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Post Election Violence Dominates TJRC Kisii Public Hearings.

Details

Published on Sunday, 31 July 2011 00:37

The  state was responsible for  inter-ethnic clashes around elections the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission heard in Kisii today. Witnesses who spoke to post election violence  described the broader context of the clashes, how they were fuelled by politicians and the violations they suffered.

Mr. Hezron Nyambane presenting a memorandum on behalf of the Borabu said their land had been illegally given to the Kipsigis by the colonial government and his community forced to settle in a much smller area in Sotik.

“The Borabus have never tried to evict the Kipsigis from Sotik but Kalenjin leaders have always demanded eviction of Borabus from Sotik,” Mr. Nyambane told the hearing presided over by Prof. Ron Slye at St. Vincent Catholic Centre. He said during the 2008 pot election violence the Kipsigis seriously attacked the Borabus in Sotik West  forcing some of them to leave the area permanently.

Mama Nyarinda Makubi highlighted issues facing women and children of the Borabu community. She said their community has been continuously attacked by Ndorobos who constantly ask them to leave. She narrated how women were raped and maimed during post election violence.

“Children do not have enough food or good schools to attend. Women are unable to access good hospitals in the area; they have to come all the way to Kisii. Most women die  during childbirth,” she observed.

Mr. Samuel Kibwage attributed the 2007 clashes along the Nyanza/Rift Valley border to a politician who termed the Borabus blackspots which needed to be removed from the community, hence the attack on them.
Another resident Mr. Hezron Otachi said the Borabu community was marginalized as the district had no tarmac roads, few schools, ill equipped and staffed health facilities.

Ms. Alice Moraa Koskei a veterinary doctor claimed  supporters of ODM political party raped women and girls and looted property. She told how her husband refused to evacuate her and their children when the violence started forcing her to flee to Chepkoro forest and resulting in the death of her niece.

“ When I returned I found my niece had been raped; Administration Police were demanding Kshs 4,000.00  for protection while the police demanded Kshs 10,000.00 to transport my family. I took them to Mogocho IDP camp where  we stayed. Things cooled down a bit after MPs Kipkalya Kones and Omingo Magara met in Sotik. I fled from place to place until I found rental premises in Nyansiongo,” Ms. Koskei said.

She further told how she took her niece to hospital where she was found to have been infected with HIV/Aids. “ She died after 6 months from trauma. I also fell sick and my daughters but we were treated at Keroka IDP camp,” she added. Ms Koskei said the IDPs in the area were ill treated by the District Commissioner who declined to disburse Kshs 2 million allocated for them.

“ Women are defenceless and children have no one to protect them. Upto now we have not recovered, others need further treatment for rape. The post election violence separated me from my husband who is a police officer based in Mombasa. I can’t go back to my  homestead and tribalism is to blame. I later heard my husband married a Kipsigis lady,” she said.

Ms. Koskei thanked TJRC  for the listening to their plight and asked the Commissioners to let the truth be known to ensure that the events of 2007/8 do not recur.


Mr. Sylvanus Agufa from Migori told how he lost property of an estimated Kshs 8 million in value  during the post election violence. He blamed it on the fact that he had vied Councillor on a KANU party ticket in an area that  strongly supported ODM.

“I walked  for 18 kilometres to Migori Police Station where I recorded a statement on how I lost my property worth about Kshs 8 million to looters which my wife and I had worked for as teachers,” Mr. Agufa said.

He said his children had dropped out of school for lack of fees adding that the government did not seem to be aware that there internally displaced persons in Nyanza.

“We want compensation; those who vandalised my house and property are my neighbours. The stolen goods are still there but I do not have the power to get them back. Except for Kshs 25,000.00 I received, I have never received anything else. I would be very happy if I could be compensated,” Mr. Agufa ended.

Messrs Wilson Masara, Bernard Onchari and Samuel Nyanchwaya all former air force personnel narrated the violations they suffered on being wrongly accused of plotting the 1982  failed coup.

They told how they were woken up in the barracks in the early morning and informed that the government had been overthrown and later heard about it on radio but did not know which arm of the military was responsible.

“ The screening process entailed being held in small cells with mud and water making it impossible to sit down. We were called out individually for questioning after which one would either be released while others received 25 year prison sentences,” they said.

They described how they were held incommunicado from their families and were only released after presidential amnesty in June 1986.

The group said they have since sued for compensation as a group but have been attending seemingly endless court mentions.

“We suffered torture, heave developed health problems and suffered stigmatisation  as society looked down on us. Our children have not been educated as we got nothing after being dismissed unjustly. So many officers died. Our lives were wasted by the Moi government. We were not dismissed, we were discharged hence we ask this democratic government to give us our benefits to sustain our families and build Kenya,” they urged the Commission.

The hearings in Kisii continue tomorrow