Adoption of Community Security Initiatives against Protracted Insecurity in Laikipia North, Kenya

Abstract

This article interrogates the underlying factors that cause communities residing in areas affected by communal conflicts in Laikipia North, Kenya, to embrace community security initiatives as a way of addressing protracted insecurity. In the context of peripheral territories such as Laikipia North, security as a right is contested due to factors such as protraction of insecurity, civilian militarization, and overall absence of the state as a security provider. Critical to the study is the understanding that the state as a political entity is impacted by a myriad of geo-political, security and socio-economic forces. These geo-political, security and socio-economic forces may compromise the functionality of the state as far as fulfilling its mandate to the citizens is concerned. In this regard, the adoption of community security initiatives raises fundamental questions as to whether the state has failed to deliver on its mandate of providing security, given that Kenya is a functioning state. This phenomenological study aimed at examining the underlying forces that inform internal security experiences among communities in communal conflict regions. Specifically, the study explored the post-2010 factors in relation to state of (in)security in Laikipia County. The study used qualitative approach in which data was collected using FGDs, interviews and observation checklist. Data was analyzed thematically in line with the objectives of the study.

Key Words: Community Protection Initiatives, Insecurity, Protracted, Violence

DOI: 10.7176/RHSS/11-18-07

Publication date:September 30^th 2021