Conflict Resolution and Crime Surveillance in Kenya: Local Peace Committees and Nyumba Kumi
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Date
2017
Authors
Kioko, Eric Mutisya
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract
In the wake of widespread interethnic “clashes” and al-Shabaab
terrorist attacks in Kenya over the last few years, the state has embarked on
the devolution of capacities for ensuring security and peace to the local
level. The state gave the rights to handle specific local conflicts and crime
prevention to local peace committees in an attempt to standardise an aspect
of customary law, and to Nyumba Kumi committees in a strategy of
anchoring community policing at the household level. These changes were
conditioned and framed by ideas of decentralisation and the delegation of
responsibilities from the state to the community level. In this paper, the
following questions are raised: Are hybrid governance arrangements effective
and appropriate? To what extent do peace committees and Nyumba
Kumi provide institutional support for peaceful conflict management and
crime prevention in Kenya? What guarantees and what constrains their
success? The author draws on ethnographic data from the Maasai–Kikuyu
borderlands near Lake Naivasha, a former hotspot of interethnic clashes.
Description
Research Article
Keywords
Kenya, Conflict resolution, Fight against crime, Decentralisation, Local authorities, Local community institutions/facilities
Citation
Kioko, Eric Mutisya (2017), Conflict Resolution and Crime Surveillance in Kenya: Local Peace Committees and Nyumba Kumi, in: Africa Spectrum, 52, 1, 3–32.