Violent Non-State Actors And National Security In The Horn Of Africa: The Kenyan Experience, 2012-2018

Abstract

Violent non-state actors have been in existence for millennia. Even during the peak of its power, the Roman empire had to deal with roaming criminal bands that preyed on her citizens as well as with maritime pirates. Different armed groups have different motives for taking up arms to fight. They normally either fight their against or alongside their states or against other non-state groups. VNSAs dominate the modern day conflict atmosphere. Their diverse nature, influence and effect on national and international security make it necessary to establish strategies for dealing with them. The general objective guiding the study is to examine VNSAs and their effects on Kenya’s national security. The specific objectives of this study include: firstly, to establish the root causes for emergence of violent non-state actors in Kenya, secondly to critically determine the effects of the violent non-state actors and thirdly to examine strategies that the Kenyan government could use to contain these actors and thus enhance her national security. The study was anchored on the rational choice theory as advanced by Cornish and Clark. That posits that man is a rational being and that whatever decision he makes including forming or joining violent groupings is arrived at after conducting a cost benefit analysis. The study employed secondary sources of data such as magazines, journals, books, and internet sources. Descriptive research design was used to explain the conditions for the appearance, and effects of VNSAs and the actions or strategies that the Kenyan government could take to contain these actors and hence enhance her national security. The study was limited by the use of secondary data and by the time available to the researcher as during the conduct of the study he was attending a staff course t the Defence Staff College in Karen, Nairobi. The major reasons for the emergence of VNSA that were identified by the study included among others socio-economic factors, historical injustices and land reforms., ethnic and political factors, poverty and the presence of ungovernable spaces in these countries among others. vi The effects to national security arising from the actions of VNSA in the Horn of Africa region were identified as intimidation of businesses and human rights violation, weakened state sovereignty, loss of lives and destruction of property, and a lack in trust in security agencies. The possible strategies identified by the study to deal with the issue of VNSA in Kenya are: the traditional military approach, containment and control, preventing proliferation of SALWs, preventing radicalization, mediation and negotiations and establishing military multinational joint task forces. The study concludes that VNSAs will continue to pose a challenge to national security unless concerted efforts are undertaken. Anchored on the study findings, recommendations were made that future researches to go beyond a dichotomized understanding of violent non-state organizations and forge a debate on governance comprising of several violent non-state actors. The study also recommends the need for the Kenyan government to engage the VNSAs so as to achieve a lasting solution and avoid re-emergence of these VNSAs.