The Proverbial Silver Bullet? A Critical Analysis of the Influence of Devolution on the Desecuritization of North Eastern Kenya

• Joseph M. Mutungi

  National Defence University - Kenya

  Author

Since the rollout of the devolved system of governance in Kenya, the three counties of Garissa, Wajir, and Mandera, which comprise the North Eastern region received over Ksh. 219 billion from the nationally collected shareable revenue between 2013 and 2021 to address their development needs. This allocation is beside the locally raised revenue and conditional grants received from the national government. Despite this flow of resources, there is minimal research conducted on the nexus between the interventions made using the devolved resources and the desecuritization of the people and geographical spaces in the region, a gap that this study sought to fill. The study was premised on the theory of change and a descriptive survey research design. The target population comprised residents, county government officials, elected members of the county assembly, and opinion leaders (religious, clan, and business leaders) drawn from the three counties, from which a sample of 216 was obtained. Data was collected using document analysis, a questionnaire, and interviews. The findings revealed that devolution had contributed to desecuritization by changing the marginalization narrative through availing public goods and services, which had triggered local investment, empowerment, and timely handling of local grievances and concerns. Devolution was also found to have spurred local participation in the governance and development of the North Eastern region. The findings highlight a reversal of a pre-devolution phenomenon in which the local community could not identify with government actors due to marginalization and securitization. With a p-value of .000, the study rejects the null hypothesis that there is no statistically significant impact of devolution on the desecuritization of North Eastern Kenya’s people and geographical spaces. The study recommends timely disbursement of financial resources by the national government, stiff punishment of corruption, and increased visibility of the national government to effectively address security concerns of the local community and the geographical spaces they occupy. 

1. Joseph M. Mutungi , National Defence University - Kenya

   Joseph M. Mutungi is a Lecturer at the National Defence University—Kenya, domiciled at the Joint Command and Staff College. He holds a Master of Arts and a PhD in Peace and Conflict Studies. He has taught and mentored graduate students and trained and consulted for various organizations locally and in the East Africa region. His research interests are in conflict management, security studies, and identity politics. 

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