Delivering on the Promise of Peace? Devolution, inclusion and Local Conflicts in Kenya

Kenya has long suffered from identity-based politics that discriminate by ethnicity, contributing to divisions in communities and election violence. Devolution was meant to reduce this discrimination – but has it delivered on the promise of greater inclusion, accountability and peace?

To help answer this question, this report (as part of the Peace Research Partnership) explores how devolution is affecting inclusion and conflict dynamics in Isiolo County, Kenya.

The research reveals some encouraging signs of devolution, but also finds that devolution has brought its own profound challenges that undermine inclusive governance and threaten peace – including ethnic divisions and exclusion, gender inequality, corruption and weak accountability.