The State and Nation-Building Processes in Kenya since Independence

The State and Nation-Building Processes in Kenya since Independence PDF Author: Mwangi, Susan Waiyego
Publisher: Langaa RPCIG
ISBN: 9956550345
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 238

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Book Description
Kenya’s nationalism during the colonial period was marked by two main characteristics that feature in this book. First, the struggle for independence that was mainly characterized by the claim for land that had been taken away by the colonizers. Second was the struggle for autonomy and self-determination, mainly through political resistance. The authors in this book analyse historical trajectories of Kenya's nationalism trends while highlighting the role of political leaders, large as well as small ethnic groups, perennial conflicts, community as well as religious leaders, among others. The discussions demonstrate that quest for a national identity that is inclusive at all levels – whether politically, economically, religiously and ethnically – has marked Kenya's struggle for nationalism, sometimes leading to violence, especially during election periods, national unity through political coalitions and reconciliation, as well as institutional reforms. In conclusion, the authors demonstrate that while Kenya is gradually advancing towards national cohesion, there are still many challenges yet to be surmounted.

Kenya, Bridging Ethnic Divides

Kenya, Bridging Ethnic Divides PDF Author: Nderitu, Alice Wairimu
Publisher: Mdahalo Bridging Divides
ISBN: 9966190317
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 566

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Book Description
The National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) was set up to facilitate and promote equality of opportunity, good relations, harmony and peaceful coexistence between persons of the different ethnic and racial communities of Kenya, and to advise the Government on all aspects thereof after the violence that followed the December 2007 elections. In Kenya, Bridging Ethnic Divides: A Commissioner’s Experience on Cohesion and Integration, Commissioner Alice Wairimũ Nderitũ looks behind the scenes at the NCIC’s efforts to ensure peaceful co-existence. Such as, working with elders, mediating confidentially between political leaders at the highest levels and co-founding and working as first Co-Chair of Uwiano Platform for Peace, a conflict prevention agency largely credited with leading efforts in ensuring peaceful processes during the 2010 Constitutional referendum and 2013 General elections. The book tells of NCIC’s efforts in grappling with the seemingly intractable problem of managing the negative consequence of ethnic differences on questions such as: Why is Kenya so ethnically polarised? Why is an ethnic group the key defining factor in Kenyan politics? What hope is there for an inclusive Kenya? The book shows that positive policies and intra- and inter-ethnic spaces can be used to counter negative influences that lead to fear, exclusion and violence. The diversity of Kenya’s ethnicities and races need not be a pretext for conflict, but a source of truly national identity. It proves that dialogue on understanding differences and commonalities leads to improved relationships and understanding on societal dynamics. This in turn, contributes to preventing and transforming conflicts through appropriate inclusion policies, identifying entry points for change as well as opportunities to tackle the norms and behaviours that underpin structural disparities.

The State and Nation-Building Processes in Kenya since Independence

The State and Nation-Building Processes in Kenya since Independence PDF Author: Mwangi, Susan Waiyego
Publisher: Langaa RPCIG
ISBN: 9956550345
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 238

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Book Description
Kenya’s nationalism during the colonial period was marked by two main characteristics that feature in this book. First, the struggle for independence that was mainly characterized by the claim for land that had been taken away by the colonizers. Second was the struggle for autonomy and self-determination, mainly through political resistance. The authors in this book analyse historical trajectories of Kenya's nationalism trends while highlighting the role of political leaders, large as well as small ethnic groups, perennial conflicts, community as well as religious leaders, among others. The discussions demonstrate that quest for a national identity that is inclusive at all levels – whether politically, economically, religiously and ethnically – has marked Kenya's struggle for nationalism, sometimes leading to violence, especially during election periods, national unity through political coalitions and reconciliation, as well as institutional reforms. In conclusion, the authors demonstrate that while Kenya is gradually advancing towards national cohesion, there are still many challenges yet to be surmounted.

Assessing Constitutional Performance

Assessing Constitutional Performance PDF Author: Tom Ginsburg
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1316712575
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 447

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Book Description
From London to Libya, from Istanbul to Iceland, there is great interest among comparative constitutional scholars and practitioners about when a proposed constitution is likely to succeed. But what does it mean for a constitution to succeed? Are there universal criteria of success, and which apply across the board? Or, is the choice of criteria entirely idiosyncratic? This edited volume takes on the idea of constitutional success and shows the manifold ways in which it can be understood. It collects essays from philosophers, political scientists, empiricists and legal scholars, that approach the definition of constitutional success from many different angles. It also brings together case studies from Africa, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Asia. By exploring a varied array of constitutional histories, this book shows how complex ideas of constitutional success play out differently in different contexts and provides examples of how success can be differently defined under different circumstances.

Back from the Brink: The 2008 Mediation Process and Reforms in Kenya

Back from the Brink: The 2008 Mediation Process and Reforms in Kenya PDF Author: The Office of the AU Panel of Eminent African Personalities
Publisher: African Union
ISBN: 9966065733
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 332

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Book Description
In December 2007, following a bitterly disputed presidential election, violence rippled out across Kenya, exposing entrenched ethnic divisions fuelled by social and economic exclusion, corruption, and winner-takes-all politics. This book describes the remarkable intervention of the Panel of Eminent African Personalities. Convened by the African Union while violence was still spreading, Kofi Annan, Graça Machel and Benjamin Mkapa were asked to mediate between the parties, create the conditions for peace, and negotiate a political settlement that would tackle the root causes of conflict, mend Kenya’s failing institutions and reduce its profound inequalities. With the advantage of an insiders’ account, Back from the Brink describes how the Panel deployed their diplomatic and peace-making skills to stop the bloodshed, and how, from 2008 to 2013, Annan, Machel and Mkapa remained deeply engaged in Kenya’s efforts to build a durable peace.

