Browsing by Author "Nkubitu, Joel Mukaria"

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    Security Constraints Threatening the Utilization of Maritime Resources in the Context of the Indian Ocean
    (JAIS, 2024-01) Nkubitu, Joel Mukaria; Sirera, Merecia; Mwatha, Regina
    The purpose of this article is to investigate security constraints threatening the utilization of maritime resources in the context of the Indian Ocean and implications on peace in the region. The contention of the study is that the Indian Ocean has huge economic value and potential in terms of exploration of offshore gas and oil, short and deep-sea shipping, marine aquatic products, aquaculture and fisheries, blue biotechnology and ocean renewable energy. However, it is faced with a myriad of security threats, such as illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, transnational organized crime, environmental maritime crimes, among. The research objective was to assess the implications of maritime security constraints on the utility of the Indian Ocean blue economy. The study adopted a cross-sectional research design together with a phenomenological approach to achieve thick description on the concerns of the study. The targeted populations were security agencies operating in the area and the business community or investors since they were the key stakeholders in the development of the blue economy. To obtain the sample for study, cluster sampling and stratified random sampling was applied to proportionately select primary respondents, whereas purposive sampling technique was utilized to select key informants to obtain a sample of 384. Primary data was collected using questionnaires and interview schedules. SPSS (Version 24) software was used to compute descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. Thematic analysis was also used to analyze qualitative data from open-ended questions and presented along quantitative data. The results from questionnaire and tools were triangulated to obtain a thick description. The findings of the study revealed that Indian Ocean had huge blue economy potential in terms of provision of livelihoods to the coastal people in addition to the investment opportunities to several onshore and offshore businesses, such tourism, transport, mineral exploration, among others. However, this potential is faced with a myriad of security issues, such as large sea area, sophisticated piracy networks and illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing.