Determinants of National patriotism in Kenya: a case of Nairobi county

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to establish the determinants of national patriotism in Kenya a case study of Nairobi County. The problem area of the study was on the country‘s political, social, and economic environments and how they influenced the level of national patriotism of the citizens. The political turmoil in the country which is riddled with tribalism and negative ethnicity leading to political violence and displacement, high level of corruption and nepotism in the national and county governments and economic diversityformed the problem area of the study. The objectives of the study were to establish if national loyalty, ethnic inclusion and political orientation determined the level of national patriotism. The study adopted a descriptive research design in order to establish the existing traits, conditions and attitudes of the citizens. Data collection was conducted through questionnaires administered to different companies in the county; the data was then analyzed by SPSS and data presentation was by tables and figures. The research concludes that national loyalty determined the level of national patriotism; however, loyalty was not influenced by national symbols such as the constitution. The research also concludes that ethnic inclusion determined the level of national patriotism and in addition vices such as corruption and nepotism also highly influenced the level of patriotism and contributed to low level of national patriotism. The research also concludes that political orientation does not determine the level of national patriotism however regional voting culture of the country highly influences the level of national patriotism negatively. The research finally recommends civic education on patriotism by the government, eradication of vices such as corruption and nepotism and strategy development on eradication of the regional voting culture. The research also recommends further research to establish how nepotism and corruption, economic factors and national symbols influence the levels of patriotism.