Beyond athletic accolades: sports as an instrument for enhancing national cohesion and security in Kenya

Abstract

The research aimed at evaluating how sports programmes contribute to national security and cohesiveness among Kenya's varied populations and investigate how sports programmes may improve environmental and human security. To accomplish these research goals, the study drew on several interrelated theoretical frameworks such as structural functionalism, social cohesion theory and critical security studies theory which offered a thorough framework for examining how sports contribute to advancement of national security and national cohesion. The specific objectives for this study included analysis of existing sport programmes that are linked to building national cohesion and national security, appraising the effects of sports programmes on fostering national cohesion and national security among different communities in Kenya and to assess the challenges and obstacles that hinder the utilisation of sports more effectively for national security enhancement in Kenya. The research adopted a quantitative survey research design that had both open-ended and closed ended questions which targeted 71 respondents. The answers provided for the open-ended questions were categorised by themes that emerged while graphs and charts were used to show the data collected from the closed ended questions. The study was conducted in three purposely selected counties which were Nairobi, Eldoret and Mombasa. The main criteria for picking the three counties were Nairobi has government ministries and other sport agencies as well as some of the respondents residing in Nairobi, Eldoret county was chosen due to the fact that a big portion of Kenyan athletes lived in or around Eldoret city and Mombasa County was selected due to some cases of violent extremism taking place in the area. The main finding for the first objective was that there are sports programmes that are linked to National Security and Cohesion such as the Michezo Mashinani and the 'Football for Peace' which are organized by the local county governments and Safaricom Dimba Football Cup organized by Safaricom which is a non-government organization in Kenya. The main finding for the second objective was that some of the sport programmes have helped in fostering National Security and cohesion in Kenya, such programmes included the 'Football for Peace' sports programmes that is carried out in the Rift Valley to help reduce ethnic tensions and in Nairobi's Eastleigh area. The main finding for the third objective was that these different sport programmes faced issues of financial mismanagement, political interference and lack of sport resources. The study concluded that by encouraging social participation, building trust and offering alternatives to harmful influences, sports programmes in Kenya have a great potential to improve national cohesion and security. The study suggested creating accessible and inclusive sports programmes that tackle marginalisation and social inequities, guaranteeing equal chances for all societal members. It also underlined how crucial it is to use athletes and sport personalities as role models and peace ambassadors. To maximise the beneficial effects of sports on national development, the study recommended that future research concentrate on assessing the long-term effects of sports-based programmes and investigating methods to remove obstacles to participation.