Militia and Conflict: the Case of Mungiki in Kenya

The study is based on Mungiki Militia, an insurgent movement in Kenya since its inception has begun to defy both conventional and non-conventional perspectives in the discourse of Insurgency in Africa. The transitory nature of civil militia movements in Africa and in this particular case, the Mungiki Militia presents challenges on academic discourse on conflict and security studies. The study is guided by Social Movement theory under which Economic Interest Conflict theory, and New Religious Movement paradgim are all used in the study. Central to the study, Mungiki has been defined and understood in the context of Civil Militia. The research methods used were both qualitative and quantitative. Quantitative data has been subjected to Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) using descriptive statistics measuring central tendency and standard deviation, while qualitative data has been subjected to content and descriptive analysis on the emerging themes. However, through the research findings the study identifies the key components influencing rapid mutation which are mainly socio-economic and political factors as opposed to indigenous religious beliefs and cultural practices.

Autorentext

Lucy Ndung'u holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Youth Ministry from Tangaza College and a Masters Degree in Peace Studies & International Relations from Hekima College - both institutions are constituent colleges of Catholic University of Eastern Africa. Currently, she is lecturing at the Department of Criminology at the Mount Kenya University.