A Study on the Comprehensive Comparison between Indigenous Cattle Rustling and Modern Cattle Rustling in West Pokot County, Kenya

Andrew Gitau Kimani and Casper Masiga
Additional contact information
Andrew Gitau Kimani: Kenyatta University
Casper Masiga: Kenyatta University

Traektoriâ Nauki = Path of Science, 2020, vol. 6, issue 12, 1011-1016

Abstract: Evidence of change in cattle rustling practice among pastoralist communities worldwide has been noted with globalisation, education, and modernisation, among other factors. However, there is little known about transformation in men and women’s involvement in this practice in the wake of easy accessibility of small and light weapons (SALWs) and breakdown of the traditional leadership and control systems. This paper examined the transformation in cattle rustling practice among the Pokot community in West Pokot county. This study’s target population included adult residents of Pokot community, community elders, opinion leaders, political and administrative leaders, and local and international NGOs dealing with cattle rustling issues in West Pokot county. Multi-stage sampling technique was used to recruit 350 respondents. An unstructured questionnaire, a critical informant interview guide, a focus group discussion guide, and an observation guide were used to collect primary data. Qualitative data collected was analysed using patterns and critical themes of this particular objective. Quantitative data analysis was organised using the SPSS software version 2.0 and analysed using various descriptive statistics. The findings indicated that transformation in cattle rustling had seen a cultural activity for the young people to demonstrate their courage and wit and become a murderous criminal endeavour. The community no longer benefits from cattle rustling, but only a few are driven by greed to reap where they never sow. Illiteracy, poverty, unemployment, community conflicts, possession of firearms and insecurity were identified as the leading causes of cattle rustling. Access to formal education has seen many in the school-going age among the West Pokot get exposed to literacy, which has gradually recorded a positive transformation about its cattle rustling practices. Based on the findings, the paper makes the following recommendations to address the problem of cattle rustling among the people of West Pokot County: Enlightenment on contemporary ways of life; formal education among the Pokot to be advocated for; enhancing Security in West Pokot; opening a platform for peace talk and persuasions and operationalising the Eastern Africa Police Chiefs Cooperation Organisation (EAPCCO) protocol. JEL Classification: K40

Keywords: cattle rustling; gender; cattle raids; gender transformation; transformation; raiding (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://pathofscience.org/index.php/ps/article/view/821 (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pos:journl:65-2

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from

DOI: 10.22178/pos.65-3

Access Statistics for this article

Traektoriâ Nauki = Path of Science is currently edited by Andrey Kataev

More articles in Traektoriâ Nauki = Path of Science from Altezoro, s.r.o. & Dialog
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Andrey Kataev ( this e-mail address is bad, please contact ).