Assessment of Peace Building Strategies Employed by The Presbyterian Church of East Africa in Enhancing Inter-Ethnic Harmony in Kenya

Abstract

Ethnic conflicts remain the biggest setback to the development of many African nations and Kenya is not an exception. The Church has a mandate to make use of her divine mission in building peace and fostering reconciliation in the society. In response the PCEA initiated several peace building strategies aimed at enhancing inter-ethnic harmony in Kenya. Despite the Church in Kenya playing a great role in the promotion of harmony, ethnic conflicts continue to escalate in various parts of the country. This study therefore investigated the efficacy of peace building strategies of Presbyterian Church of East Africa in enhancing inter-ethnic harmony in selected in Kenya. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design. The study target population was 1,624,345 PCEA members in Nakuru west, Nakuru east, Njoro, Elburgon, Laikipia, Eldoret and Mombasa presbyteries where inter-ethnic conflicts are dominant. Purposive and simple random sampling techniques were used to select 384 respondents comprising of 342 church members, 38 church elders and 14 church ministers. The instruments for data collection were questionnaires for the Church elders and members, structured interview guide for Church ministers and focus group discussions for inter-ethnic violence victims. Piloting involving 76 respondents was done in from Nakuru East presbytery. Using Spearman Brown Prediction formula by split half technique, a reliability coefficient of 0.71 and 0.74 were realised for the questionnaires for church members and church elders, respectively. This was accepted because an alpha value of 0.7 and above is considered adequate for making accurate group inferences. Religious studies and other experts from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of Chuka University ascertained the validity of the instruments. Data was analysed using descriptive statistics with help of the statistical package of social sciences (SPSS) version 21.0 for windows and presented in frequency distribution tables. This study found that radicalization, imperialism; ideological polarization and inter-communal violence being increased by competition over the fruits of devolution and elite manipulation of local communities were the major emerging issues responsible for inter-ethnic conflicts. It also established that the use of sermons, pastoral care and counselling, Bible study, peace building workshops, prayer movements, mainstreaming of Church standing groups; policy development by the General Assembly, lobbying and having a peace desk have seldom achieved much in fostering inter-ethnic harmony in Kenya. The study suggested the church needs to intensify recruitment and training of peace agents through seminars and workshops to enhance their competency and hence enhance effectiveness. The study concluded that that the PCEA’s involvement in peace building had Biblical, pastoral and theological justification. The findings of the study will assist policy makers to develop effective community-based programmes to mitigate ethnic conflict and also contribute to knowledge in the area of morality and religion. The findings may also be used by religious bodies keen to promote religious teachings aimed at advocating sound moral values and ethics among members of the society. The findings may provide valuable empirical data to Non-Governmental Organizations working in collaboration with the Church to provide community based tailored approaches to fight ethnic violence.