International Terrorism and Its Implications on Kenya’s National Security: A Case of Nairobi City County: 1975-2013
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Date
2019
Authors
Muga, Simon Odero
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Kenyatta University
Abstract
Terrorism has become and remains a major international concern and a high priority security matter of the global community. It contravenes the basic principles of law, order, human rights and physical security. Other than Nigeria in the sub Saharan Africa, Kenya has felt the devastating effects of international terrorism in the region. Kenya especially suffers crime levels at the upper end of the African scale, which adds to the intrinsic internal insecurity. This study focused on international terrorism and its implications on Kenya’s national security, a case of Nairobi City County; 1975-2013. The objectives of this study were to investigate trends of International terrorism in Kenya; 1975 - 2013. Secondly, to interrogate the implications of international terrorism on Kenya’s national security and finally, to assess the strategies employed by the Kenyan government to counter international terrorism; 1998-2013. The study applied both primary and secondary data in order to realize the objectives. The theoretical framework was based on the Securitization Theory. It states that political issues are usually construed to be highly security concerns that must be dealt with immediately they are characterized to be dangerous or alarming by the actors who have the mandate to move the issue beyond politics. For instance, terrorism is securitized in Kenya hence the attention given to it is usually of high significance. The study revealed that there have been consistent upward trend in international terror attacks in Kenya between 1975 and 2013. The study also discovered that the Kenyan problem is escalated by the unstable states neighboring it, this is coupled by a number of incompetent and corrupt officials at the security agencies in the country. According to the study, Kenya experienced numerous attacks after the 2011 military incursion in Somalia. The study further revealed that the ability by terrorists to always change tact has led to their prolonged ‘survival’ despite the government of Kenya deploying all the available machineries at its disposal to fight it. To this end the study argued that these factors have had far reaching implications on Kenya’s’ national security.
Description
A Thesis Submitted to the School of Peace Diplomacy and Security Studies in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Award of the Degree of Master of Arts (International Relations and Diplomacy) of Kenyatta University, September 2019