The cross-border security challenges in the Horn of Africa Region. a case study of Kenya, Ethiopia Moyale Border

Abstract

This study assessed the cross-border conflicts experienced in the Kenya, Ethiopia Moyale border. The study was led by the following objectives: to examine the key cross border insecurity trends along the Kenya-Ethiopia Moyale border, to investigate some of the strategies being applied to address the cross-border insecurity along the Kenya-Ethiopia Moyale border and to assess some of the key challenges faced in addressing the cross-border security challenges along the Kenya- Ethiopia Moyale border. Some of the key cross border insecurity trends witnessed there include inter-ethnic clashes that stem from ethnic intolerance and negative ethnicity, conflicts over lack of equal distribution of the available scarce resources that lead to cattle raiding and banditry. To some extent, political factors have also been observed to have been a cause of conflict especially in influencing voting patterns in the area through the incitement of different ethnic groups and encouraging the use of hate speech. The overall effect of this was to stir up a conflict and eventually displace a certain ethnic group as the other was able to attain more numbers in order to vote in their preferred candidate of their preferred ethnic background during the election season. This research was guided by human needs theory, conflict theory of international relations and bureaucratic theory. The study applied pragmatic research design which was the most preferred approach due to the fact that it required triangulation of different designs. The study population comprised of residents of the Kenya-Ethiopia Moyale border. The essential instruments utilized to acquire the data were two questionnaires one for the survey sample and the other one for key informants. The questionnaire was pre-coded to ease data entry. Quantitative data was analyzed using SPSS to obtain frequency distributions and crosstabulations to enable the analysis and interpretation of the collected data. Qualitative data was analyzed thematically and descriptively. According to the findings of this study, insecurity is rampant due to the availability of Small Arms and Light Weapons in the region, laxity and corruption on the management of the border points by the officials, corrupt security architecture, lack of good governance, the lack of security personnel on the ground deployed by the national government lack of coordination among regional security agencies. The study concludes that the key factors fueling this conflict and especially the violent confrontations include the environmental factors such as drought seasons, socio-economic factors that narrow the survival choices that both communities have to make on day to day basis and to some extent political factors that is accompanied with hate speech and the struggle for power over shared resources. The study recommends that Government intervention is required in this conflict that is both the Kenyan and Ethiopian states. There is a more urgent need of expanding opportunities for all the communities along the border.