An Analysis of The Effects of Political Transitions on Human Rights – Oriented Police Reforms in Kenya (2002-2022)

Abstract

This study analysed the effects of political transitions on human rights-oriented police reforms in Kenya, a hybrid regime in Africa, for the period between 2002 and 2022. It was informed by concerns of persistent human rights violations attributed to a failed police reform agenda. Observing that all the political leaderships expressed support for police reforms during the respective tenures in their quasi-democratic leadership styles, this study sought to investigate how varying development priorities shaped police reforms with a focus on human rights-oriented policing in Kenya. Objectively, the researcher investigated the nexus between political transitions, police reforms and human rights practices, the effects on human rights compliance by the Kenya NPS and the challenges transitions posed to human rights-oriented police reforms. The study anchored on the theoretical complementarity of Elitism and Historical Institutionalism. It adopted a mixed method approach utilising primary and secondary data sources. The study engaged key stakeholders including community members, serving police officers, retired police officers and the civil society. Descriptive, statistical and thematic analysis of the collected data yielded findings indicative of varying effect sizes and statistical significance from each participant category perspective. The study established significant effects of transitions on police reforms and human rights-oriented reforms in the first objective, an analytic tension between descriptive and statistical analyses for the second objective and identified the most persistent challenges that undermine human rights-oriented police reforms in Kenya. This study recommends areas for further research in the field of knowledge where dynamics of political transitions, principles of democratic governance, law enforcement and human rights intersect.