Kenya Police to Provide Heavily Armed Escort for Resettlement Operations

The Kenya police announced on Saturday that it will provide a heavily armed escort to the more than 150,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) as the government embarks on Monday on a nationwide resettlement of the thousands of refugees displaced due to recent post election skirmishes in the country.

Addressing journalists in Nairobi, police commissioner, Brigadier Mohammed Ali assured the thousands IDPs that the police will provide adequate security to those that are set to resettle back to their former homes.

“The armed escorts will be used in case the planned resettlement by the government meets any resistance from any groups,” he pointed out.

In the past few weeks, there have been leaflets circulating in the province warning perceived communities of dire consequences if they dared return to their former homes.

The resettlement will start first in the vast Rift Valley province that witnessed the worst violence that was characterized with ethnic cleansing in the countrywide violence that left more than 1,000 people dead and more than 300,000 displaced.

The province recorded the highest number of people killed with police figures indicating that more than 500 people were killed in the skirmishes that were triggered by last year’s disputed presidential elections.

Ali said that the government has already completed building more than 30 new police stations in the Rift Valley province.

“There will be no hitches because we have put in place adequate security measures to ensure the operations’ success,” said Ali.

Source African Press Agency

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