‘hidden’ internally displaced people in kenya’s urban setting: the study of lodwar town, 1991- 2012.

Abstract

Displacement has become a pervasive aspect of our lives. While several studies have been dedicated on the subject1, most of them remained silent on 'hidden' idps and their coping strategies in urban settings. To fill the existing lacuna, this study focused on the coping mechanisms of 'hidden' internally displaced people in lodwar town. It contributed to the available multidisciplinary literature by arguing that, the 'loitering' idps in lodwar town ingeniously utilized their 'non-camped' status as a mechanism to cope with the challenges facing them. To achieve the above argument, the study focused on three objectives. First, it examined the genesis and the push and pull factors that generated the ‘hidden’ in lodwar town. Second, it examined the challenges and coping mechanism of the ‘hidden’ idps and third, the impact of the ‘non-camped’ status on the idp livelihood and the host community in lodwar town. The research clearly demonstrated that recurrent pastoral, famine and political violence played a major role in displacing the turkana community from their homes. The situation was exacerbated by resentment by their kith and kith, selective settlement of idps by the government and restrictive camp life, therefore creating 'hidden' idps in lodwar. Having lost the livelihoods, the idps only managed to settle in poor suburbs of california, kambi moto, kanamkemer and soweto where housing and employment were inadequate. As a result, ''hidden' idps adopted various coping strategies such as community networking, hawking, making mats and charcoal selling. In conclusion, the systematic marginalisation of the 'hidden' idps in lodwar coupled with lack of steady income compelled these idps to engage in activities such as stealing, prostitution and brewing of illegal liquor called kada which pushed them into conflict with law enforcers, this calls for further interrogation.