Violent Extremism in the Northern Frontier Counties of Kenya: Exploring Human Security as a Sustainable Countering Strategy

Adi Guyo

doi:10.52907/slr.v6i1.167

Abstract

The contemporary rise of terrorism as a form of violent extremism has led the government to adopt a narrow state-centric security approach to mitigate these threats. Violent extremism compromises peace, security, and communal cohesion, and often thrives on human security deficits such as marginalisation and disenfranchisement from the decision-making processes. The prominence of a state-centric security approach has overshadowed the human security dimension of countering violent extremism, thereby compromising state-society relations. On the contrary, a human security approach which entails freedom from fear and freedom from want, is viewed as a holistic approach to security that secures both the state and society. Less debated, however, is the relationship between countering violent extremism and societal marginalisation as viewed through the lens of human security. This paper argues that the narrow state-centric approach adopted by the Kenyan government in the Northern Frontier Counties has continually marginalised the community living in these counties and is proving unsustainable in countering violent extremism. As a point of departure from this approach, a more human security centred approach is suggested which is likely to be more sustainable in countering violent extremism and more successful in reversing the trend of marginalisation that has arisen from the narrow state-centric approach.

Highlights

Since the 1998 United States Embassy bombing and the September 11, 2001 Al Qaeda attacks in New York and Washington DC, Kenya has been at the frontier of global efforts to counter violent extremism
Less debated is the relationship between countering violent extremism and societal marginalisation as viewed through the lens of human security.This paper argues that the narrow state-centric approach adopted by the Kenyan government in the Northern Frontier Counties has continually marginalised the community living in these counties and is proving unsustainable in countering violent extremism
As a point of departure from this approach, a more human security centred approach is suggested which is likely to be more sustainable in countering violent extremism and more successful in reversing the trend of marginalisation that has arisen from the narrow statecentric approach

Summary

Introduction

Since the 1998 United States Embassy bombing and the September 11, 2001 Al Qaeda attacks in New York and Washington DC, Kenya has been at the frontier of global efforts to counter violent extremism. Reliance on state-centric security apparatus per se at the expense of long-term human security interventions is most likely unsustainable in the Northern Frontier Counties. This is because as a region that emerged from systemic marginalisation coupled with protracted post-independence conflicts, this state of fragility can be appreciably mitigated via long-term human development. This paper explores linkages between violent extremism and historical marginalisation It argues that the narrow state-centric approaches adopted by the Kenyan government continue to marginalise the people of NFC and that this is proving to be unsustainable in countering violent extremism. The human security approach is considered as a more sustainable and effective strategy to countering violent extremism in the NFCs of Kenya. In Part V, the paper provides recommendations before it concludes

Violent Extremism and Human Security

Historical Marginalisation of Northern Frontier Counties

Violent Extremism and Mitigation Measures in NFCs