Almost 23,000 people responded to a UN-funded survey that is the first step in establishing what will be the country’s first truth and reconciliation commission. They were asked how to design a truth and reconciliation commission capable of confronting culprits who brutalised tens of thousands into exile.

Security crackdowns during the deadly 2005 presidential poll that elected President Faure Gnassingbe to power forced 40,000 to flee into neighbouring Ghana and Benin, according to the UN.

A 2006 peace deal recommended setting up a truth and reconciliation commission to look into 2005 crimes, as well as earlier human rights abuses.

Election monitors declared the mostly peaceful October 2007 legislative election to be free and fair, paving the way for donors to unfreeze aid money, and for leaders to start planning the country’s road to reconciliation.

Moving forward, looking back

The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Togo took the lead in administering 30,000 surveys in April 2008, which had a 76 percent response rate. More than 16,000 men, 6,865 women and about 2,000 youths under the age of 20 responded. Youths as young as 12 years old were allowed to participate.

Interviewers combed cities and the countryside, holding focus groups with priests and pastors, union leaders and university students, high-ranking officials and former political prisoners, among others to elicit their views.

More than half of those surveyed agreed the government should create one commission to investigate past crimes and another to pardon them in order to “minimise the risks of corruption,” according to the UN report submitted to the government on 11 September.

The Togolese government has not yet officially responded.

Designing peace

Eight out of 10 respondents said anyone who wanted to speak should be welcomed by the commissions; 70 percent wanted the commissions to set any necessary punishments for offenders; and almost 75 percent said the commissions should have investigative powers.

Up for discussion is the period the commissions will consider. While some chose to start with 1990, Togo’s violent transition to democracy rule, almost nine out of 10 people suggested going back to 1958, two years before Togo won independence from France when it held its first election.

About 77 percent of the respondents want a religious or civil society leader to head the commission, while less than 40 percent want a military or political leader at the helm.

But for Adjete Tobi, who says he lived through a military beating in 2005, he would be happy just to have the commission in place. “I always go over in my mind that scene from April 2005. I live in an area known as the heart of the [political] opposition. My house was locked, but the military still entered under the pretext they were chasing a bandit. We were all beaten until we were bloody. This is why from the bottom of my heart I am pushing to have these commissions. May the young [President] Faure [Gnassingbe] decide quickly.”

History

For more than 40 years, one family has ruled the country. Current President Faure Gnassingbe took over when his father, Eyadema Gnassingbe, who had been in power since 1967, died in February 2005.

Protesters disputed 2005 election results that gave the young Gnassingbe an overwhelming victory. Deadly poll violence drove tens of thousands to neighbouring Benin and Ghana, and killed at least 100 people, according to independent media reports.

Almost 7,000 refugees have still not returned home, according to UN refugee offices in Benin and Ghana. A man in Benin who gave IRIN his name as Dodzi and age as 30, said he has no plan to return to Togo.

“Benin is a welcoming country. It is peaceful here. I don’t know what there is to find in Togo. Just because things are calm for the moment is no guarantee that will last. At any moment, fighting can break out. Politicians are capable of anything. I will stay here until the situation is more clear; how many more years I will wait? I don’t know.”

IRIN 

Unless the Chad government includes rebels in reconciliation talks, the country will continue to face security threats and political crises, says the International Crisis Group (ICG) in its 25 September report.

A permanent ceasefire has eluded the violence-wracked country even after numerous rounds of government-rebel peace negotiations since conflict surged again in December 2005.

The report calls for better distribution of oil money, radical government reform and revived talks between Chad and Sudan to end their support of each other's rebel groups.

ICG describes the August 2007 EU-brokered peace deal as flawed, in that it tried to build democracy through elections without helping to create the necessary conditions for successful elections.

"The Chadian crisis goes way beyond what [the] August 13 [agreement] can achieve," the ICG's deputy director for Africa, Daniela Kroslak told IRIN. "We have to look at…decentralising the state authority, and security sector and judicial reforms – all of which are components without which democracy cannot thrive."

Inclusive approach

More people need to be consulted to create a thus-far elusive democracy, says Judith Enriquez-Sarano with the non-profit Oxfam, based in Abeche in eastern Chad.

