The Impact of Drug Trafficking on Informal Security Actors in Kenya

Abstract

The Kenyan state is currently under pressure from two sides: First, numerous non-state armed groups have taken over the provision of security in areas where the state is practically absent. Second, drug-trafficking organizations are gaining ground as the country is increasingly being used as a major transit hub for narcotics. This article investigates the relationship between drug trafficking and informal security provision in Kenya and draws analogies from comparable experiences in Latin America and West Africa. Field research in Kenya has demonstrated that profit-oriented, informal security actors in Mombasa work for drug lords, while their counterparts in Nairobi are more likely to be hired by politicians. Moreover, faith-based vigilante groups in both cities appear to be less susceptible to external manipulation by drug traffickers. The article concludes by considering the potential consequences of an expansion of the drug trade in Kenya.

Nairobi Becoming

“…Furthermore, nyumba kumi was often implemented in neighborhoods that already hosted other forms of civic policing. In addition to the state-led local peace committees and community policing programs (see Diphoorn and van Stapele 2021;Kioko 2017;Ruteere and Pommerolle 2003;Ruteere 2017;Skilling 2016), there were also a range of civic-led actors that somehow operated under the banner of safety and secu-rity, including gangs, vigilantes, (Agade 2018;Anderson 2002;Chulek 2019;Mutahi 2011;Schuberth 2014), and more notorious players, such as mũngĩkĩ (see Rasmussen 2010). In chapter 4, various contributions underline the complex configurations and relationships that exist across this pluralized security landscape, ranging from collaboration to competition to outright terror.…”