Over the course of the last few days, I’ve visited many sites in Kitale where people displaced by violence after last December’s presidential election have been living. The overwhelming majority have now returned home to replant their farms and restart their lives, but I’ve also spoken to many people who are still too scared to go back. Despite hearing their heartbreaking stories, I can’t imagine what that feels like.

Take the village of Gitwamba, for example. Men and women are now going home during the day to work on their farms, but in the evenings they retreat to the safety of the camp and the rows of tents all grouped together for security. The people here still talk of rumoured threats against their community and the evidence of the violence is hard to escape. Many of their tents are actually pitched in the rubble of buildings that have been razed to the ground – almost 900 homes were destroyed here – and they also have to walk past unpleasant graffiti spray painted during the attacks.

Tents pitched in the rubble of buildings destroyed during post-election violence.
Photo: Joanne Offer/The IRC

The effects of the violence are also evident on the farms, which were abandoned for months on end. The maize plants growing here are only about half the size of those in neighboring areas, although at least these displaced people have been able to replant and are on the way to sustaining themselves with the new crop. Still, there remains a clear need here and in other nearby areas for more peace and reconciliation efforts to ensure that people can rebuild their homes and lives in confidence.