Browsing by Author "Warurii,Fredrick Kariuki"

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    Influence of Ethnic Polarization on Devolved Governance in Embu County, Kenya 1963-2023
    (Kenyatta University, 2025-09) Warurii,Fredrick Kariuki
    The study focused on how decentralized and devolved governance was influenced by ethnic polarization in Embu County. The pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial period applied decentralization until 2013. Devolution governance was applied from 2013. The objectives of the study were to: discuss the historical context of decentralization in Kenya and Embu County from pre-colonial period to 1963, assess the enhancement of ethnic polarization in the application of decentralization and devolution in Kenya and Embu County from 1963 to 2013 and analyze the interventions offered by devolved governance in order to mitigate ethnic polarization between the Aembu and the Ambeere in Embu County, Kenya between 2013 and 2023. The study was significant because devolution was an avenue for socio-economic development and constitutional democracy. The Hegemonic Exchange Theory by Rothchild (2016) and the Rising Expectations led to Rising Frustrations Theory by Huntington and Learner (1993), were used to interpret the findings of the study. Literature review adopted the funnel structure as guided by the research objectives. This chapter focused on the historical context of decentralization from pre-colonial period to 1963, application of decentralization and devolution from 1963 to 2013 and interventions of devolved governance to mitigate ethnic polarization from 2013 to 2023. The factors which emboldened ethnic polarization were placed under the economic, social and political categorization attached to the objective periodization. The two theoretical frameworks paid attention to relevance, divergence, research gaps and personal views. The conceptual framework provided a contrast in the structural and operational glimpse between decentralization and devolution. Descriptive research design was used in both qualitative and quantitative research approaches. Data was gathered using both primary and secondary sources. The sample size was 130 respondents drawn from a target population of 608,599 (KPHC; 2019). Primary data was gathered through questionnaires, interviews, Kenya National Archives (KNA) documentations and Government reports. The sample size for random sampling totaled 70 respondents and that for purposive sampling to 60. Secondary data was sourced from books, theses, journals and articles in newspapers from public and university libraries. Online sources were used to factor in the most recent and relevant studies in governance and ethnic polarization. The study majorly relied on qualitative method of data analysis. Data presentation was portrayed using descriptive statistics such as frequency tables, verbatim captions, plates, pie-charts, bar-graphs and line-graphs where applicable for effective understanding of data analysis. The socio-economic and political architecture which was a product of historical and governance models emboldened inter-ethnic polarization for both the Aembu and the Ambeere. I contend that equitable distribution of socio-economic infrastructure and the adoption of negotiated democracy in the executive docket of the County Governor of Embu on rotational constitutional term limit arrangement was one of the robust options of ethnic communities’ parity; popularly engendered to bring about ethnic co-existence and sustainable peace in Embu County. The contribution of this research was to bring about inter-ethnic cohesion and improve the quality of legal, legitimate and accountable governance for efficient service delivery to residents of Embu County and other citizens of Kenya.