaos that claimed over 1,300 lives and left over 600,000 people displaced.

The petitioners claim that they were not compensated after the chaos. The case has been in court since 2011.

The case is a representative suit and covers IDPs displaced during the 2007/08 Post Election Violence in Eldoret, Kericho, Kisumu, Isiolo, Naivasha, Bungoma, Nakuru, Kisii, Transzoia, Nyandarua, Meru, Mombasa, Nairobi and Laikipia.

The petitioners claim that the government is responsible directly or indirectly, for the harms that the IDPs suffered among them sexual and gender based violence, loss of lives, destruction of property, grievous bodily harm and forced displacements.

The objective of this case is to establish that the government of Kenya violated its constitutional obligation to protect the citizens of Kenya during and after the violence.

The petitioners are hopeful that the court will grant them reparations and compensation, or a combination of both, under Article 23 of the constitution.

This comes about two days after it emerged that a decade since the 2007/08 post election violence about 80,000 victims of the skirmishes are yet to be compensated.

More than 170,000 IDPs have, however, been resettled with the government now planning to assist the rest following President Uhuru Kenyatta’s promise during the national prayers rally held on Saturday.

Figures from the National Consultative Coordination Committee on IDPs show that just over 245,000 families were registered as IDPs after the chaos in 2008.

Of these, 170,000 received ten thousand shillings each while in the camps.

90,000 displaced families who quickly moved out of the camps and into the homes of friends and family members made do with the initial sum of 10,000 shillings each.

When the government launched Operation Rudi Nyumbani, 78,000 thousand more families were ferried back home, and given an additional 25,000 shillings each to put their lives back together.

8700 other families were resettled on land purchased by the government, after which the government resolved to give IDPs money to purchase their own land.

19,500 families benefitted from this, receiving sums between 200 and 400 thousand shillings each. 17 billion shillings has already been spent on resettling the displaced.

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kenya bungoma Kisii President Uhuru Kenyatta Mombasa Nairobi NAIVASHA meru president kenyatta kisumu court Nakuru. internally displaced persons Kericho eldoret NYANDARUA isiolo laikipia IDPS IDPs settlement Transzoia

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