Sports in Cross Border Cattle Rustling Conflict Management: the Case of Tegla Loroupe Peace Foundation

Abstract

Sport has been a unifying factor amongst peoples of different races, culture, ethnicity and socioeconomic status. Sport therefore has been very instrumental in cultivating peace in conflict regions if well utilized. Most of the studies have concentrated in conflicting groups, history and development, weapons, impact and management of conflicts. Much is ignored in the use of sports in the mitigation of conflicts and especially in cattle rustling. This academic study attempted to fill this lacuna. In Africa, one of the organizations that have extensively used sports as a means of mitigating conflicts in the border regions is the Tegla Loroupe Peace Foundation (TLPF). This academic research sought to examine the contribution of sports in cross border conflict mitigation taking the work of TLPF in Kenya-Uganda border region as the case study. It sought to unearth the questions behind the strategies used by TLPF and the Foundation’s impact in the mitigation of cross-border cattle raids and related conflict. Two hypotheses were tested: The use of firearms has metamorphosed cattle rustling and related conflict in the Kenya-Uganda border region and the use of sport by TLPF has significantly contributed to the achievement of relative peace in the Kenya-Uganda border region In the attempt to make this research successful, I employed both primary and secondary materials. Secondary materials like books, journals and scholarly articles from the internet were expansively used. Primary sources included face-to-face interviews with TLPF officials, telephone interviews with reformed warriors, TLPF website and activities

reports of the TLPF. This research found out that TLPF has employed various strategies to mitigate conflicts in the Kenya-Uganda border region. These strategies are rehabilitation centres for the warriors, peace races, education and introduction of alternative livelihoods. TLPF has therefore efficaciously utilized sports to transform a conflict prone region to a region that can be termed as relatively peaceful.