"It is essential that all stakeholders are involved in this political process – this includes Islamic groups, clan leaders, women, parties to the armed conflict, and non-governmental organisations," she told IRIN.

While ICG calls for African Union mediation, Enriquez-Sarano says there is no peace without EU backing. "Without this political support, the violence will only continue."

Insecurity spiralling

Over the past year, insecurity has spiralled in eastern Chad, according to NGOs and UN agencies working there. "The security situation in Chad has developed from worrying to lethal in 2006 and has continued at a similar pace during 2007 and 2008," stated a May 2008 UNHCR security briefing note.

Despite the deployment of the UN policing force MINURCAT [UN Mission in the Central African Republic and Chad], and EUFOR [European stabilisation mission] troops in September 2007 and February 2008, respectively, about half a million people are still exposed daily to attacks, theft, rape, and forced recruitment to fight, according to Oxfam.

At risk are the estimated 250,000 refugees and 170,000 internally displaced people who are living in camps along Chad's eastern border.

MINURCAT has trained less than half of the 800 Chadian military police it set out to train; as a military, rather than a police force, EUFOR troops are ill-suited to fight widespread banditry and criminality in the east, says Oxfam.

"Despite these troops, the east remains a largely lawless environment,” says Enriquez-Sarano.

Setting up an enforceable and fair justice system in Chad is critical, according to ICG’s Kroslak, but it will only work if Chad's highest-ranking support it.

"The problem with MINURCAT and EUFOR is that they are a technical approach to a political issue. These are political issues, which require support from President [Idriss] Deby himself."

Kroslak says disgruntled power-grabbers will strike again. "It is in President Deby's interests, given [that] he's survived two coup attempts in the past two years…the rebels will not give up."

Sudan troubles

While the ICG report stresses Chad's problems are internal and not simply a spill-over from neighbouring Sudan, it calls on the UN Security Council, in negotiation with the African Union (AU), to appoint a respected AU mediator to renew peace talks in Chad.

For several years, the governments of Chad and Sudan have been accusing each other of supporting rebels in attacks against one another. 

ICG recommends regional actors such as Senegal's President Abdoulaye Wade to guide Chad and Sudan towards peaceful resolution.

President Wade helped negotiate the Dakar accord in August 2006, which aimed to end fighting between the governments of Chad, Sudan and rebel groups on both sides. The deal fell apart, as did another attempt in March 2008.

Since then, attacks in eastern Chad have killed more than 150 people, according to the Chadian military. Though peace deals have not held, Kroslak says Senegal is still a valuable go-between. "Senegal is seen to be an impartial actor that is willing enough to invest [in the process]…this should help move the process forward."

“The two leaders are now stuck in a merry-go-round of affirmation followed by accusations of support for each other’s rebel groups,” Kroslak told IRIN. “This [pattern] will not solve the crisis; it just glosses over the deeper issues. If regional actors do not help leaders find an inclusive solution to the Chad-Sudan crisis soon, then the danger of another attack in eastern Chad – even in N’djamena – is very real.”

IRIN 

Peace-building and reconciliation efforts to alleviate ethnic tension must be stepped up before internally displaced Kenyans are pushed to return to their homes or the risk of further violence will remain high, according to the UN and agencies.

"Ethnic tension remains high - hate, resentment and mistrust are widespread and people have few avenues to vent their feelings," Bernard Leflaive, early recovery and food security cluster coordinator and consultant to the UN Development Programme (UNDP), told IRIN. "The big precondition for return must be that people are able to live in security wherever they choose to go, and they should be able to form normal relationships with their neighbours."

The early recovery and food security cluster - comprising UN bodies, NGOs and government departments - aims to assist the government to ensure that communities affected by Kenya's post-election violence return to a state of normalcy as early as possible. The cluster deals with, among other issues, peace and reconciliation, governance and rule of law and the restoration of livelihoods.

"The assessment found that returns are being delayed because of the tension," said Daudi Ekwam, an early recovery needs assessment consultant for UNDP. "Return requires caution, and internally displaced people [IDPs] still have the same right as everyone else to choose whether to go back home or not."

