Deputy President William Ruto addresses residents of Ganda in Kilifi county in Malindi Town constituency on February 22, 2016. He says implementation of TJRC Report will open old wounds. [Photo: nation.co.ke]Attempts to bury the Truth Justice and Reconciliation Commission's (TJRC) report on historical injustices is callous.Christopher Gitari, who is an advocate of the High Court, says many victims of past injustices had yearned for the day the report would be adopted by Parliament and its recommendations implemented.He says that recent remarks by Deputy President William Ruto in Kilifi County where he said that the Jubilee government would not implement the TJRC Report because it will divide Kenyans are very unfortunate.Gitari through an opinion piece in Tuesday's Daily Nation, notes that Kenyans are demanding courageous leadership to deal with historical injustices so as to secure lasting peace.He says that Ruto's comments are problematic for three reasons.Firstly, they are a complete departure from the aspirations of the thousands of the victims who participated in the TJRC process.The TJRC received more than 40,000 statements from Kenyans wanting to be heard.Secondly, he notes that Ruto spoke at the Coast; a region that has borne the brunt of violations and massacres including the Likoni clashes where hundreds died, sexual violence, grabbing the land of indigenous people such as the Mijikenda by pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial regimes, marginalisation, and the extrajudicial killing of young Muslim men.Finally, the remarks come hot on the heels of the death of the former chairman of the TJRC, Bethuel Kiplagat, he says."It is quite remarkable coming as the country mourns the peace maker, who hailed from the Rift Valley, a region that has borne the brunt of inequity in land distribution, ethnic violence, resulting in the deaths of thousands (1992, 1997 and 2007), sexual violence and massive forcible displacement of people," writes Gitari.Kiplagat had called on the State to implement the report’s recommendations.

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