Whereas the Kenya government’s move to resettle its internally displaced people should be hailed, it raises a lot of disturbing questions. Has Kenya learnt from history? Is the government just carrying out a public relations stint? The regime that resettled Kenyans immediately after independence never envisaged the results of its actions 40 years down the line. Consequently, the country has experienced bouts of ethnic clashes after very five years. 

Will the truce hold this time? Could the government’s envisioning of failure be the reason behind the resettlement at gun point?  It is time Kenyan leaders thought long-term and addressed the cause of the displacement. Quick fix publicity stints that characterize most African governments are a palliative rather than a panacea to volatile situations.

Kenyan and by extension African leaders ought to borrow a leaf from developed countries: they think long term. Europe, for example, developed a recovery plan dubbled The Marshall Plan as a way to help rebuild her after World War II. The Plan did spur significant economic recovery.

It is imperative that African leaders think beyond their five year terms and develop institutions that will spur their respective countries to greater heights of social, political and economic development long after they are gone.