An Investigation on the Role of Nyumba kumi Initiative in Crime Prevention in Naivasha Town, Nakuru County, Kenya

Abstract

Nyumba Kumi Initiative (NKI) is a strategy of anchoring community policing at the household level to reduce crime. Crime levels have soured in the country recently forcing policymakers and security practitioners to look for ingenious ways to prevent and deter crime; this led to the introduction of NKI. The purpose of the study was to investigate the role of Nyumba Kumi Initiative in crime prevention in Naivasha Town, Nakuru County. These study objectives included; community perception on NKI, effectiveness of the police officers when crime is reported, government strategies applied in NKI and challenges facing the implementation of NKI. This study adopted a descriptive survey design and targeted respondents from Naivasha’s, Kabati, Site Services, County Council and Lakeview Estate. The study reviewed previous studies through desk research with a view to establish gaps which the present study sought to bridge. The study sample size was 98 respondents and qualitative and quantitative data collection methods were used. The data was collected using questionnaires and interview guides. Respondents were obtained using simple random sampling and systematic sampling. Purposive sampling was used for key informants. Data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The study found that majority of the respondents were aware of the NKI at 86% and there exists a positive association between police-community partnership and crime reduction in Naivasha. The study showed police acts on intelligence relayed through NKI. The study also found out that it was imperative for the government to keep educating the public on the importance of the NKI in crime reduction. The study concluded that there was a positive community perception on the NKI in Naivasha and continuous training and education on the importance of NKI was needed to popularize the importance of the NKI. The study recommends that there is need for using key contact persons to popularize the initiative, the government to fund the initiative so as to facilitate Nyumba Kumi workshops and trainings and the national government to develop a policy to help in the NKI implementation in the counties. The study also recommends that there is need for the National Government to develop a policy to improve on NKI implementation. The study will benefit the security agencies, as they will be aware of how effective Nyumba Kumi Initiative is in crime prevention, so that they know the areas to emphasize on and those that need improvement. The research will also be useful to community members, as the finding of the study will address the gap between the police and the community focusing on improving the engagement between the citizens and the security agencies.