An assessment of the approaches employed in the management of conflicts: A case of Tana river County, Kenya

This article sought to assess the effectiveness of the approaches employed by the various actors in the management of conflicts with a focus on Tana River County in Kenya. The conflict in Tana River has escalated to unparalleled armed violence with loss of life and property. Various actors have employed diverse approaches in response to the conflict and to build peace. However, in spite of these efforts the region has experienced periodic relapses into violence. The government of Kenya has utilized hard power mechanisms while Non-Governmental organizations and the civil society have employed various conflict management and reconciliation approaches. Unfortunately, the conflict has persisted and turned into a devastating situation that has claimed the lives of innocent people as well as property in the region. The article proved that the approaches employed in the management of the Tana River conflict did not incorporate a comprehensive analysis of the conflict vis-à-vis structural, proximate and trigger causes of the conflict in order to understand the context of the conflict and to determine the appropriate responses to be employed in the management of the conflict. In addition, the article found that the entire peace building process lacked clear coordination in terms of programming, funding and the deployment of human resources. Moreover, there is need to integrate a comprehensive analysis of the conflict vis-à-vis structural, proximate and trigger causes of the conflict in order to understand the structural context conflict and to inform any responses to the conflict in Tana River. There is also need to incorporate a multi-sectoral and multi-agency response to the conflict so as to respond to the opportunities for violence such as chronic poverty and unemployment among the youth. Qualitative research approach was adopted in this article to achieve at these assertions.