Posted on 05/01/2008 8:32:37 AM PDT by blam
Kenyans live in squalor as government spends millions on ministries
By Mike Pflanz in Eldoret
Last Updated: 1:59AM BST 01/05/2008
More than 150,000 Kenyans are trapped in tented camps and fear a resurgence of tribal violence, even as their "unity" government prepares to lavish hundreds of millions of pounds on new ministries.
The church in Kiambaa, where 18 people died in January
According to the finance ministry, the expanded coalition needs an extra £125 million a month for nine new departments, in addition to the soaring cost of paying for its 93 ministers and their perks.
The new government is a result of bitterly contested elections in December, which ignited latent tribal tensions, resulting in hundreds of deaths.
But its rising costs are causing growing anger among Kenyans who have lost their homes and businesses in the violence. A third of the money for the government will come from development budgets, including cutting £85 million from the education ministry.
"They have got everything they wanted," said Mercy Wambui, a 35-year-old mother with seven children living in the country's largest camp in Eldoret, 190 miles northwest of Nairobi.
"But instead of committing themselves to helping us here, they are all jostling for power in Nairobi while we are living in tents filled with jiggers [flesh eating insects] and fleas."
Close to Eldoret, in the village of Kiambaa where 18 people including 13 children were burned alive in a church on Jan 2, fields lie abandoned and homesteads stand charred and deserted.
Most of the residents fled to Eldoret as supporters of President Mwai Kibaki clashed with groups loyal to his challenger Raila Odinga, leaving 1,500 people dead.
Now nearly 17,000 people, including 7,000 children aged under five, live on handouts at Eldoret's showground.
Two months after the Kofi Annan-mediated peace deal was signed, they and 130,000 other displaced Kenyans fear they cannot return to their land.
"When I tried to go to my farm one month ago, I found that it was still intact and I was hopeful," said Gideon Kariuki, 38.
"But then I saw some young men coming. They found me and beat me and then they burned my farm. Now there is nothing."
During a visit to Eldoret last week, Mr Kibaki repeated his call for all displaced people – most of whom are from his Kikuyu tribe – to return to their homes, promising free seeds and fertiliser.
But there is still a great mistrust and bitterness between rival ethnic groups. "They can come home, we do not understand why they do not, they were our neighbours," said Willy Kibiwott, 27, a vet from the Kalenjin tribe in Kiambaa.
"Maybe they feel guilty for what they did, stealing the election. We will welcome them but we need their leaders to come here first and apologise."
Others are more hostile. "We pushed them from this land because it does not belong to them, they cannot come back here or there will be fighting again," said a lorry driver in Iten, 30 miles north of Eldoret.
Wesley Chirchir, the chairman of the district peace committee, said: "It is not enough to tell people to return, to give them some small gifts and forget about them.
"The underlying issues which caused the fighting – the poverty, the arguments over who owns what land – these must be addressed or we will be back to the same situation again in the future."
"Kenya's expanded new government will spend 80 per cent of the entire national budget on luxury vehicles, inflated salaries for ministers and general running costs, a local anti-corruption group claimed on Wednesday."
And Osama Hussein want so to give them more of our tax dollars. The key to “saving” Africa is to wean them off the money teat and learn to stand on their own.
Where is Rev. Wright when we need him.
NO Problem Bush and the dems will just send more $$$$
Isn’t Kenya the country whre Barack Osama’s cousin is the dictator?
Carolyn
More $$$ to the bottomless money pit. Doesn’t matter if it’s $100. or $1,000,000,000. Sad.
Not quite; but is one of the reasons there's a near civil-war there. Here's a snip out of PBS - Obama: The Kenya Connection:
Between Odinga and Wright, maybe we'll see this turkey immolate himself.
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