Opposition leader Raila Odinga has yet again questioned the government’s plans on reconciling Post Election Victims of 2007/08; days after two last Kenyans linked with the violence were exonerated by International Criminal Court in The Hague.
Mr Odinga, who was peaking in Nairobi on Sunday during a prayer service organized by Central Organization of Trade Unions (Cotu) said momentary compensation alone was not enough to heal wounds of the victims.
“The Jubilee government is not doing enough to reconcile the country after the deadly post-election chaos. When I was in government, we had started a scheme where the victims were not meeting their oppressors for forgiveness,” he said.
“Money alone cannot heal a broken heart. We know of a boy who was short in Kisumu and several people who were shot in Kibera and I am asking, where are the policemen who shot them? They must be brought forth to ask for forgiveness. That happened in South Africa and no doubt it can happen in the country,” Odinga added.
He challenged the government to compensate IDPs who were reportedly languishing in poverty due to unwarranted discrimination.
“We still have several families who are yet to receive a single penny from the government. It’s not fair to compensate a section and ignore another section yet they went through the same ordeal. We want to see all of them get justice,” he said.
He urged the government to start a process of uniting the oppressed with their oppressors as a way of promoting ‘true’ reconciliation.
“Reconciliation is a process and for it to be true, the government should bring together those who were oppressed and their oppressors for this process to be true. Giving money I insist will not heal these families but it should be also part of reconciliation,” he said.