The Role of Security Sector Reforms (SSR) in Sustainable Human Security

• Fred Jonyo

  University of Nairobi

  Author

This article examines the role of Security Sector Reforms (SSR) in sustainable human security. The overarching question that the paper proffers is to what extent and in what design could SSR securitize human security? SSR addresses security problems and attempts to improve the situation through institutional reforms given the centrality of security and peace as the purview of public good. SSR is aimed at creating a secure environment that is conducive to development, poverty reduction, and democracy. The OECD thesis rests on two pillars, which inform the paper’s objectives. First is the ability of the state, through its development policy and programmes, to generate conditions that mitigate the vulnerabilities to which its people are exposed, and secondly, the ability of the state to use the range of policy instruments at its disposal to prevent or address security threats that affect society’s well-being.The article shall deploy the C-H model of Paul Collier and Anke Hoeffler in situating SSR in sustainable human security. This shall further be buttressed by Jürgen Habermas’s concept of positive peace vis-à-vis negative peace. The study purposively sampled 60 respondents representing households in Nairobi City County. It concludes tentatively that the lower the risks or threats to human life, the better the security. In lieu of a conclusion, the paper recommends periodic evaluation and capacity enhancement of the holistic security architecture in sync with the ever-changing satisfaction of human needs.

1. Fred Jonyo , University of Nairobi

   Fred Jonyo is the current Chairman, Department of Political Science and Public Administration, University of Nairobi. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science and Public Administration from The University of Nairobi; Master’s Degree in International Relations from The Graduate School of International Relations (GSIR), Japan, and a PhD in Political Science and Public Administration from Makerere University, Uganda. He specializes in Political Economy, International Relations, Trade and Investment Policy, Security Studies. He has served under government appointment as a Council Member, Kenya School of Government (2015–2018). Chair, Audit and Risk Management sub – Committee of Council of the Kenya School of Government. He is an External Examiner for Maseno University, Multimedia University, University of Lagos, University of Botswana, and Makerere University. He has consulted for National Assembly; Center for Parliamentary Studies and Training (CPST); National Counter Terrorism Center (NCTC); Defense Staff College (DSC); National Defense College (NDC); National Intelligence College (NIC); Konrad-Adenauer Stiftung, Kenya Office; 
    Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, Kenya Office; UNDP; and the European Union (AML, SOM, and THB), among others. He has published extensively in journals, contributed to book chapters, co-authored books, and authored books on topical academic issues.

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