Centre for Human Rights and Policy Studies

30/09/2026

Lynda Ouma's opinion piece, drawing on CHRIPS research in Mathare and Kayole, argues that political violence is tied to the economic vulnerability of young people, and that effectively addressing it means looking beyond those arrested to the networks that recruit, organise and finance it.

Read the full article: https://capitalfm.africa/opinion-the-real-price-of-a-vote-kenyas-2027-security-question-is-economic/

ICJ KenyaNational Crime Research Centre- NCRCNational Police ServiceKayole Community Justice Center.Kiamaiko Community Social Justice Open Society FoundationsOffice of the Director of Public Prosecutions Kenya

Missing Voices has also warned about the use of organised groups to intimidate opponents and disrupt public gatherings, calling for stronger accountability ahead of the 2027 elections.

30/09/2026

Can a public health approach address violent extremism?

CHRIPS research highlights that effective PCVE requires action before a security response is needed. In Isiolo, the Community Team Model offers a different way of thinking about violent extremism: what if some of the conditions that increase vulnerability can be addressed through the same community-based systems used to promote mental wellbeing and prevent violence?

The model brings together trusted local actors to understand community vulnerabilities, provide psychosocial support, facilitate dialogue and trauma healing, and connect individuals to appropriate services through an anonymous referral mechanism.

Its strength lies in moving intervention closer to the community, where concerns can be identified, support offered, and risks addressed before they escalate.

Read the full policy brief: https://chrips.or.ke/publications/policy-brief/addressing-ve-through-a-health-approach-the-isiolo-community-model/

Regional Pastoralists Peace Link -RPPL National Crime Research Centre- NCRC ICJ Kenya

28/09/2026

Kenya’s peace and security do not stop at its borders.

CHRIPS’ research on localising P/CVE interventions in Lamu County shows how location can shape both exposure to insecurity and access to peacebuilding interventions.

Communities near conflict-affected borders may experience the effects of regional insecurity, while remote communities face an additional challenge: they can be harder to reach with prevention and peacebuilding efforts.

This has practical implications for P/CVE. Strategies need to take account of both cross-border insecurity and the realities of reaching communities that are geographically isolated.

Border and remote communities therefore need to be part of how P/CVE and peacebuilding interventions are planned and delivered.

Read CHRIPS’ research:
https://chrips.or.ke/publications/workshop-notes/lessons-for-localising-pcve-interventions-in-lamu-county/



ICJ KenyaNational Crime Research Centre- NCRCOpen Society FoundationsNational Counter-Terrorism Committee

21/09/2026

As the world marks the International Day of Peace, the CHRIPS 2025 Terrorism Observatory provides important data on Kenya’s security landscape.

Terrorist attacks fell from 85 in 2024 to 72 in 2025, while fatalities declined from 107 to 50. At the same time, abductions rose from 3 to 18, the highest level in five years, with 14 reported in Mandera and four in Garissa.

The Observatory also recorded 126 terrorism-related arrests, including protesters arrested under counter-terrorism laws. The withdrawal of a number of these cases raises questions about the application of counter-terrorism measures and their implications for civic rights and public trust.

Peace requires rights-respecting security responses and sustained attention to communities facing insecurity.

Read the 2025 Terrorism Observatory Report for the full analysis: https://chrips.or.ke/publications/research-reports/trends-of-violent-extremist-attacks-and-arrests-in-kenya-january-december-2025/

ICJ KenyaNational Crime Research Centre- NCRCNational Counter-Terrorism CommitteeOpen Society FoundationsNational Police ServiceUnited Nations

15/09/2026

What can Kenya’s 2022 elections teach us about policing ahead of 2027?

A co-authored article by CHRIPS and research partners at the University of Uppsala examines how policing practices contributed to a relatively peaceful 2022 electoral period.

The analysis draws out practical lessons for preventing electoral violence while protecting citizens’ rights lessons that remain relevant as Kenya prepares for the 2027 General Elections.

Read the full article: https://peacenews.com/ahead-of-kenyas-2027-elections-heres-what-we-can-learn-from-police-practices-in-2022/

National Crime Research Centre- NCRCNational Counter-Terrorism CommitteeKayole Community Justice Center.Kiamaiko Community Social Justice Open Society FoundationsICJ KenyaNational Police Service

How do you keep elections peaceful when political actors know that violence can be an effective political strategy?

10/09/2026

Beyond national frameworks: Localising PCVE in practice

Preventing and countering violent extremism (PCVE) cannot be approached through a single template. In 2024, CHRIPS’ research in Lamu County found that geography, limited access to opportunities, resource-related tensions and coordination challenges shape how prevention efforts reach communities. In areas such as Kiunga and parts of Lamu East, distance, cost and security concerns can make sustained engagement difficult.

In June 2026, Lamu won the UCLG Peace Prize for its Lamu Peace Model, which brings together peacebuilding, social cohesion, disaster risk management and PCVE, among other areas. This recognition highlights its locally led approach to peacebuilding.

Localising PCVE therefore requires more than adapting national frameworks. It requires approaches that respond to specific community contexts and reach those communities consistently.

Read more at:
https://chrips.or.ke/publications/workshop-notes/lessons-for-localising-pcve-interventions-in-lamu-county/


National Counter-Terrorism CommitteeNational Crime Research Centre- NCRCICJ Kenya

03/09/2026

What does resilience-building mean in community safety?

