CHALLENGES FACED IN USING SPORT AS A MEDIUM OF COMMUNICATION TO CHANGE COMMUNITIES’ PERCEPTION TOWARDS INTER-COMMUNITY CONFLICT

Abstract

This paper is extracted from a PhD research thesis “Sport as a medium of Inter-community communication in peace building. A study of one Peace Foundation in Kenya”. In development communication, sport as Edutainment has been used in tackling social issues such as health, conflict resolution and peace building. This falls within the emerging discipline of sports for development and peace building. In Kenya armed conflict between the Pokot, Turkana and their neighbors has existed over the years and sport-marathon is one intervention strategy used to resolve the armed conflict. Cattle‟s rustling has been a cultural practice for the Turkana and the Pokot for generations and was seen as a way of life. This practice has contributed to protracted conflict between the two communities in Northern Kenya that has claimed lives in thousands and brought about untold suffering to the region over the years. This paper assesses the challenges faced in using sport as a medium of communication in peace building between the two communities of Northern Kenya. The study adopted a social constructivist-interpretive philosophical worldview and a qualitative-case study design. The target population comprised government representatives, communities‟ elders (both men and women), marathon participants, youth leaders, reformed warriors and the organization staff and marathon organizers. A sample size of 56 participants was selected. Purposive, quota and snow ball sampling techniques were employed. Data generation techniques employed were: in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, observation and document analysis. The collected data was analyzed thematically. From the study findings, it emerged that during the implementation of the sports- marathon initiative as a medium of communication in peace building among the two warring communities, several challenges were identified as, communication related challenges, political, cultural and social- economic challenges and security challenges. The study recommends that there is need for engagement of professionals in communication based initiatives in the communities. In regard to political challenges, with the introduction of county governments through the new constitution, there is need to focus on policy advocacy to deal with the structural inequalities that exacerbate the conflict. Finally cultural context and environmental factors should be factored in for the benefit of both communities while implementing sport based initiatives. The major contribution of the study is that sport-based peace initiatives contribute to inter-communication in peace building, challenges notwithstanding. However, being proactive in identification of the nature of challenges expected to factor in ways of mitigating them will go a long way in increasing the effectiveness of such initiatives in peace building.