Alternative Dispute Resolution Diplomacy and its Impact on National Security, A Case Study on Banditry Attacks in Kenya
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.53819/81018102t3127Abstract
Communal conflict has been a global challenge that has hampered state of national security in many countries across the globe and SubSaharan has been mostly affected. In Kenya, communal conflicts has been a great threat to peace and stability, the Kenyan government has therefore invested a lot of resources to mitigate the problem. The wave of banditry attacks have spread recently to other neighbouring counties, Meru County and in particular the Igembe region being the most recent county to suffer from this wave. The aim of this study is to assess the influence of alternative dispute resolution, as a diplomatic avenue of enhancing national security. The study specifically investigate the influence of mediation, negotiation, conciliation and traditional dispute resolution mechanism in resolving banditry in the Igembe north subcounty of Meru County. The study was underpinned by theory of conflict, process of pluralism theory and the general theory on conflict and dispute. The study adopted mixed research methods where qualitative and quantitative results were triangulated. The study engaged national administration officers, religious leaders and village elders at the location level in the subcounty, thus census was appropriate as members from each location was represented by selected leaders. The study collected primary data using open ended questionnaire. The study undertook pilot from a selected location in the subcounty to test reliability and validity of research instuments. Data was analyzed using SPSS software and generated in form of descriptive and inferential statistics. Negotiations findings significantly affected national security enhancement. Conciliatory mechanisms has positive and significant effect on enhancing national security, focus on banditry attacks in Igembe North subcounty. Traditional dispute resolution has a positive and significant effect on enhancing national security, focus on banditry attacks in Igembe North Subcounty. The study concluded that mediation process and principles are fundamental in realizing cohesive society. The traditional dispute resolution provide homegrown solutions that is paramount in resolving conflict attributed to banditry attacks. The study recommended strengthening policy and legislation framework to harmonize the existing formal regulation to collaborate with this mechanism.
Keywords: Alternative Dispute Resolution Diplomacy, National Security, Banditry Attacks, Kenya
References
Abe, O., & Ouma, S. (2017). A re-assessment of the impact and potency of traditional dispute resolution mechanisms in post-conflict Africa. Ave Maria Int'l LJ, 6, 1. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3030666
Adebajo, A. A., & Adebajo, A. O. (2023). Community Leaders and Management of Pastoralist-Farmer Conflicts in Benue and Nasarawa States, Nigeria. Journal of Community Development Research (Humanities and Social Sciences), 16(1), 13-26.
Aina, F. (2023). Contested Forgiveness: Unsolicited Amnesty and the Reintegration of ‘Repentant’Bandits in Northwest Nigeria. Peace Review, 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1080/10402659.2023.2208539
Ali, M. A. (2019). Legal Analysis of The International Court of Justice 1969 Decision Concerning Continental Shelf Of The North Sea Between West Germany, Denmark, And The Netherlands. . International Journal of Global Community, 2(3-November), , 251-260.
Baldwin, D. A. (2019). Economics and national security. . In Power, Economics, And Security (pp. 29-50). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429302831-3
Begum, M., Khan, S. A., & Khan, M. Z. (2022). Alternative Dispute Resolution in the Contemporary World. Global International Relations Review, 3, 11-16. https://doi.org/10.31703/girr.2022(V-III).02
Chapman, C., & Kagaha, A. (2019). Resolving conflicts using traditional mechanisms in the Karamoja and Teso regions of Uganda. Minority Rights Group briefing.
Charbonneau, B. (2022). The climate of counterinsurgency and the future of security in the Sahel. Environmental Science & Policy, 138, 97-104. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2022.09.021
Dussich, J. P. (2018). The ongoing genocidal crisis of the Rohingya minority in Myanmar. Journal of Victimology and Victim Justice, 1(1), 4-24. https://doi.org/10.1177/2516606918764998
Dycus, S. B. (2022). National security law. Aspen Publishing.
Fiebich, A. (2021). In defense of pluralist theory. Synthese, 198(7), 6815-6834. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-019-02490-5
Fisk, K. (2019). Camp settlement and communal conflict in sub-Saharan Africa. Journal of Peace Research, 56(1), 58-72.