He added that the goal of early recovery was to handle returns on a case-by-case basis and in an integrated and incremental way that would ensure the best chance of success.

Reconciliation bid

UNDP, in conjunction with local authorities and community service organisations, is involved in bringing communities together to encourage dialogue and reconciliation.

"We also have a volunteer scheme where members of various communities receive training and resources to carry out peace-building among their people," Leflaive said.

In the Rift Valley Province, host to the largest number of IDPs, efforts are under way to bring IDPs and their host communities to the table for reconciliatory discussions.
"We are in Kuresoi, joining hands with the government to bring IDPs from Molo town to meet the local Kalenjin community leaders," said Raphael Kinoti, regional coordinator of the National Council of Churches of Kenya. "Our aim is for the talks to result in the Kalenjin people inviting the Kikuyu people back to their farms.

"So far the process seems to be going well; the Kalenjin leaders have expressed remorse for the expulsion of the Kikuyu and they want everyone to get back to their farms," he added.

However, Kinoti stressed that the returns would hinge on the government's ability to provide additional security to the IDPs upon their return in the event that violence should flare up again.

The government will have an uphill task dealing with these issues, particularly given that many of its officials were themselves displaced in the violence and others were unaware of how to deal with the situation.

"Governance and the rule of law were affected - government officials had their authority challenged by these armed gangs," Leflaive said. "But some officials have had fantastic peace-building initiatives; one district commissioner actually went to the mother of a trouble-causing MP and got her to bring him in line."

He added that it would be necessary to create and strengthen peace and development committees and disaster-management committees, both of which exist in some areas but are underdeveloped or non-existent in the worst-affected districts.

The recent formation of a government of national unity and the naming of a cabinet following several weeks of stalemate are likely to boost the process of recovery, according to community leaders in affected areas.
"Calmness and confidence are returning to this part of the country now," Bishop Jackson ole Sapit, who covers eight districts in Kenya's western Rift Valley Province, said from Kericho town. "Today, for instance, all the Kikuyu-owned shops in Kericho are open and business is proceeding as normal."

Restoring livelihoods

According to Leflaive, rebuilding livelihoods is another key element of early recovery, and while some people have been able to return to their former livelihoods, many more will need help.

"The local economy has suffered greatly and needs an injection of cash - microfinance projects, income-generating projects, support for agricultural and non-agricultural livelihoods; all this is necessary," he said.

The cluster's needs assessment found that in many areas, workers have lost their jobs or feel unwelcome at their places of work, while in other areas, businesses and farms were burnt down.

"Whatever efforts are undertaken to restore people's livelihoods, they must involve the youth, who played a big part in the conflict but who are largely unemployed and had nothing to lose," said Ekwam. "Women will also be central to the recovery of livelihoods - their resilience needs to be exploited if early recovery efforts are to succeed.

"The government should take the lead in restoring normalcy; positive developments such as the planned visits to affected communities by the president and prime minister should help inspire confidence in the current situation, which should in turn spur returns," he added.

While announcing the new coalition cabinet on 13 April, President Mwai Kibaki promised that his government would focus on the plight of IDPs. "The new cabinet will prioritise the resettlement of the displaced people so that they can resume normal lives," he said.

IRIN

Joseph Mbatia, an internally displaced person (IDP) in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, would like to return home to Mathare, one of the city's larger slums, but only if reconciliation is part of the deal.

"It is well and good to see our leaders at the national level shake hands and agree to work together but the situation on the ground has not changed; I cannot go back home because no one has addressed the reasons for my displacement," Mbatia told IRIN on 12 March at the Mathare police post depot which he, and 648 other IDPs, have called home since 29 December when post-election violence erupted in parts of the country.

He said: "Someone needs to explain to me how I can go back to my house yet all the neighbours who showed me so much hostility are still there. Some of them are even occupying the rooms I used to let and they do not pay me any rent. How will I live with them? Who will explain to them that we need to live together without suspicion?"

The government recently announced that plans to relocate thousands of IDPs across the country were complete and would be implemented "soon".

However, the issue of reconciliation and dialogue among communities that took opposing sides during the poll-related violence has not featured prominently in the relocation efforts.

