"It's a logistical challenge. The numbers that want to go back home are higher than the transport available," government spokesman Alfred Mutua said in a progress report on a resettlement programme that started on Monday.

"We thought it would be a slow movement that would go on for a few weeks, but it looks like everybody wants to go home, and to go home now," he told reporters.

More than 1,200 people were killed and 300,000 abandoned their homes as ethnic clashes swept large parts of Kenya after President Mwai Kibaki's disputed re-election in a December 27 poll.

But Kibaki and election rival Ralia Odinga have since formed a power-sharing government to end the crisis in what had long been seen as an island of stability in east Africa. Kenya is the region's biggest economy and an important transport hub.

About half of those originally displaced have returned home without government help. Mutua said the authorities would launch an appeal for nearly $500 million on Monday to pay for food aid and the rebuilding of homes and schools.