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
Highlights
Laikipia County experiences perennial and protracted insecurity attributed to different forces (Bond, 2014; Kanyinga, 2007; Mkutu, 2020, Okumu, 2014)
Located 252 kilometres from Nairobi City County, the capital of Kenya, Laikipia North served the strategic interests of the Kenya state. These findings suggest that the deployment of the military in 2017 was a quest to fulfill constitutional obligations placed on the military and a quest to secure Laikipia for its security and strategic objectives
A 50-year-old male and a member of one of the security committees in Laikipia North noted that “whenever there is an attack, the police do not give security to the people, but they run to the ranches and conservancies and they leave us alone so we have to protect ourselves against being attacked”(Participant 12, Oral interview, Chumvi, 6-3-2018)
Summary
Laikipia County experiences perennial and protracted insecurity attributed to different forces (Bond, 2014; Kanyinga, 2007; Mkutu, 2020, Okumu, 2014). For the national government, which is the custodian of security, the palpability is seen in the measures employed to counter protracted insecurity These include deployment of the Kenya Defense Forces (KDF), dominance of paramilitary (GSU) in the area, shoot-to-kill orders, and arming of civilians (Musumbayi, 2006; Mkutu, 2018). Even with the 2010 constitutional dispensation, the expected peace and security dividends appear far off While this remains the case, community security initiatives that aim at deterring, countering, protecting and resolving insecurity have been taking shape. This includes initiatives that are inherent to local communities, those that are a part of statewww.iiste.org community partnership, as well as those from non-state actors. Some of the factors discussed includes; state perception of Laikipia North, attitude towards government security operations, gendering of security, stateness, as well as proliferation of small arms
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