Several other IDPs at the Mathare police depot share Mbatia's sentiments about returning to their homes and have vowed to stay put.

Mbatia used to own 16 rooms to let in Mathare Area 4B but has been sleeping in a tent since he was displaced; sometimes he sleeps in the open when there is no room. He has sent his children to stay with a relative.

The political crisis that hit Kenya in January and February following disputed presidential elections led to the deaths of at least 1,500 people and the displacement of some 300,000 to IDP camps as well as hundreds of thousands more who sought refuge with neighbours, friends and relatives.

At the Mathare depot, displaced women and children are slightly better off than the men; they sleep in a social hall although the mattresses and blankets are inadequate.

Most of the IDPs say the government needs to address three issues necessary for their relocation: security, help to restart looted or destroyed businesses and to rebuild homes for those who owned them or help for those who rented their houses to move to new premises.

Compensation

Josephat Njenga, assistant secretary of the camp, told IRIN that financial aid for the IDPs was crucial as the houses they lived in before the violence were either burnt, looted or destroyed. "We are asking the government to provide us with some cash to help us restart our businesses, rent houses and get our lives back to normal; as you can see we have many children who are not in school, some at the nursery, primary and secondary level, what will become of them?"

Njenga, who was a security guard before the violence, failed to get his December salary due to "being blocked from seeing the boss. When I got displaced, I explained to my employer that I was unable to report to work; later I tried to get my salary but I was blocked by an immediate supervisor from seeing the boss," he said. "I believe I was blocked because my supervisor comes from the community that was fighting my community."

Nelius Njoki, the camp's secretary, proposed that the IDPs at the depot be moved to a new place altogether.

"In Mathare 4A where I lived, we were fewer than the 'opposition'; all they need to do is shout Mungiki! [an outlawed sect] and the next thing is that our homes will be destroyed and we'll be displaced yet again," she said. "If only a Good Samaritan would buy us a plot, we are not that many families [about 400] and we would move there and build even cardboard houses and live there rather than at this congested camp."

Joseph Kinyua, another IDP at the Mathare depot, said: "We have not refused to go home. We need an assurance of long-term security, not just security for three days or so. If we are escorted home and the security is withdrawn a few days later, what guarantee do we have that we will not be displaced again?"

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) is to step up the repatriation of Southern Sudanese refugees from Uganda, despite logistical constraints that have slowed progress.

"We expect that up to 50,000 refugees will be repatriated this year," the high commissioner, Antonio Guterres, told reporters in the Ugandan capital of Kampala on 6 March. "Logistics have not been enough ... [but] people want to return home."

Guterres, who visited northern Uganda where most of the thousands of Sudanese refugees live, said UNHCR would double the number of returnees going back each week.

According to government statistics, Uganda hosts 174,000 refugees, including 97,000 Sudanese, after some 60,000 returned home spontaneously in recent years. The current numbers include 39,000 from Democratic Republic of Congo, 18,000 from Rwanda and about 17,000 from Kenya. Since May 2006, UNHCR has helped nearly 35,000 refugees return to South Sudan from Uganda under its repatriation programme.

During a visit to Madi Okollo camp in Arua district on 5 March, Guterres told residents: "When I met with your leaders we agreed that we should intensify the return operation."

Together with the Luxembourg Minister for Development, Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs, Jean-Louis Schiltz, and Uganda's Minister of Relief and Disaster Preparedness, Tarsis Kabwegyere, Guterres flagged off a convoy carrying 450 refugees to Magwi County, South Sudan.

"Just as we have supported you on this side of the border [in Uganda], we will not forget you in South Sudan," the Luxembourg minister said. "I want to ask you to take up the opportunity for return." Luxembourg is UNHCR's top donor per capita, contributing US$25 per inhabitant in 2006 and 2007.

Many of the refugees in Madi Okollo camp sought shelter at the height of fighting between the Ugandan government and the rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). Talks are currently going on in Juba to end the conflict, which lasted more than two decades.

Guterres told reporters in Kampala that he hoped pressure on UNHCR operations in Uganda would ease once there was more commitment to political engagement and reconciliation in Kenya, where recent political violence had forced civilians across the border.

