The government has been urged to recover land owned by victims of post-election violence who were displaced following disputed presidential results in 2007 general election.
Speaking at Ekerenyo in Nyamira on Thursday, ODM Secretary General Ababu Namwamba said failure by the State to recover the land would condone more land grabbing by people guided by impunity.
The Budalang’i lawmaker said he was astonished that the government was busy resettling the Internally Displaced Persons without giving an indication of recovering land formerly owned by them in various parts of the country.
“I fully support resettlement of IDPs but at the same time Kenyans need to know who is currently occupying the pieces of land that were once owned by them. This makes me suspect something wrong. We urgently need to here that the government has recovered the land before we discuss on how it should be used,” he said.
He said recovery of the land was necessary since it could be sold to supplement the amount of money given to victims as compensations.
“Some people owned thousands of hectares but are being given very little as compensation. If we recover the pieces of land, they can be sold to willing buyers to help supplement amount given to IDPs,” he added.
He also questioned the formula used by Ann Waiguru’s Devolution and Planning ministry in compensating IDPs.
“It’s really disappointing that IDPs have been classified as integrated and total making me wonder the criteria that were used. The ministry of Devolution should desist from playing with the minds of Kenyans. They (IDPs) should be compensated equally because they suffered similar fate,” he added.
(ODM Secretary General Ababu Namwamba being mobbed by supporters at Ekerenyo in Nyamira. He wants the government recover the land formerly owned by IDPs in different parts of the country/Abuga Makori)