VIOLENT EXTREMISM AND ADMINSTRATION OF GOVERNMENT SERVICES IN MANDERA COUNTY, KENYA
VIOLENT EXTREMISM AND ADMINSTRATION OF GOVERNMENT SERVICES IN MANDERA COUNTY, KENYA
Abdullahi Siyad Adan - Student, Master of Arts in Public Policy and Administration, Kenyatta University, Kenya
Willson Muna - Lecturer, Department of Public Policy and Administration, Kenyatta University, Kenya
ABSTRACT
Violent extremism and terror activities continue to be experienced across many countries; they have caused government operations to be disrupted, reduced trade and commercial activity because of fear of attacks, and increased the number of fatalities in the impacted nations. To make sure that countries social and economic activities are not disrupted, countries are resorting to ubiquitous features of national strategies in combating terrorism, addressing radicalization and violent extremism. Thus, this study aimed to assess the effect of violent extremism and administration of government services in Lafey Sub- County, Mandera County, Kenya. The specific objectives were: to evaluate how planting of Improved Explosive Devices (IED) and abduction of government officers affect services delivery in Mandera County. The Constructivist Model of Radicalization and the 3N theory of radicalization served as the foundation for the investigation Descriptive cross-sectional research was used in the study to determine how variables relate to one another. Stratified random sampling and to choose the respondents from the different categories who have the necessary data that is pertinent to this study, the purposeful sampling method was also employed to choose a sample of 104 participants from a target demographic of 140 respondents that included Government officers working in the area Local administration (Chiefs, Assistant Chiefs), Officer Commanding Station, Council of elders drawn from all the 15 Locations (Chairman) and Religious Leaders drawn from Lafey Sub- County ,Mandera County. Key interviews and semi-structured questionnaires were used to gather data. Statistical analysis that was both descriptive and inferential was used. Mean and standard deviation were included in descriptive statistical analysis, while Pearson's correlation and multiple regression analysis at the 95% interval level were used in inferential statistics. The study established that all the violent extremism factors IED and abduction of government officers, had a significant effect services delivery in Lafey Sub-county. The study recommended that there is need of a multifaceted approach that includes both police and army, there is need for specialized security units focused on security and crisis management, there is need for arresting all the financiers of violent extremist groups that have continued to be blamed on insecurity in the area; and that there is also need of collaborating with religious leaders and faith-based organizations to combat violent extremists' misuse of religion.