"We have been visiting the Kenyan refugees and we felt there was still some anxiety among the people," he said. "Many people are afraid to go back. I want to appeal to the new government to carry out national and local engagement so that the people can return."

A political settlement to a disputed December election was reached last week in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, but according to UNHCR, the refugees living in Mulanda, near the Uganda-Kenya border, are still cautious about returning to their homes.

"Many say they are waiting to see how the political settlement will be translated into reconciliation in the border town from where they fled," a UNHCR statement said.

Unity in Islam

There can be no peace without unity and for all of us to be under one umbrella. If we are united, it will make us strong and our voice will be one. Islam knows that there is sometimes differences among us, but whenever that happens, we should refer ourselves to Islam and try to solve the differences. The Holy Quran teaches us this in Sura Nisai V.59: “I ye believe! obey Allah and obey the messenger and those charged with authority among you. If ye differ in anything among ourselves, refer it to Allah and His messenger. If ye do believe in Allah, and the last day, that is best, and most suitable for final determination.”

Islam teaches us to have good manners becuase unless we have good manners, we will not be united. Trusting one another will be difficult without unity. Cursing one another is forbidden by Islam.

According to Islam, a good Muslim shall not have the following qualities: Not to speak ill of others and should always forgive. Sura Shuara states V.40: “The recompense for an injury is an injury equal there to (in degree): but if a person forgives and makes reconciliation, this reward is due from Allah: for (Allah) loveth not those who do wrong. A Muslim should not belittle others because of what they have. As stated in Sura Hujurat v.11 “O ye who believe! Let not some men among you laugh at others. It may be that the (latter) are better than the ( former): nor let some women laugh at others: it may be that the (latter) are better than the (former): nor defame nor be sarcastic to each other, not all each other by (offensive) nicknames. Ill-seming is a name connoting wickedness. (To be used of one) after he has believed and those who do not desist are indeed doing wrong.

Muslims should not be suspicious and should not spy at each other. Also they are not to speak ill behind each others back. As explained in Sura Hujirat V.7 “O ye who believe avoid suspicion as much (as possible) for suspicion in some cases is a sin. And spy not on each other, nor speak ill of each other behind their backs. Would any of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? Nay, ye would ashore it. But fear Allah for Allah is off-returning most merciful.” It is the duty of a good muslim to try to solve a difficult situation between others. He should not aggravate the situation.

However, he should bring peace between them. Sura Hujirat V.10 states: “The believers are but a single brotherhood. So make peace and reconciliation between your two (contending) brothers. And fear Allah that ye may receive mercy.”

According to Islam, a good muslim should forgive anyone who did wrong to him. He should give good advice to others but avoid doing wrong. Sura Arab V.199-201 states: “Hold to forgiveness: command what is wright but turn away from the ignorant. If a suggestion from satan assail thy (mind) seek refugee with Allah for the hearth and knoweth (all things).”

A good muslim should concentrate and follow only good things. By doing so then people, especially your enemies, will end up coming after you. Sura Fusilat V.34-35: “Nor can goodness and evil be equal, repel (evil) with what is better than will be between whom and thee was hatred become as it were thy friend and intimate, and no-one will be granted such goodness except those who exercise patience and self restraint none but persons of the greatest good fortune.”

Fooling around should be avoided by a good Muslim. As stated in Sura Muminun v. 1-2: “Successful indeed are the believers, those who humble themselves in their prayers who avoid vain talk.” These manners are among the many that Islam wants every good Muslim to be like.

A man once came to the Prophet Mouhammed (SAW) and said “counsel me.” The Prophet said: “Do not become angry” The man repeated his request several times, and the Prophet said: “Do not become angry.”

Prophet Mouhammed said in a hadith narrated by Abu Hurairata, “Let him who believes in Allah and the last day either speak good or keep silent, and let him who believes in Allah and he last day be generous to his guest.

Another hadith states: “part of someone’s being a good Muslim is his leaving alone that which does not concern him.”

According to Abu Hurairata, Prophet Mouhammed (SAWS) sad: “The gates of paradise will be opened on Mondays and on Thursdays, and every servant of Allah will be forgiven, except for the man who has a grudge against his brother. About them it will be said: Delay these two until they are reconciled.”