Ghebretekle, T. B., & Rammala, M. (2018). Traditional african conflict resolution: the case of South Africa and Ethiopia. Mizan Law Review, 12(2), 325-347. https://doi.org/10.4314/mlr.v12i2.4
Hamburg., D. R. (2023). What is conciliation? Retrieved from https://www.dispute-resolution-hamburg.com/information/conciliation
Institute., L. I. (2023). Alternative dispute resolution. Retrieved from LII / Legal Information Institute. : https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/alternative_dispute_resolution
Kazakova, S. P., Kukhareva, O. A., Tkachenko, E. V., Yusupova, A. N., & Oleynik, D. (2021). Implementation of conciliation procedures in socio-cultural and legal dimensions. In SHS Web of Conferences (Vol. 118, p. 02013). EDP Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1051/shsconf/202111802013
Kimokoti, S. N. (2022). Cattle Rustling in Kenya: A Review of the Root Causes, Emerging Trajectories, and Mitigation Strategies. . EPRA International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research (IJMR), 8(4), , 119-124.
Kłosowicz, R. (2020). Identity, Ethnic Conflict and Communal Conflict in Sub-Saharan Africa. Politeja-Pismo Wydziału Studiów Międzynarodowych i Politycznych Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego, 17(68), 171-190. https://doi.org/10.12797/Politeja.17.2020.68.09
Marigat, S. K. (2022). Managing the menace of cattle rustling and banditry in north rift Kenya: The role of Pokot women. . Journal of Conflict Management, 3(1), , 19-30. https://doi.org/10.47672/ejcm.1128. https://doi.org/10.47672/ejcm.1128
Muigai, K. (2017). Institutionalising Traditional Dispute Resolution Mechanisms and other Community Justice Systems. Nairobi: Published online.
Musau, D. M. (2023). Assessment of Banditry, Cattle Rustling and Insecurity Nexus in North West Kenya. . Journal of African Interdisciplinary Studies, 7(4), 132 – 148.
Naudé, W. (2018). Conflict, disasters and no jobs: Reasons for international migration from Sub-Saharan Africa (No. 2008/85). WIDER Research Paper.
Odalonu, B. H. (2023). Implications of Escalating Banditry on National Security in Nigeria. . African Journal of Humanities and Contemporary Education Research, 10(1).
Pan X (2023) Application issues of compulsory conciliation in the settlement of fishery disputes in the Yellow Sea. Front. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2023.1136606
Petrova, K. (2022). Floods, communal conflict and the role of local state institutions in Sub-Saharan Africa. Political Geography, 92, 102511. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2021.102511
Rendón, A. I. V. (2017). Conciliation: an alternative to resolve conflicts over damage to the environment. International Journal of Science Publishing Group.
Roberts, B. (2020). The making of citizens: Cities of peasants revisited. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003058878
Sebayiga, V. (2023). Resolving intergovernmental disputes in Kenya through alternative dispute resolution (ADR) mechanisms. . SSRN Electronic Journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4405567
Snow, N. (2020). Rethinking public diplomacy in the 2020s. In Routledge handbook of public diplomacy (pp. pp. 3-12). Routledge.
Solicitors., R. (2023). Mediation. Retrieved from https://www.rcsolicitors.co.uk/family-law/mediatio
Tar, U. A., & Bala, B. (Eds.). (2023). Rural Violence in Contemporary Nigeria: The State, Criminality and National Security. Taylor & Francis. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003201953
Tykhanskyi, O. B., Khotynska-Nor, O. Z., Vasylyna, N. V., & Bondarieva, M. V. (2021). Alternative Dispute Resolution vs. Judicial Conciliation in the Civil Process of Transit States: A Comparative Study. International Journal, 10, 401. https://doi.org/10.6000/1929-4409.2021.10.48
Warning, W. A. E., & Network, E. R. (2019). Addressing armed banditry in the north-west region of Nigeria: exploring the potentials of a multi-dimensional conflict management approach. wanep. org. West Africa Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP).
Wertheim, E. (2022). Negotiations and resolving conflicts: An overview. College of Business Administration, Northeastern University,[available at: http://web. cba. neu. edu/~ ewertheim/interper/negot3. htm].
Wilkinson, R. G. (2020). The impact of inequality: How to make sick societies healthier. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003060505
World Bank Group. (2018). Democratic Republic of Congo Systematic Country Diagnostic: Policy Priorities for Poverty Reduction and Shared Prosperity in a Post-Conflict Country and Fragile State. World Bank.
