The Psychosocial Effects of Evictees’ Settlement on the Host Community’s Security in Narok County, Kenya

Existing literature highlights the impact of evictee settlements on the psychosocial well-being of host communities, which in turn could affect host community overall security. However, there has been limited research on the specific effects of such settlements on the psychosocial stability of the host population. This study aims to fill this gap by examining the impact of the Mau evictees' settlement on the psychosocial stability of the host community in Narok County, Kenya. The study is guided by  the Human Security Framework, with specific objective to analyze how the settlement of evictees affects the psychosocial wellbeing of host community amid of evictees settlement and its security implication in Narok county, Kenya. This objective is derived from a PhD thesis that critically investigates the impact of the Mau Forest evictees' settlement on the psychosocial stability and security dynamics of the host community in Narok County, Kenya, through the lens of the Human Security Framework. A cross-sectional survey and phenomenological research designs were adopted to guide the study. The target population were host community adults’ inhabitants in Narok county. A multi-stage sampling approach utilizing cluster, purposive and simple random sampling was used to sample 459 respondents from a total population of 32,750. Questionnaire, interview  and focused group discussion were the main instrument for data collection. Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistic using multinomial logistic regression. Qualitative data was analyzed thematically and findings from both qualitative and quantitative data were triangulated to provide a sturdy illustrations of the main findings. The findings of the study revealed that evictees settlements negatively affect the psychosocial wellbeing where the participants were of the belief that evictee settlement substantially caused emotional instability to members of the host community at 84.9 %, among other psychosocial effects with Multinomial regression showing a significant effect of B = -4.418 and p = 0.000. Reflecting on prevalence of members of host community best practices to safeguard psychosocial effects being civic participation and community engagement which promoting social integration together with Consolidation and implementation of conflict resolution techniques identified as the best strategies and practices. The study concludes that evictee settlements lead to the encroachment of host community resources leading to indigenous social, cultural, norms and values disruption which deteriorate host community’s psychosocial well-being which have far reaching effects on the security of the host community. Based on the findings the study recommends the government should address the host community security needs and provide psychosocial and emotional support in events of evictees settlements.