KENYA: Kenya government says to close temporary camp for displaced persons near Kibera slum in Nairobiwhile government criticises British comments

Record ID: 361472

  • Title: KENYA: Kenya government says to close temporary camp for displaced persons near Kibera slum in Nairobiwhile government criticises British comments
  • Date: 21st January 2008
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (English) DISTRICT COMMISIONER OF NAIROBI WESTLANDS, EVANS ONGWANGWA, SAYING: "The government and the stakeholders have agreed that the camp needs to be shut down. Red Cross and other stakeholders are going to assist in providing those who have been here with food and non-food items so that they can start their life afresh"
  • Embargoed: 5th February 2008 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Kenya
  • Country: Kenya
  • Topics: Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes
  • Reuters ID: LVA1DHJXFO2N2Y1HPLE21VHXOF6B
  • Story Text: The Kenyan government has said it wants to close down a temporary internally displaced people's camp near the sprawling Kibera slums, while the government has criticised British comments on the December election.
    The Kenyan government wants to close down one of the main camps for people displaced by post-poll violence in the capital.
    The government says some of the people should return to their houses in the nearby Kibera slums, while others can got to their rural homes.
    Aid agencies say there is a growing humanitarian crisis in the formerly peaceful east African country, where more than 600 people have died and around 250,000 people have fled mob violence since the December 27 poll.
    Kenya Red Cross staff and well-wishers have been assisting the displaced with food and medical services, but a senior Kenyan administration official met relief officials on Monday (January 21) and said they discussed the camps' closure.

    "The government and the stakeholders have agreed that the camp needs to be shut down. Red Cross and other stakeholders are going to assist in providing those who have been here with food and non-food items so that they can start their life afresh," said District Commissioner Evans Ongwangwa.
    Violence and looting erupted across opposition strongholds when President Mwai Kibaki was declared winner of an election that opposition challenger Raila Odinga says was fraudulent.
    Many of the attacks targetted Kibaki's Kikuyu tribe, which has long been resented for its general prosperity and perceived stranglehold on business.
    However, some of the displaced people say they cannot go back to the Kibera slum where they have lived all their lives and need government help to start afresh.

    "I have stayed here for close to three weeks and I don't have anywhere to go if we are ejected from here. The government should look for a way of helping us, even if it means taking us to rural homes," said Grace Wanjiru.
    Kenyans have also fled across to neighbouring Uganda and the number of people crossing the border from Kenya has now reached more than 6,100, according to Ugandan authorities.
    Kenyans are now awaiting the arrival of former United Nations secretary general Kofi Annan, who was mandated by the Africa Union to lead mediation efforts between president Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga.
    As part of increasingly strong reactions to criticism from abroad, Kenyan Foreign Minister Moses Wetangula summoned Britain's High Commissioner, Adam Wood, on Monday to express displeasure at criticism of Kenya's December 27 election made in the British Parliament.
    The British mission confirmed that the meeting took place, but would not comment further.

    "Kenya is a sovereign state, it cherishes relationships with all countries and will not in any way be a subject of unsolicited and unwarranted negative comments that don't help in strengthening or enhancing our bilateral relationship," Wetangula told reporters in the latest salvo by the government against Western powers doubting the election result.

    "The elections, the outcome and the disputes arising out of that outcome is a Kenyan issue, is an African issue and we are dealing with it as Kenyans and as Africans and no parliament anywhere has the right or the legitimacy to engage in an unhelpful debate of that nature," Wetangula added.
    After a bloody weekend that added to the death toll of around 650 since the vote, the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) has vowed to continue street rallies from Thursday and also called for economic protests.
    The crisis has damaged one of Africa's most promising economies, cut off supplies to neighbours and tainted Kibaki's reputation as the man who democratised Kenya after the 24-year rule of President Daniel arap Moi.
    The opposition, led by former Kibaki minister and one-time political prisoner Raila Odinga, calculates that increased pressure on the president will undermine his hold on power after a vote that most foreign and local observers agree was flawed.
    In the latest international mediation attempt, former U.N.
    secretary-general Kofi Annan was due to fly into Kenya to start talks with both sides on Tuesday. Diplomats hope he can bring Kibaki and Odinga into some sort of power-sharing arrangement, possibly before a fresh vote in the east African nation.
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