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Boda-Boda Informal Transport Sector and National Security: A Comparative Analysis of the Evolution of Security Threats in Kenya
(National Defence University-Kenya, 2026-07-24) Ngari, D. N.; Kondoltiony, E. P.; Maingi, G.; Machara, Lilian; Sidha, Zedekia; Masibayi, Edward; Njeru, Jacqueline; Kahiri, Esther W.
The boda-boda informal transport sector has become an important part of Kenya’s economy by providing mobility, employment, and livelihood opportunities, especially for young people. Despite its socio-economic significance, the sector has increasingly been associated with insecurity, including robbery, theft, assault, smuggling, extortion, and other forms of criminal activity. Existing studies have largely examined boda-boda transport from the perspectives of mobility, livelihoods, and road safety, with limited attention to how criminal activity within the sector evolves from incidental misuse into more organised forms with wider implications for public order, institutional legitimacy, and national security. This study comparatively examined the evolution of security threats within the boda-boda informal transport sector across selected counties in Kenya. Specifically, the study analysed the manifestations and patterns of boda-boda related crime, examined the indicators that distinguish incidental criminal use from organised criminal activity, evaluated the socio-economic factors associated with such crime, assessed the institutional and contextual conditions that facilitate organised criminal evolution, and examined the spatial distribution, concentration, and hotspot patterns of boda-boda-related crime. The study adopted a mixed-methods comparative research design with a convergent logic, integrating quantitative, qualitative, observational, document-review, and GIS-based spatial approaches. A two-county pilot study in Nairobi and Migori was used to test the clarity, validity, reliability, field practicality, ethical sensitivity, and spatial-data readiness of the instruments before the main study. The pilot confirmed that the instruments could capture urban/metropolitan, rural, peri-urban, lake side, and border-related boda-boda security dynamics, while also indicating the need to strengthen category standardisation, skip logic, coordinate validation, and interviewer guidance for sensitive questions. The quantitative component involved boda-boda riders and generated data on the prevalence, patterns, and correlates of boda-boda-related crime. The qualitative component drew on key informants, focus group discussions, document review, and observation to provide deeper insight into the meanings, processes, institutional dynamics, and contextual realities associated with the emergence and evolution of such crime. GIS-based spatial analysis was used to examine the geographical distribution, concentration, and hotspot patterns of boda-boda-related crime. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics, qualitative data were analysed thematically, and spatial data were analysed through mapping and hotspot analysis. Findings from the three strands were integrated during interpretation. The study contributes to academic knowledge by providing a county-comparative framework for understanding how boda boda related insecurity evolves under different socio-economic, institutional, and spatial conditions. It also generated policy-relevant evidence to support precise, proportionate, and context-sensitive interventions by national and county actors without criminalising the broader boda-boda livelihood system
Information Security Threats to e-government Services in Kenya
(Global Journal of Human-Social Science, 2023) Otieno Godfred Ohndyl; James J Kimuyu; Zedekia Sidha
This study examined information security threats to e-government services commonly known as e-citizen. Grounded on General Systems Theory examined the nature of complex inter-relationships and interdependence of global society, states, non-state actors and individuals and how they relate in a complex internet –enabled communication network. Mixed method cross sectional survey was used. Targeted population of 12000 respondents from 51 Huduma Centres. Purposive sampling at 10% was chosen where 1200 structured questionnaires issued returned 966 responses at 80%. The data was processed and analysed using SPSS. The hypothesis was tested at 5% significance level. The study found that Kenyan citizens were the majority at 50%, Companies at 35%, Foreign Agencies 10% and Foreign Nationals at 5%. The services sought; Government to (G2C) 43%, Government to Business (G2B) 35%, Government to employees (G2E) 20% and Government to Government (G2G) 2%. The study identified 12 categories of information security threats i.e unauthorized access, illegal devices, unauthorized codes, distributed denial of services (ddos) false publications, computer frauds, cyber espionage, terrorism and squatting, phishing, identity thefts, electronic interceptions, fraudulent electronic data, employee aiding and child pornography.
