An Examination into the Nature and Extent of Terrorism in Kenya

Abstract

Terrorism remains a major threat to the national, regional and global peace and security. It has become a central and controversial issue of global attention. International consensus is growing on the best way forward to counter-terrorism. In Kenya, the influence of the National Police Service (NPS) in Countering Terrorism significantly increased when Al-Qaida bombed the United States of America embassy in August 1998. This led to the formation of the National Intelligence Service (NIS) and Kenya was added to the United State Anti-Terrorism Assistance Program (USATAP). The purpose of the study was to assess the nature and extent of terrorism in Kenya. The study was guided by the economic theory of rational choice of terrorism to explain the economic rationale behind prevalence of terrorist activities in Kenya. The study employed a descriptive survey research design.  The study site was police stations within Nairobi County. Both the probability and non-probability strategies were used in the study: systematic random sampling technique for police officers, purposive sampling for key informants and snowballing sampling for terrorism survivors. Data were collected from a sample of 311 respondents using semi-structured questionnaires and interview guides. Data analysis was done using the descriptive statistic, using both qualitative and quantitative techniques. The study found out that political instability in neighbouring countries and porous borders makes Kenya an attractive target and an easy conduit for terrorist-related materiel, activities, and transit points The study concludes that to prevent conflicts and by extension terrorism, the priority must be given in addressing underlying root causes of conflicts such as poverty, unemployment, human rights violations, injustices, corruptions, marginalization and impunity. The study recommended that the NPS should increase public participation in CT. (278 words)

Keywords: terrorism, national police service, nature, extent, prevalence of terrorism

DOI: 10.7176/JEP/10-30-15

Publication date:October 31^st 2019