It can be concluded from our discussion that according to Islam, there should be peace everywhere they are, Muslims or non-Muslims.

Nothing can be shared if there is no peace. It should be shared amongst ourselves, when there is chaos, peace cannot be maintained. As stated in Sura Anfal V.5: “And fear the trial which affecteth not in particular (only) those of you who do wrong and know that Allah is strict in punishment.

May Allah guide us all.

The "official dialogue process" began on 29 January between Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki and the opposition Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), even as violence that has ravaged the country since late December continued to spread, with the latest casualty a Member of Parliament who was shot dead outside his home in Nairobi, the capital.

Pledging his commitment to the process of national healing and reconciliation, Kibaki announced that 32 fully-equipped police stations would be built in parts of the country affected by the violence. He said Ksh700 million (US$10 million) had already been committed to this project.

ODM leader Raila Odinga also committed himself to the dialogue process but maintained that the most urgent issue facing the country was the resolution of the "deeply flawed" presidential elections that have resulted in violence in many parts of the country.

Both leaders condemned the killing of the MP for Embakasi constituency in Nairobi, Mellitus Mugabe Were.

Police spokesman Eric Kiraithe told IRIN the police was treating the case as murder, "but this man was a politician and you can never rule out anything".

The MP's killing fuelled the already high political tension across the country. Hundreds of people have been killed and at least 255,000 displaced since the violence started soon after an announcement by the Electoral Commission of Kenya declaring Kibaki winner of the 27 December 2007 presidential elections.

Were, who won the seat on an ODM ticket, was shot dead as he returned home in the early hours of 29 January.

"We have put together a very competent [investigations] team," Kiraithe said, adding that the police were not ruling out a political motive for the murder.

He said ODM was free to send an investigator of its choice to join the police inquiry team to avoid any suspicions of a cover-up.

However, ODM leader Raila Odinga said the killing was nothing less than an assassination.

"This was an assassination; planned and executed by ODM's enemies," he said on local television. "How can the police spokesman dismiss it as a common murder yet no investigation has been carried out?"

When the news of the MP's killing spread, trouble started in various areas of the city, with reports that four people were killed in chaos that erupted in the Kibera slum, in the constituency represented by Odinga.

A local journalist, who requested anonymity, said rowdy youths had created boundaries in sections of the slums, depending on their ethnicity.

"The gangs, armed with machetes and all sorts of crude weapons, have created borders that members of the different ethnic groups dare not cross," the journalist said.

Earlier, Kiraithe said the police had prevented youths from Kibera slum and Umoja residential area from taking to the streets to protest at Were's murder.

"Right now the situation is under control," he said. "People out to destroy lives and property will not be treated with kid gloves."

However, tension remained high across the country as an African Union-mandated team, led by former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, held its first national reconciliation meeting with Kibaki and Odinga, who have nominated three members each to lead their parties in the negotiations.

Annan arrived in the country last week and has already held meetings with the two groups as well as other stakeholders. He has also visited camps for thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs).

Education crisis in Samburu

Meanwhile, in the far-flung northern district of Samburu, school has yet to start as teachers and parents continue to avoid the area due to fear caused by the post-election violence.

Education officials said on 28 January that a number of teachers from outside the district had already secured transfers to their home district or to other areas they considered safe.

The Samburu executive secretary of the Kenya National Union of Teachers, Raphael Lesaloit, said the district was experiencing a shortage of teachers and appealed to the government to consider recruiting local graduates to replace teachers who had moved out of the district.

"We already had a shortage of teachers in the district; the situation is worse now because more teachers have left out of fear and some have secured transfers to other areas," Lesaloit said.

Some parents who fled the area following attacks soon after the election results had yet to return.

Moreover, local schools have yet to receive teaching materials and funds for free primary education. A teacher at a school in Maralal, the district's headquarters, said they would have to send home children who had reported to school or demand money from their parents because the government had not sent any money.

Government services in the district have also been affected as several public servants have left, with the worst affected offices the ministry of health, veterinary and livestock services.

At the same time, workers at hotels in Samburu and Isiolo districts have been sent home after tourist cancellations.

