FAMILY EVICTED AND PROPERTY SET ABLAZE IN
POST ELECTION VIOLENCE
CAROLINE NZISA NDUNDA
Student Number: 05-0954
Major: Community Development
My father had
three wives. Two of them passed away and one is alive.
I have three step-sisters and three steps-brothers.
My step-mother is the one who has brought me up since
when my mother passed away when I was one year old.
We have lived in Njoro, a small town near Nakuru, for
a long time.
There has always been
rivalry between the tribes in my area due to land ownership.
When the presidential election results were announced
violence broke out immediately. One tribe began to give
eviction notices to the other tribe and threatened to
burn their property and kill them if they did not move.
They resisted and hence
the burning of their farms and houses started, and some
were killed. They even walked from house to house killing
any one who was from a different tribe. Then full war
broke out between the two communities. Some of our neighbors
from other communities sided with one while others sided
with the other.
Even though my father is
from a different community, my step-mother is from one
of the tribes in our community, so our family was threatened
to move from the area. Tension was very high as people
were being killed and property being burnt. On the day
we were evicted we couldn’t travel because road blocks
had been mounted and the area surrounded. By God’s grace
police escorted us to the police station.
That night our house, property
and farm were all set ablaze. The maize we had harvested
and put into the field to dry as well as what was in
the granary was burnt. The wheat which was still in
the field was also set ablaze.
We stayed at the police
station for one week and then moved to a rental house.
Again we were threatened and went back to the police
station. Currently, my family is now living with relatives
in Nakuru town.
My parents are not in a
position to raise my school fees because all the farm
produce, from which my school fee is usually paid, was
destroyed. I would really appreciate any form of assistance.
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