Thesis:

Transitional justice programmes and post conflict community coexsistence in Isiolo central sub-county, Kenya

Transitional justice is expected to bring about peaceful coexistence between and among communities in conflict. In spite of its application in communities’ post-conflict situations, conflicts have persisted and worse conflicts emerge, thus questioning the effectiveness of transitional justice. The study sought to uncover the influence of transitional justice programmes on post conflict community coexistence in Isiolo Central Sub-County, Kenya. The objectives of the study were; to analyze the effect of truth seeking initiatives on peaceful coexistence of communities in Isiolo Central Sub-County, Kenya; to identify the relationship between reparation programs and peaceful community coexistence in Isiolo Central Sub-County Kenya; to evaluate the effect of criminal prosecution tools on peaceful community coexistence in Isiolo Central Sub-County, Kenya and to identify the relationship between institutional reforms and peaceful community coexistence in Isiolo Central Sub-County. The study was guided by positive and negative peace theory. A mixed methods research methodology was adopted for the study. The study adopted a concurrent research design. The target population of the study was 121, 066 people from Isiolo Central Sub-County. The sample size comprised of 399 civilians, 4 chiefs and the Sub-County commissioner and the deputy Sub-County Commissioners from Isiolo Central Sub-County. The civilians were selected through convenient sampling while the key informants through purposive sampling. Data was collected using a questionnaire for civilians and an interview schedule for key informants. The study generated quantitative and qualitative data. Quantitative data was analyzed by use of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences program version 26.0. Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics where frequencies, percentages, measures of central tendency and variance were discussed. Inferential statistics comprising of chi-square were used in determining the association between the dependent and independent variables. The findings of the study revealed that truth seeking practices had a significant effect on peaceful coexistence of communities in Isiolo Central Sub-County (p-value=0.0004). The study further found that reparation programmes had a statistically significant effect on peaceful coexistence of the community in Isiolo Central Sub-County (p-value<0.00001). The study also found that criminal prosecution tools had a statistically significant effect on peaceful coexistence of the community in Isiolo Central Sub-County (p-value<0.00001). From the findings of the study, institutional reforms had a statistically significant effect on peaceful coexistence of the community in Isiolo Central Sub-County (p-value=0.008). The study recommends that measures be put in place to ensure that witnesses, victims and perpetrators are protected from any form of harm and discrimination. The study also recommended that more resources should be allocated towards reparation programmes, institutional reforms, witness protection and justice reforms to further enhance their effectiveness. The study suggests that future research should focus on other factors that affect positive coexistence in the community such as political and governance factors. Future studies should also focus on factors associated with the low utilization of reparation programmes. The findings will be useful to the government, non-governmental organizations, civil society groups, stakeholders and the general public as well as future scholars.