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Kenyan leaders tour trouble spot |
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Kenya's President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga have begun a tour of the Rift Valley, the area hardest hit by post-election violence.
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About 1,500 people died and 600,000 fled their homes in violence after a disputed presidential poll in December.
The two men, who recently formed a power-sharing government, are to meet some of the 140,000 people still homeless after the clashes.
Outbreaks of disease have been reported in some of the camps for the displaced.
Mr Kibaki and Mr Odinga are beginning their tour in the town of Eldoret, the scene of some of the worst violence, including the burning of a church.
Difficult resettlement
Returning people to their original homes is proving difficult given the land disputes between rival ethnic groups ignited by the political violence, say correspondents.
Prime Minister Odinga has said the new cabinet's priority would be to resettle those still living rough because of the violence.
The Rift Valley contains fertile farm land and the government is keen to get people back on the land in time to plant crops, says the BBC's Karen Allen in Nairobi.
But members of parliament for the Rift Valley have cautioned against rushing the resettlement of the displaced people until the underlying issues, especially over land ownership, are resolved, says our correspondent.
Kenyan medical workers have said that outbreaks of malaria, diarrhoea and dysentery have hit camps for the homeless, local media have reported.
The outbreaks are being blamed on heavy rains and unsanitary living conditions. Many women and children are sleeping in the cold without blankets, a St John Ambulance official told the Daily Nation.
While people in the camps are wondering why it took their leaders several months to visit the region, some are relieved their plight is being acknowledged, our correspondent says.
Mr Odinga has said the visit to the Rift Valley is to "address a humanitarian crisis that is getting worse and to assess the level of intervention by the coalition government".
But it is not yet clear if he and Mr Kibaki will visit any of the camps for displaced people.
Mr Kibaki and Mr Odinga were allies in the 2002 election but fell out afterwards when the president did not name Mr Odinga prime minister after taking office, as they had reportedly agreed.
They stood against each other in elections in December 2007 but violence erupted when Mr Kibaki was sworn in following the polls despite widespread fraud allegations.
Mr Odinga was sworn in as prime minister last week at the head of a coalition cabinet after lengthy negotiations over its makeup.
The rivals signed a deal in February which prescribed an equal share of power.
Source: BBC
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