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Famine fears as 50,000 people return to Gusiiland

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Published on Saturday, 01 March 2008 23:37

More than 50,000 displaced from mainly Rift Valley province moved back to the populous Gusii districts. Their unexpected arrival has raised fears of famine and congestion at the local market centres and townships.

Fr Theodore Grazyska of the Eldoret Holy Spirit Catholic church (centre) with displaced families when he received drugs from Mr Evance Manono (left) on behalf of AAAR and MAP International. Photo/FILE

But quite a few have been rejected by relatives due to overstretched resources which include land, food and shelter. Other returnees cannot trace their homes and relatives, having been born and brought up in Rift Valley after their parents sold their land in Gusii. 

Gusii elders have expressed fears of a food shortage following the new arrivals. Mr Matundura Araka says food and other resources are overstretched with no help from aid agencies.

Although the region is agriculturally productive, the sector is the prime source of income for most residents who are now been forced to stop selling their produce to provide for no only their families, but also relatives and other people running away from violence elsewhere. 

Mr Araka calls upon the Government to address the issue in time to avert starvation.

The displaced people need food, shelter, clothing, water, drugs and other basic necessities. A returnee, Mr Daniel Mobisa, 81, says he left his Tombe ancestral home 53 years ago and settled in Kuresoi where he was evicted last month. His property was burnt down by attackers who also stole his cattle and goats and torched his posho mill.

The father of 10 says his aging brothers in Gusii have rejected him, leaving him with nowhere else to go, except Kuresoi where he had lived since 1955. “I feel sad and distressed,” he says. “My fortune is gone. I do not know where to start life from after losing my house and property worth hundreds of thousands of shillings.”

Mr James Mochere has also been rejected by his uncles who argue that his father, who settled in Molo in 1960, had no land before migrating. “My parents told me that our ancestral land was somewhere at Tombe in Kitutu Masaba. I traced the place but nobody was willing to see or speak to me. I felt like an outcast.” 

He and others are sheltering at Central Kitutu chief’s office at Riatengeya in Kitutu Masaba constituency. 

And at Ekerenyo, Otwabe Raasi, 65, says he sold his land in Gusii and settled at Cheptonon in Nandi. He was living there with his Nandi wife and eight children until his eviction. 

“My land at home was small and I decided to sell it in order to get a bigger piece and, together with some people, I moved to Nandi while others went to Kericho,” he adds.

Many other displaced people in camps in Gusii are in the same predicament. Others have resorted to renting houses.

The value of property in Gusii, which has remained relatively calm, is expected to skyrocket. Already landlords have increased rents while people selling land have nearly doubled the prices.