Gov’t to pay Ksh 1.1B to resettle IDPs ahead of El Nino rains

The Government will this weekend pay out Sh1.1 billion shillings to internally displaced persons (IDPs) that are yet to be resettled, before the onset of the El Nino rains expected this coming week.

Deputy President William Ruto said 5, 387 households, which translates to about 25, 000 Kenyans, are set to receive the payments to facilitate their resettlement.

Gilgil, Njoro, Eldoret and Nakuru are some of the areas that are targeted for this pay out.

Addressing the public, the DP said: “We are doing this because we want those citizens who were displaced to go back home, so that they can live their lives.”

The DP said that the restlement of IDPs was important not only to him, but to President Uhuru Kenyatta as well.

“I recently sat with the President and he asked me to ensure that we have taken care of all displaced persons before El Nino hits. This issue is important to us, and that is why we have continued to disburse money to IDPs,” said Ruto.

Devolution Cabinet Secretary Anne Waiguru also addressed the gathering, and she assured residents that her ministry is working to ensure all genuine IDPs are compensated.

The government has in the recent weeks put up measures to deal with the impending rains, and it has called on those in flood prone areas to relocate even as efforts to open up drainage systems are underway.

In August, the government had ruled out future compensation and allocation of land to victims of the 2007-2008 post-election violence.

Waiguru said the government had already settled genuine IDPs in transitional camps adding that those claiming to be IDPs now would not be compensated or given land.

The Devolution CS stated that the government was using the records of registered IDPs affected by the post polls chaos noting it would be difficult to ensure further compensation for more victims.

Waiguru said the government had already resettled over 8, 000 victims who were affected by the post-election violence.

“I can assure Kenyans that we have resettled everyone who was in the government data. We also compensated them with between Sh10, 000 and Sh25, 000,” she said. 

 She noted that over 10, 000 victims were claiming to be integrated and paying them would mean that the Government spends over three hundred billion shillings.