Marsabit: The government is finalizing plans to resettle families that were displaced due to insecurity in the Badasa location in Marsabit Central sub-county a couple of years ago. Area Deputy County Commissioner (DCC) David Saruni asked the 350 households now camping in the Jirme location to be patient as strategies to have them return to their settlements were underway. Mr. Saruni made the assurance when he presided over the distribution of relief food from the national government to the families in the four IDP camps.
According to Kenya News Agency, the DCC pointed out that the government was keen on having the families settled back on their land where they practiced both crop and livestock farming so that they could restart their normal lives. During a recent visit, Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen pledged that the internally displaced persons would be facilitated to resettle now that there was peace. The inter-ethnic clashes, which emanated from competition for resources, have since been addressed, and the two communities resolved to coexist peacefully.
Mr. Saruni noted that the living conditions at the camps were not ideal, while the IDPs who had previously been productive on their farms were now idle. He urged the IDPs not to sell iron sheets that they had received from doors, which he said would greatly assist in the resettlement process. The families expressed their desire to go back to their farms but expressed concern that resettling would be difficult as their dwellings were destroyed during the skirmishes.
Ms. Madina Gulacha, while thanking the government for the food support which she said had shielded them from starvation, expressed her desire to get settled back in her home. She said that continued reliance on relief food and other assistance from the government and partners was not acceptable because, given the opportunity, they could feed themselves. ‘Badasa is in the edges of Mt Marsabit forest, where there is good rainfall and fertile soils,’ she pointed out, adding there was a need to help the affected families to regain their dignity.
Lastly, the families received 3.7 tons of rice and 1.7 tons of beans from the state department for ASALs.