The Kenyan TJRC

The Kenyan TJRC PDF Author: Ronald C. Slye
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108386520
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 317

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Book Description
Between 1963 and 2008 Kenya experienced systematic atrocities, economic crimes, ethnic violence, and the illegal taking of land. To come to terms with these historical injustices and gross violations of human rights, the Kenyan Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC) was established. From the perspective of an insider and academic expert, The Kenyan TJRC: An Outsider's View from the Inside reveals for the first time the debates and decisions made within the Commission, including how the Kenyan Commission became the first such commission to recommend that its Chair be prosecuted for gross violations of human rights. This book is one of the few insider accounts of a truth commission, and one of the few that reflects on the limitations and opportunities of such a commission. The Kenyan TJRC provides lessons and recommendations to those interested in addressing historical injustices through a truth commission process. The full copy of the Final Report of the Kenyan TJRC, along with other supporting documents, can be found at the following site: https://digitalcommons.law.seattleu.edu/tjrc/

Securing the State and its Citizens

Securing the State and its Citizens PDF Author: Paul O'Neill
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 0755642031
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 264

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Book Description
The global security situation is challenging and constantly changing. Responding to threats requires the effective coordination of the various levers of national power. These must now go beyond the traditional diplomatic, information, military and economic levers, to involve other, non-security agencies, including those responsible for the environment, health, education and industry. Through a uniquely extensive study of countries from across the world, this book considers how nations have developed bespoke coordination mechanisms to the unique threats they face, and how these mechanisms have had to evolve as the threats change. It covers nations for whom the system is well established (e.g. the US in 1947) and other countries whose arrangements are more recent, such as the UK (2010). Where the National Security Councils have existed for longest, the case studies highlight how they have transformed as the national understanding of security has changed, typically to reflect a broadening. Consequently, while there are no universal solutions, the comparative approach taken in this book identifies enduring principles for shaping the creation or reform of national security coordination fit for the challenges of the twenty-first century.

Moral Pedagogies for Africa

Moral Pedagogies for Africa PDF Author: Theodros A. Teklu
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000436659
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 217

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Book Description
This volume engages with issues of moral responsibility and multiethnic co-existence in the context of contemporary Africa. Post-colonial African states are by and large ethnically diverse. Constructively managing ethnic diversity, however, has always been a challenge to these states, which often fail to be democratic and all-inclusive. As a result, ethnic enmity and conflicts that obliterate bonds of togetherness between ethnic communities have been rampant throughout the continent. In dialogue with Africa’s cultural and religious assets, this interdisciplinary multi-authored book aims at articulating the need to interpret past and present ethnic hostilities in Africa, and generating moral resources of togetherness to foster a social pedagogy of responsible cohabitation for Africans. The chapters of this volume, categorized into two parts, are framed according to these two niches.

Narrating the Self and Nation in Kenyan Autobiographical Writings

Narrating the Self and Nation in Kenyan Autobiographical Writings PDF Author: Samuel Ndogo
Publisher: LIT Verlag Münster
ISBN: 3643906617
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 296

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Book Description
Author Samuel Ndogo offers an understanding of the autobiographical genre in contemporary Kenyan literature. He draws attention to life-writing as a form of cultural re-imagination in post-colonial Africa. Taking into consideration contradictions and paradoxes of referentiality in life writing, this book examines the autobiographies of Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, Ngugi wa Thiong'o, Wangari Maathai, and Bethwell Ogot. The analysis dwells on self-representations in correlation with imaginations of the 'Kenyan nation' in these works. Thus, the study gives a critical account into the modern memoir: the forms and styles it takes, the ways in which these authors tend to understand and present their lives. (Series: Contributions to African Research / Beitr�¤ge zur Afrikaforschung, Vol. 63) [Subject: African Studies, Literary Criticism]����

State Fragility and State Building in Africa

State Fragility and State Building in Africa PDF Author: Dele Olowu
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319206427
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 251

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Book Description
This book describes the contrast between the strong economic growth and democratization that have occurred in Africa and its stalling political progress. It presents and discusses fragility as the phenomenon that has caused the state to remain weak and faltering and has led to at least one third of the continent’s citizens living in fragile states. Following the examination of the drivers of fragility and the impact of fragility on citizens and neighbouring states, the book discusses capacity building approaches. This part shows how effective states can be built on the African continent, a process that would result in a change from state fragility to state resilience. It is based on lessons learnt from close studies of the nations where the state has been most developed in the region, in Eastern and Southern Africa. The book provides and responds to the most recent and up-to-date information on African development and uses insights of people who have lived and worked in the continent for most of their lives.

Peacebuilding in Deeply Divided Societies

Peacebuilding in Deeply Divided Societies PDF Author: Fletcher D. Cox
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 331950715X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 350

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Book Description
This book explores a critical question: in the wake of identity-based violence, what can internal and international peacebuilders do to help “deeply divided societies” rediscover a sense of living together? In 2016, ethnic, religious, and sectarian violence in Syria and Iraq, the Central African Republic, Myanmar, and Burundi grab headlines and present worrying scenarios of mass atrocities. The principal concern which this volume addresses is “social cohesion” - relations within society and across deep divisions, and the relationship of individuals and groups with the state. For global peacebuilding networks, the social cohesion concept is a leitmotif for assessment of social dynamics and a strategic goal of interventions to promote resilience following violent conflict. In this volume, case studies by leading international scholars paired with local researchers yield in-depth analyses of social cohesion and related peacebuilding efforts in seven countries: Guatemala, Kenya, Lebanon, Nepal, Nigeria, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka.