Violent Extremism And Clan Dynamics In Kenya
Derived from interviews across three Kenyan counties, this report explores the relationships between resilience and risk to clan violence and violent extremism in the northeast region of the country. The research was funded by a grant from the U.S. Agency for International Development through the United States Institute of Peace, which collaborated with Sahan Africa in conducting the study.
Summary
- Recent political and social developments in the northeast of Kenya are threatening to weaken communal resilience capacities to violent extremist activities.
- Somalia-based Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahideen continues to influence the politics of the region and has proved adept at exploiting community risk factors in gaining a foothold in the region.
- The relationship between violent extremism and clan-based conflict is complex and has no neat overlap.
- Extremist recruitment in northeast Kenya is not based on clan membership, but extremist actors can take advantage of the close ties across the Kenya-Somalia border and the porous nature of the border to operate in both countries.
- Factors driving clan-based conflict produce a fertile ground for violent extremism, but the two are correlated rather than causally related.
- To weaken the influence of clanism, al-Shabaab leaders are circulating a narrative of victimization and alienation that attempts to unify Somalis and Muslims against the Kenyan government and mainstream society.
- Al-Shabaab’s success in convincing Kenyan Somalis to join its ranks is determined by the interplay of resilience and risk factors in Kenya’s northeast.
About the Report
This report, which is derived from interviews across three Kenyan counties, explores the relationships between resilience and risk to clan violence and to violent extremism in the northeast region of the country. The research was funded by a grant from the United States Agency for International Development through the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), which collaborated with Sahan Africa in conducting the study.
About the Author
Ngala Chome is a former researcher at Sahan Research, where he led a number of countering violent extremism research projects over the past year. Chome has published articles in Critical African Studies, Journal of Eastern African Studies, and Afrique Contemporine. He is currently a doctoral researcher in African history at Durham University. The author would like to thank Abdulrahman Abdullahi for his excellent research assistance, Andiah Kisia and Lauren Van Metre for helping frame the analysis, the internal reviewers, and two external reviewers for their useful and helpful comments. The author bears responsibility for the final analysis and conclusion.