Fabian Lolosoli, a member of the Samburu Tourism Cultural Group, said the cancellations and difficulties getting livestock to market had deprived many families of income.

"The government and donors are focusing their attention on the internally displaced in areas affected by conflict whilst we are suffering in silence,” Lolosoli said.

"Intervention measures to help Kenyans affected by the chaos should also take our plight into consideration," he said.

Mother-of-four Ann Wacu is afraid to return to her home in Kenya's New Molo District, where inter-ethnic violence has killed dozens and displaced thousands of people since September.

"I don't want to go back because all our property was destroyed or looted; this happens every five years when we have general elections," the 24-year-old said. "The attackers have even injured the police officer who was guarding us after we left our homes. He is now admitted to the district hospital here in Molo.”

“Who will guarantee my security if I go back? They tell us elders who are members of peace committees will help, but how can we be sure of their intentions?" she added.

Before violence broke out, Wacu had a home and farm, earning a living from selling her vegetables at the local market. Now, she is seeking refuge in a church compound in Molo town, along with hundreds of other internally displaced persons (IDPs).

The New Molo District, recently carved out of the larger Nakuru District, has been the scene of periodic violence since 1992. Fighting has intensified during general election years – held in 1992, 1997, 2002 and 2007 - and in 2005, when the national referendum on the country's constitution was held.

The district has an estimated population of 600,000 and is divided into two constituencies, Molo and Kuresoi. Kuresoi has 10 administrative divisions while Molo has six. Kuresoi is the constituency most affected by the clashes, which pit three communities – the Kalenjin, Kikuyu and Kisii - against one another.

This year’s violence, in the run up to the 27 December elections, has mostly affected the Kuresoi divisions Keringet, Kuresoi, Kamara and Olenguruone. Neighbours turn against their neighbours, burning homes and looting property, in what political observers say is incitement by politicians who promise them the land of those who flee.

"The constituency has not fully recovered from the 1992 clashes, hence the constant eruption of violence every time elections approach," Mohamud Salim, the New Molo district commissioner, said. "As a result of the tension between the communities, opportunists have taken advantage of the fluid situation to fuel hostilities."

An issue that cropped up many times during a recent visit by a delegation of UN officials to Molo and the Mount Elgon region, another clash-torn area in Western Province, was the role of local peace committees.

In Mount Elgon, where fighting that erupted in late September is between two clans of the dominant Sabaot community, civic, religious and local authority leaders have questioned the make-up of the peace committees and whether or not they were operational before the conflict.

At a meeting between local leaders and the UN delegation on 10 December, chaired by District Commissioner Birik Mohamed, leader after leader urged Mohamed to help revive and restructure the peace committees, which they believed could play a pivotal role in pacifying the warring groups.

The committees were an initiative of the Kenyan government to boost conflict resolution and peace-building efforts in the two regions, where fighting has caused the displacement of 15,000 people in Molo and 45,000 in Mount Elgon.

"These committees are supposed to hold monthly meetings, chaired by the district officer, to assess the situation on the ground and make recommendations. Unfortunately these committees are dormant in some areas," Salim said on 11 December during a meeting with the UN delegation in Molo.

"The displacement that has continued in Molo is not only because of fighting; there is a need to address the issue of fear, people are afraid to go back to their farms. If the anxiety among the people is removed, then the security situation would improve," the Rev David arap Metet, the peace committee chairman for Keringet division, said. "Peace committees are in a position to help remove this fear, if they pursue peace-building seriously."

Meanwhile, Laurence Achami, the Catholic Justice and Peace Commission coordinator for Kuresoi, said peace committees need logistical support to be effective.

Jeanine Cooper, the head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Kenya, who led the delegation to Molo and Mount Elgon, said: "There doesn't seem to be cohesion to make peace-building last.”

She said the UN was planning a joint programme on conflict and displacement for the two regions that would help reduce the tension and assist the displaced.

"The security efforts to restore law and order may seem to be harsh and unpopular but there doesn’t seem to be any alternative; we must have short-term and long-term interventions in place if we hope to end the violence. We hope to design a programme in the next few weeks to tackle these, the needs of the displaced in the short term and the structures for peace-building and conflict resolution in the long term," she added.