African Woman and Child Feature Service

Regina Omonge, 36, will not relent until she succeeds in her campaign to promote peaceful co-existence among the various communities residing in Busia irrespective of their ethnic background.

And she has every reason to undertake the spirited campaign as she was among thousands of people who were displaced at the height of the post election violence in 2007.

“I opted to venture into peace building initiatives after I was subjected to a harrowing ordeal during the eruption of violence that saw innocent people lose their dear lives and properties for reasons best known to the perpetrators of the post election violence”, says Omonge, adding that all her tools of trade were burnt beyond recognition whereas some were looted by armed youths.

Prior to the skirmishes, Regina was a successful businesswoman in Nakuru’s Kiratina estate for over nine years. She recalls with nostalgia the good old days when she used to go about her poultry and detergent business in a peaceful atmosphere until hell broke loose as soon as the results of the disputed presidential votes were made public

The internally displaced businesswoman who had contested the Nakuru East civic ward under the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party ticket says she escaped death narrowly by managing to return to Busia by one of the lorries hired by Compassion International (CI) where her husband worked as a volunteer parent representative in Nakuru’s Free Area.

“The situation was so tense that we had to call the Kenya Army personnel from Lanet Barracks from our hideout to guard us from blood-thirsty youths who were armed to teeth with all manner of crude weapons aimed at finishing us,” the victim recalls, adding that they managed to save their dear lives when the armed forces quickly responded to their distress call and finally escorted them to safety.

The victim further says that prior to the post election violence she had been working as a volunteer supervisor at the Nakuru District Children’s department under a programme known as Orphaned Vulnerable Children Cash Transfer (OVC-CT). She was based at Lanet location.

However in Busia, she went through a training jointly organized by the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC), Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC), the Kenya Lands Alliance (KLA) and the Federation of Women Lawyers in Kenya (FIDA) which was to become a stepping stone.

“I was among individuals who were trained and later posted to their respective areas so as to sensitize and reconcile the victims of the post election violence,” she says, adding that she is fully set to accomplish the responsibility bestowed upon her as a Community Coordinator in charge of the larger Busia district.

The post election violence victim further says she had also had the opportunity to train as a volunteer Home Based Care (HBC) as well as a Community Health Worker (CHW)

“I will fully utilize the training skills I have gained from the peace building workshops I have attended to promote peace building among the various communities residing in the larger Busia district which is a cosmopolitan area so that they are able to co-exist harmoniously as one people,” Omonge quips and is emphatic that without peace no meaningful development initiatives can be realized.

Apart from the peace building initiatives the post election violence victim is currently producing liquid detergents locally which she sells in Busia town and its environs as a means to earn a living as she continually hopes that she will never relive the 2007 political violence.