CHRIPS’ Workshop Note 01/20, Rebuilding Wajir County’s Resilience to Violent Extremism, demonstrates that building resilience starts with recognising and strengthening the capacities communities already have to prevent, respond to and recover from violence.

Rather than relying only on new programmes, policymakers and practitioners can strengthen resilience by:

Building on existing peace structures that communities already rely on to prevent and respond to violent extremism.

Strengthening inclusive participation by ensuring women, youth, elders and other marginalised groups have a meaningful role in peacebuilding and prevention.

Strengthening civic-state partnerships by connecting community and traditional peace structures with government institutions so that communities can contribute to decisions about their own security.

The Wajir experience illuminates that sustainable prevention requires strong local structures, meaningful community ownership and partnerships between communities and the state.

Read Rebuilding Wajir County’s Resilience to Violent Extremism to learn more about strengthening locally rooted approaches to preventing violent extremism:

https://chrips.or.ke/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Wajir-Workshop-Note.pdf


ICJ KenyaNational Crime Research Centre- NCRCNational Counter-Terrorism Committee

27/08/2026

How do we make political violence harder to organise, finance and deploy?

Communities are already dealing with significant levels of insecurity.

CHRIPS’ baseline research found that 55.4% of respondents in Mathare and 47.3% in Kayole had experienced theft or robbery in the previous 12 months. In Mathare, 28.9% reported threats or intimidation, compared with 19.1% in Kayole.

The events reported in Homa Bay County on 16 August 2026, including attacks, arrests, road blockages and clashes—offer another warning as Kenya approaches the 2027 elections. News reports have pointed to the mobilisation of young people for attacks in exchange for payment.

CHRIPS’ research, based on 800 baseline respondents and qualitative community evidence from Mathare and Kayole, identifies political brokerage as a key link connecting vulnerability, recruitment and the mobilisation of young people for political violence.

This matters for 2027.

If the response focuses only on the young people who appear at the scene, it addresses the visible end of the chain while leaving the networks behind them intact. Prevention must move upstream: understand the brokerage networks, identify those who organise and finance violence, and strengthen accountability for politically organised violence.
The question is not only who carries out political violence. It is also who recruits, pays, organises and enables it.

This data is part of a community safety and security research project undertaken in Mathare and Kayole by the Centre for Human Rights and Policy Studies in partnership with Kiamaiko Community Social Justice , AfricanWomen’sOrchestra, and Kayole Community Justice Center.

Open Society FoundationsICJ Kenya National Police ServiceNational Crime Research Centre- NCRCNational Counter-Terrorism Committee

26/08/2026

Feature publication - Policy Brief No. 4, November 2021 - Impact of Kenya Youth Employment Opportunities Project (KYEOP) on criminal and political violence.

Can youth access to employment opportunities contribute to peaceful elections in 2027?

As Kenya prepares for the 2027 General Elections, lessons from a 2021 CHRIPS policy brief examining the Kenya Youth Employment Opportunities Project (KYEOP) in Kondele and Kawangware remain relevant.

The analysis points to three important lessons:
• Skills can strengthen resilience. Life and social skills training, including critical thinking and problem-solving, can help young people question political narratives, resist incitement and exercise greater agency.
• Economic opportunity can reduce vulnerability. 87% of KYEOP business grant recipients created employment for themselves and others, while 64% of trained youth secured employment. Access to livelihoods can reduce the economic vulnerability that makes young people susceptible to recruitment into criminal and political violence.
• Temporary support is not enough. Sustainable employment must be accompanied by efforts to address income inequality, unfair resource distribution and other structural conditions that can be exploited by political actors.

The broader lesson for 2027 is clear: economic empowerment is not only an employment issue. It can also be part of a broader violence-prevention strategy. For young people to resist political exploitation, they need meaningful economic opportunities and the agency to say no to violence.

Read the full publication: https://chrips.or.ke/publications/policy-brief/impact-of-kenya-youth-employment-opportunities-project-on-criminal-and-political-violence/

ICJ KenyaKayole Community Justice Center.Kiamaiko Community Social Justice Open Society Foundations

25/08/2026

What Kenya’s 2025 Terrorism Data Reveals About Arrests and Security Responses?

The CHRIPS Terrorism Observatory’s 2025 report provides a detailed picture of Kenya’s security landscape, while raising important questions about the application of counter-terrorism powers.

In 2025, 126 people were arrested for terror-related offences. Of these, 70 were men, and 12 were women, while the remaining cases were not gender-disaggregated.

Kiambu County recorded the highest number of arrests at 43, followed by Mombasa (12) and Garissa (7). The Kiambu figures are particularly significant. The Observatory found that some arrests were linked to peaceful protesters being charged under terrorism laws, raising concerns about the appropriate use of counter-terrorism legislation.

With the 2027 General Elections approaching, safeguarding civic liberties will be increasingly important. Effective security requires intelligence-led responses that address genuine threats while protecting constitutional rights and maintaining public trust.

Good security is not simply about more arrests. It is about ensuring that counter-terrorism measures are targeted, proportionate and grounded in evidence.

This data is drawn from the CHRIPS Terrorism Observatory’s 2025 report. Read the report here: https://bit.ly/ObservatoryReport2025
National Crime Research Centre- NCRCNational Police Service National Counter-Terrorism Committee Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions Kenya