Let us not forget...
The year is slowly coming to a close and Kenyans will take time to reflect on the challenges and successes they experienced. But for many Kenyans still languishing in camps for the internally displaced, this will be a time to remind Kenyans that there is little to celebrate even after the formation of the Grand Coalition government.
The poverty in the camps is telling. Yet some of the families forced to endure it had strong incomes and well-run businesses. They have been forced to live a life of abject poverty and acute suffering. They cannot predict when their next meal will come and have to hustle to earn any shillings to purchase items not catered for in the camps. These include basic toiletries.
I saw a story on a local TV channel about women in a camp for IDPs in Othaya in Nyeri. Officially, the camp is closed but some families still stay there. Some of the women interviewed said they have been forced to sell their bodies to cater for their young ones. Worse still, they engage in unprotected sexual liaisons. I do not agree that they have no other choice other than to stoop that low. However, they do have genuine grievances and need some assistance.
This is not the only camp still running in the country. The government has worked hard, pumping millions for the upkeep of the internally displaced for months now and even gave many of them cash handouts to help them resettle in their former homes and elsewhere. The government has only so much extra cash to spare. Tax revenues have been falling while ministerial needs and budgets have been growing year after year. Therefore, the private sector and ordinary wananchi should also try as much as they can to help the IDPs. Some have.
But did we have to be in this quagmire? Did Kenya have to go through such bloodletting like that witnessed earlier this year and which filled TV screens worldwide? Just where and when did the rain start beating us? Kenyans need to engage in a lot of soul searching as we prepare for the New Year.
My hope is that tribalism and its tendency to infiltrate national politics is fought hard and really hard. A country of nearly forty million should be a mature beacon of democracy not an island of troubles generated by internecine strife and hate.
Long live the Kenyan nation and down with tribalism.
The poverty in the camps is telling. Yet some of the families forced to endure it had strong incomes and well-run businesses. They have been forced to live a life of abject poverty and acute suffering. They cannot predict when their next meal will come and have to hustle to earn any shillings to purchase items not catered for in the camps. These include basic toiletries.
I saw a story on a local TV channel about women in a camp for IDPs in Othaya in Nyeri. Officially, the camp is closed but some families still stay there. Some of the women interviewed said they have been forced to sell their bodies to cater for their young ones. Worse still, they engage in unprotected sexual liaisons. I do not agree that they have no other choice other than to stoop that low. However, they do have genuine grievances and need some assistance.
This is not the only camp still running in the country. The government has worked hard, pumping millions for the upkeep of the internally displaced for months now and even gave many of them cash handouts to help them resettle in their former homes and elsewhere. The government has only so much extra cash to spare. Tax revenues have been falling while ministerial needs and budgets have been growing year after year. Therefore, the private sector and ordinary wananchi should also try as much as they can to help the IDPs. Some have.
But did we have to be in this quagmire? Did Kenya have to go through such bloodletting like that witnessed earlier this year and which filled TV screens worldwide? Just where and when did the rain start beating us? Kenyans need to engage in a lot of soul searching as we prepare for the New Year.
My hope is that tribalism and its tendency to infiltrate national politics is fought hard and really hard. A country of nearly forty million should be a mature beacon of democracy not an island of troubles generated by internecine strife and hate.
Long live the Kenyan nation and down with tribalism.
posted by Kelele Leo @ 4:37 AM
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