Bibliotheken Online

Conflict Prevention in Kenya: Combating Corruption through Nonviolent Action

Tabatha Thompson ; Hussein Khalid

Buch

englisch

Thompson, Tabatha (Verfasser/-in) DNB
Khalid, Hussein (Verfasser/-in) DNB

Special Report / United States Institute of Peace (USIP)

456

USIP

Washington, DC

2019

28 p.

Summary

A growing body of research is identifying linkages between corruption and violent conflict. As a result, the international community should support efforts to combat corruption as a conflict prevention measure.
To combat pervasive levels of corruption, Kenyan activists operate outside and parallel to government institutions to hold public officials accountable when government mechanisms fall short.
Most professional anti-corruption organizations have a national focus in their change efforts and relatively little two-way engagement with the grass roots. When this engagement does occur, it is often one-way or top-down in the form of information-sharing and civic education initiatives.
Kenyan civil society organizations working on anti-corruption issues often operate with little strategic coordination and partnership between the national and county levels, resulting in little or no cohesive movement building around corruption.
Although many Kenyans are critical of corruption, most are apathetic and skeptical of efforts to engage them. To “awaken” the populace, organizers must work to better link corruption to people’s everyday challenges and lives.
Foreign donors, particularly bilateral and multilateral organizations, send mixed signals about whether fighting corruption in Kenya is a priority. As a result, some Kenyan organizations and individuals active in the transparency, accountability, and good governance sphere remain wary of taking a stronger stand against corruption.
Donors should foster an enabling environment for organizations working on transparency, accountability, and good governance, including those that mobilize citizens in organized nonviolent action. Beyond funding, this could include providing convening opportunities to support coordination and sharing lessons learned among anti-corruption organizations working at the national and grassroots levels, as well as speaking out in support of their work in the face of crackdowns.

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