Browsing by Author "Zedekia Sidha"

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    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.
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    How and Why Women Legislators Miss Out on Legislative Leadership Roles: Gender Equality Policies and Legislative Influence in Kenya
    (Springer Nature, 2023-03) Zedekia Sidha; Taji Shivachi; Justine Mokeira Magutu
    Since the Beijing platform for action on women’s rights in 1995, many states and regional bodies have enacted laws to help implement the conference’s recommendations. Most of these laws are in the form of gender quotas. Arguably, 130 out of 156 states currently have one form of gender quota or the other. These quotas commonly exist in three central categories: reserved seats, party quotas and legislative quotas. This chapter dissects these categories to understand how they position women legislators—elected and nominated—for legislative leadership roles. It disassociates sex from gender quotas and compares access to legislative leadership positions between women and men and between elected and nominated local government assemblies in Kenya. We rely on Feminist Institutionalism (FI) lenses and rich empirical data to tease out the interstices between institutions, cultural structures and norms underpinning the exclusion of female legislators from legislative leadership positions. Our empirical analysis makes nuanced comparative inferences to other Eastern African states. Overall, we show that the art of nation-building in Africa, as elsewhere, is incomplete without effectively integrating women in key decision-making political institutions like the legislature.
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    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.
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    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.
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    Street-Level Bureaucrats as Policy Entrepreneurs: The Nexus between Timing of Traffic Enforcement Activities and Road Safety Policy Outcomes
    (Wiley Online Library, 2020-12) Zedekia Sidha; Patrick Asingo; Justine Magutu
    This article examines the influence of street-level bureaucratic discretion over the timing of implementation on road safety policy outcomes. It is premised on freshly collected data from road users and traffic enforcement officers in Nairobi, Kenya. It employed Street-Level Bureaucratic Theory for purposes of conceptualization. It observed that traffic police divisions, like most street-level bureaucracies, are chronically under-resourced. They do not have sufficient officers and equipment to monitor safety police compliance and conduct traffic control activities among other roles. To cope with these challenges, they make discretionary choices over activities to concentrate on at any given time. Given that the police play an important role in fostering road safety policy compliance, the study concludes that their failure to target safety implementation at the time when the violations are prevalent is linked to the incessant road safety policy failures across the globe.
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    Youth-Focused Programs and Peace-Building: A Policy Framework for Sustainable Employment and Security in Kenya
    (International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), 2025-10) George Moses Otieno; Peterlinus Ouma Odote; Zedekia Sidha
    Unemployment among the youth has been an issue of serious concern on peace and security in Kenya and thus there is need to explore available programs and international best practice. This article examines the success of existing youth-oriented programs in Kenya and compares them with other jurisdictions. The comparison with the other jurisdiction then offers a policy framework on how Kenya can engage youth sustainably. By analyzing programs like the National Youth Service (NYS) in Kenya and the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in Nigeria, as well as innovative projects such as agricultural programs and blue economy projects, this paper finds gaps in the existing policy frameworks. The study reveals that despite the existence of individual program, Kenya does not have a coordinated government policy that will help in effective school to employment transitions. The results indicate that a multi-sectoral model that takes into consideration the extended education, development of skills, agricultural modernization and formal working opportunities can greatly increase the involvement of youth thus decreasing the level of threats to security. This framework deals with expected issues about economic reasons that would either support or not support the economic feasibility. The support or non-support uses arguments of cost-of-inaction and multifaceted resource mobilization. Moreover, the suggested model includes certain protection against political capture with the help of multi stakeholder forms of governance and evidence-based monitoring systems.