| dc.description.abstract | This was a descriptive study which sought to understand the
process of building social ties and communities in planned
settlements. The work, therefore, is a documentation, description
and analysis of the results of investigations conducted during a
three month period in two settlements, Mukima and Weruini farms,
in Laikipia district.
The gist of the investigation, therefore, is the interplay
between patterns of inter-personal ties that migrant households
established from their new homes, and the subtle forms of
leadership in the shaping up of a new community fabric. Our basic
assumption was that either kinship or friendship affiliations
would influence social relations significantly.
From a universe of 115 and 252 households for Mukima and
Weruini farms, respectively, we randomly selected a total of 84
informants for the study. Data collection was through surveys,
using questionnaires, observation, case studies, family trees and
interviews. Frequencies, simple cross- tabulations and
percentages were used in the analysis and interpretation of the
data. The analysis was therefore based on a combination of
quantitative and qualitative information.
This study had four main findings:
(i) Households in both farms maintained active network ties
locally with non-kin as well as with their kins in the pre-settlement areas of origin. Therefore, while friendship was an
important factor in forging social relations, kin ties were not
completely severed.
(ii) The building of a bona fide community, especially as
exemplified by Mukima farm, was enhanced by mutual and collective
approach to common goals in the settlement. Members of the
community depended on one another for their survival.
(iii) New households, -especially in Weruini farm, tended to
be individualistic in their activities.
(iv) Leadership was looked upon as a viable avenue for
enhancing the quality of life by fostering a cohesive social
fabric.
The main recommendation of this study is that there exists
opportunities of provoking broad based community well being in
resettlement areas that need to be carefully evaluated, enhanced
and sustained. The potential exists in the settlements to link
networks up as a new and viable approach of helping people
develop through self reliance. This promises to strengthen the
social fabric of the communities and enhance the quality of life.
In conclusion, it is our hope that the issues outlined
above, which are discussed in detail in subsequent pages, will
contribute to the existing knowledge on the subject of social
relations in resettlement situations with particular reference to
the social dynamics as they apply in Central division of Laikipia
district. | en |
