Assessment of County Leadership Contribution to Inter-Clan Conflict in Mandera County, Kenya

Abstract

Mandera County has over the years been affected by perennial inter-clan conflicts between Garre, Degodia and Muralle communities that erupt from time to time. Past research has attributed these ethnic conflicts to the scarce resources at their disposal and their nomadic tendencies in a region occasioned by long spell of droughts; making them encroach rival clans' community land, in search of water points and pastures for their starving herds, inadvertently sparking ethnic conflicts. Nevertheless, even after sinking of boreholes and demarcation of clan boundaries to resolve the conflicts, the conflict has persisted, an indicator that there is another major factor that is triggering it. The objective of this study was therefore aimed at assessing whether county leadership is a contributing factor to recurrence of interclan conflict in Mandera County, Kenya, since devolution was affected in 2013. The study was guided by HommerDixion theory on conflict and the Marxist Theory that purports that most conflicts in the world are either triggered by quest for control over limited resources or as a result of oppression of the vulnerable group by a powerful minority. This study establishedthat County leadership significantly influences inter-clan conflict in Mandera County especially in the wake of devolution. This is largely because politics in this County is clan based and the dominant clan usually carries the day; infuriating the minority clans who perceive their dominance as a threat to their livelihood. This inter-clan mistrust has evolved over time due to clan chauvinism; which has made some clans to feel like they are superior to others and by the virtue of that they should be entitled to more privileges than the rest. In return it has escalated to violent confrontation as disgruntled clans fight for political, social and economic inclusivity. In order to achieve its objective; a mixed methodology approach that incorporated exploratory and descriptive research design was used; as it not only provided the researcher with a greater breadth of perspectives around county leadership but also enhanced reliability of the research instruments and procedures. The data was collected using questionnaires, interview guides and FGDs. The data was later analyzed quantitatively using SPSS and result indicated that politics in Mandera were clan based (which represents 81%). The dominant clan uses its numbers to impose leaders onto others escalating inter-clan aggression as the disgruntled clans contest for inclusivity. Mistrust among clans living in Mandera has existed since time immemorial and has been largely attributed to governance inefficiencies that are grounded on clan chauvinism. The research recommend that political leaders to be always endorsed by clan elders upon general consensus among all clans hailing from Mandera; in case there are areas of contention; middle-ground should always be arrived at before such endorsements take place. This is likely to tame occurrence of any conflict before it even break-up. Mandera residents should also adopt negotiated democracy that involve all the communities in proposing suitable leaders to govern them and in identifying key development projects that should be given priority. The more they are involved on social, economic and political matters the less likely they are going to rebel and cause havoc.