By Iddi Musyemi
As the ICC confirmation dates inch closer and internally displaced persons continue to languish in camps, little is hardly known about Muslims who form a number of those affected by the 2007/8 post poll violence.
Thus during year’s Ramadhan when the KMYA Nakuru office officials were up and about distributing Ramadhan goodies to Nakuru Muslim IDPs, many were surprised by their existence.
It’s only after the New Dawn came face to face with Abdul Shamasdin Ishmael from Kericho that the reality set in.
Thus after 40 years of hard work as a salesman, driver, deport manager cum transport businessman and a string of investments to show for it, Shamsuddin was all set to enjoy his retirement in comfort. This was just before the dark moments in Kenya’s history-the botched 2007/8 presidential election.
Shamsuddin, 65, is a Muslim residing in Kericho and among the thousands of IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons) that were uprooted from their homes and property destroyed as a result of that mayhem.
“At that time, I was staying in Kericho town and it was relatively peaceful as there was security. However, areas outside Kericho town were up in flames and burning.
Back then not many people were pleased with the election and upon announcement of the results, riots erupted,” narrates Shamsuddin.
According to Shamsuddin, one of the areas affected by post poll violence in Kericho was Swahili village-an area dominated by Muslims.
Meanwhile, it is in Gacho-an area just outside Kericho town that Shamsuddin had invested in residential rooms totaling to 35 in number. “The residential rooms cost me KSh1.6M to put up and I derived a monthly income of KSh26,000. All these went up in smoke and I lost everything I had struggled for all those years,” says Shamsuddin.
That was not the end of his woes. “After losing my sole source of income and efforts to secure compensation from the government were yielding nothing, I was on the verge of giving up. Next to come calling demanding for there money was the bank because I had earlier secured a loan to help finance in the expansion of the residential houses.”
Efforts to seek help from fellow Muslims, never materialized as they to had been afflicted with the same-they too had lost property in the violence.
Feeling helpless and cornered, Shamsuddin opted to sell his property at comprised of the land on which the residential houses stood at a throwaway price of KSh1.4 million.
“Although the market price of the property at that time stood at KSh3.5million and feeling the pressure from the bank, I was left with no choice but dispose the property at a loss. And with that I was able to pay off the bank loan.”
Though Shamsuddin and his family of 7 kids are safe, he is grateful to be alive. “Things have never been the same for my family ever since but am glad were alive.”
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