IDP News Alert, 7 January 2008

According to the United Nations, 250,000  people have been displaced in Kenya and 600 killed by violence following the country’s disputed elections. With the delivery of aid hampered by roadblocks, healthcare NGO Merlin is warning of a devastating health emergency. Representatives of IDPs in temporary camps in Bungoma, Western Province, reported on 7 January that food rations had run out and disease was setting in, while several children have reportedly died of exposure.

WFP was able only on 6 January to start distributing food from the port of Mombasa to IDPs in Nairobi and Eldoret. The situation is also affecting humanitarian assistance to neighbouring countries. 30,000 metric tonnes of food, destined for 1.5 million people in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Somalia and southern Sudan, had been stranded due to the insecurity on Kenya’s roads.


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Kenya 2 January: Post-election violence displaces up to 100,000

Violence following Kenya’s disputed presidential election has led to the displacement of up to 100,000 people amid claims of “ethnic cleansing” by rival tribes. More than 300 have been killed, and aid agencies are warning of a “humanitarian catastrophe” if the crisis is not defused.

Police statistics released on 1 January recorded 54,000 IDPs in Rift Valley Province, 16,000 in Coast Province and 3,000 in Western Province, but a spokesman stressed that these were rough estimates. A huge number of displaced people are said to be sleeping in the cold in police stations, schools and churches, with many running out of food and water and tens of thousands beyond the reach of immediate assistance. “A few hundred thousand will need assistance for some time”, said Kenya Red Cross Secretary General Abbas Gullet.

Since the Electoral Commission pronounced the victory of incumbent Mwai Kibaki, both international and local observers have described the vote counting and tallying processes as flawed. Most of the current violence has been towards members of Kibaki’s Kikuyu tribe. Police and protesters fought running battles in a number of Nairobi’s slums as supporters of rival candidate Raila Odinga burned down homes and looted shops owned by followers of Kibaki. In western Kenya, where Odinga’s support is greatest, 40 people were reported to have been killed, many of them by police, and a daytime curfew was enforced.

At least 35 displaced people in Eldoret, mostly women and children, died when a church where they had taken refuge was burned down by youths believed to be supporters of Odinga’s ODM party. On 1 January, Nairobi and Kisumu remained under police siege, as the extent of damage began to emerge. Other areas that saw violent protests and clashes with the police were Mombasa, Kericho, Kilifi, Taveta, Wundanyi and Narok.

See also: IDMC Kenya country page and the report ‘"I am a Refugee in My Own Country’: Conflict-Induced Internal Displacement in Kenya"

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