The Nature of Community Armed Groups in Northern Kenya: a framework of Territoriality and Ethnicity
(Africa Amani Journal (AAJ), 2023) Clifford Collins Omondi Okwany; Evelyne Atieno Owino; Zedekiah Opondo Sidha
In this article, we analyze the fluidity of territoriality—state control or influence of space, looking at how community-based armed groups (CBAGs) from the Pokot, Samburu, and Turkana ethnic communities take advantage of semi-territoriality—spaces with limited state security personnel. We analyze the conflict belt—areas in north and west of Samburu County bordering Baringo north and Turkana east, giving an understanding of how the change of norms and development impact the dynamics of conflict and violence in Samburu. The article benefits from our research experiences and networks from the community policing ICT4COP—EU Horizon 20201 and the Collaborative Research Centre (CRC) 228 project on Future Rural Africa.2 Our empirical evidence was gathered from 34 interviews with key informants, such as state representatives and civil society officials, and 11 focus group discussions with communities in Samburu and Turkana. The findings show that the fluidity of state-territoriality has an impact on human security, leading to community mistrust of the security forces. We recommend robust community-oriented policing (COP) as a devolved security strategy, strengthening a public-private partnership (PPP)—a hybrid of the private sectors and government in policing work and civil societies and communities in helping to monitor and evaluate the police. Additionally, mapping illegal arms and CBAGs through clan structures is a community-oriented strategy that helps strengthen territoriality and counter semi-territoriality.
Information Technology, the Complexity of Joint Action, and Child Protection Policy Implementation in Kenya
(Springer Nature, 2023-08) Zedekia Sidha; Nixon Amuomo
The role of information technology in public administration has received substantial attention in recent years. Major discussions revolve around how technology can promote efficiency, accountability, democracy, and participation of traditionally excluded populations such as women, the poor, and persons with disabilities. However, little attention has been paid to understanding the role of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in dealing with the complexity of joint action as a perennial problem of public policy implementation. Today, the challenge of coordinating contributions of various players to the implementation process not only relates to different government departments but also to interactions between the government, private sector, and civil society organisations. The findings here show that child protection policy failure in some African policy contexts might partly be attributable to a lack of coordination among various players. This chapter analyses the attendant Child Protection Information Management System, Kenya, and the orphans and vulnerable children case management process employed as policy instruments to reduce the problem of joint action in Child Policy. It explicitly demonstrates the role of ICTs in promoting policy collaborations among various implementing agencies.
Beyond victimhood: gendered pathways to violent extremism and the imperative of transformative counter-strategies in Kenya’s borderlands
(Taylor & Francis, 2026-04) Zedekia Sidha; Israel Nyadera
This article seeks to examine gendered pathways to violent extremism. Drawing on feminist security studies and constructivist theory, it analyses the evolving relationship between gendered dynamics and violent extremism (VE) recruitment in Garissa County, Kenya. Using data from 120 life-history interviews, UCINET-based social network analysis, key informant interviews, and longitudinal survey data (N = 400), the study empirically traces different gendered pathways into Al-Shabaab networks. The results indicate that economic precarity intersects with shifting masculinities (driven by unattainable provider roles, absent fathers, and substance abuse) and femininities that are constrained (exacerbated by marital pressures, illiteracy, and economic desperation) to form distinctive vulnerabilities. Critically, the findings show how violent extremist actors strategically weaponise gendered fractures by offering alternative forms of belonging, recognition, and identity. The study shows a significant increase in the recruitment of women (approximately 35% of new cases), not only as logistical supporters but also as propagandists, recruiters, and coerced “wives,” with their perceived invisibility often exploited operationally. At the same time, the study identifies a major gap in CVE communication approaches: key local influencers, especially mothers and religious leaders, remain poorly integrated into mainstream CVE channels such as radio and baraza forums.