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Tana River families protest forced relocation from Garissa IDP camp

Garissa Police Training Center IDP camp where 1,800 families from Mororo,Tana River County are camping. (Issa Hussein)

By Issa Hussein | Tuesday, May 21, 2024

Mwajuma expressed fears over a recent alert by the government about expected heavy rains, saying floods were likely to occur again.

Approximately 1,800 families from Mororo in Tana River County, currently hosted at the Garissa police training IDP camp, are protesting the government's order to relocate them back to their homes.

Led by camp chairlady Mwajuma Hamaro, the IDPs, who were relocated following the overflow of River Tana that submerged their homes, claim their residences are still flooded and uninhabitable.

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“Yesterday, a senior police officer came and told us to prepare to go back to our homes. We were shocked; why would they evacuate us when our homes are still flooded? Some of our houses were completely destroyed by the floods,” Mwajuma said.

She appealed to the government to intervene and give them enough time until the floods completely receded.

Mwajuma expressed fears over a recent alert by the government about expected heavy rains, saying floods were likely to occur again.

Mwajuma Hamaro, chairlady of the Mororo IDPs, hosted at the Garissa police training college. (Issa Hussein)

Nurdin Saney, a displaced activist at the camp, also denounced early plans to relocate them back to their homes.

“This is a sad moment. We have nowhere to go. The majority were living in mud brick houses that were washed away by the floods. The only primary school, Hatata Primary, is still submerged,” he said.

He said the vacation order was premature since they had been in the camp for only three weeks and it was still raining in the region.

Nurdin urged the government to relocate them to an alternative camp rather than their still-flooded homes.

He further claimed that some of the areas where floods had subsided were still wet and there was a high risk of outbreak of flood-related diseases.

Ronald Stephen Khisa, another displaced victim, also urged the government to reconsider the decision to move them out of the camp until the rains were over.

Garissa County Commissioner Mohamed Mwabodza said the IDPs came through an emergency program, and those from areas where floods have receded should prepare to go back to their homes.

“You cannot be idle in camp life waiting for assistance when you can rebuild your life after the floods,” he said.

He refuted the plan to move in a Chinese construction company at the Police Training Center, saying it was impossible to have a construction company where police undertake their training.