An Assessment of the Socio-economic Impacts of Terrorism in Aast Africa : a Case of Al Shabaab in Kenya

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to assess the socio-economic impacts of terrorism in East Africa, with Kenya as a case study. The study began by giving an insight into the meaning of terrorism, examining different definitions as variously put forward by different scholars. The study then settled on one working definition that formed basis upon which it was founded. This definition that portrays terrorism as unlawful use of threat of violence against persons or property to further political or social objectives best resonated with the objectives of the study. The literature review was done with a wealth of extractions from well-known authors and rich sources of publications to re-emphasize the fact that their ideologies were in line with the study objectives. This strengthened the study. The literature review focused a lot on the research questions and objectives. Thus, the areas largely explored in the literature review were social impacts of terrorism, economic impacts, as well as impacts of acts of terror and terrorism on the prospects for regional integration in Eastern Africa. To further examine the implications of terrorism on Kenya, and by extension East Africa, the study was divided into five chapters. In chapter one, the researcher defines the research study and puts it into context through the introduction and background of study. This chapter also presents the Research Questions, the dependent variables, thesis, and hypothesis and the methodology and the literature review sections. Chapter two puts the study in context by first examining international terrorism, highlighting the history of modern international terrorism and examining its relation to Islam as a religion. Furthermore, this chapter examines some of the causes of terrorism and its general impacts on the global society. Chapter three focuses on terrorism in Africa. Here, the researcher presents a history of terror in Africa and examines terrorism in the African context. Also, this chapter examines terrorism in Kenya and her neighbors. This the study does by examining some specific acts of terror that have been experienced in Kenya. The chapter also discusses Al-Shabaab as a terror group and their motives in East Africa. Finally, the researcher presents data analysis, presentation of data and interpretation of the collected data. This is done in form of graphs, tables and charts that clearly show correlation between the variables in chapters four and five. These are accompanied by brief notes to explain each figure and chart, to further enhance the understanding of the data. Finally, the study gives the recommendation and conclusion.