The Nexus Between Organised Crime and Terrorism in Kenya : A Mixed-Evidence Approach
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.67371/ajsss.v1i1.7Keywords:
hybrid threat actors, criminal governance, digital enablers, environmental crime, corruption networks, KenyaAbstract
While the global crime-terror nexus is extensively established, this study reveals a paradigm shift in Kenya: the emergence of fluid hybrid players who go beyond classic "alliance" or "convergence" models. Using unparalleled fieldwork and digital ethnography, the research shows how Al-Shabaab and Kenyan organised crime syndicates co-evolve into decentralised networks that use digital platforms (cryptocurrency, encrypted applications) and environmental crimes (charcoal, wildlife trafficking) to avoid detection. Crucially, the study identifies corruption networks inside border security and port officials as the key enablers of this nexus, a component overlooked in previous research. By examining understudied incidents, such as the 2023 Mombasa arms raid linked to Al-Shabaab's digital payment systems and the illegal charcoal trade supporting jihadist levies, we show Kenya's role as a microcosm of 21st-century transnational security threats. The study findings challenge static policy frameworks, advocating for integrated financial-intelligence fusion cells and AI-driven border monitoring to disrupt criminal governance. This research redefines the crime-terror paradigm in Africa, offering a template for Global South security strategies.
References
Anderson, D. M. (2014). Histories of the hanged: The dirty war in Kenya and the end of empire. Weidenfeld & Nicolson.
Aning, K., & Pokoo, J. (2014). Understanding the nature and threats of drug trafficking to national and regional security in West Africa. Stability: International Journal of Security and Development, 3(1), 8-8.
Arquilla, J., & Ronfeldt, D. (2001). Networks and netwars: The future of terror, crime, and militancy. RAND.
Bahadur, J. (2023). Terror and taxes: Inside al-Shabaab’s revenue-collection machine. Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime.
Carrier, N., & Klantschnig, G. (2012). Africa and the War on Drugs. Bloomsbury Publishing.
Chalk, P. (2008). The Malay-Muslim insurgency in southern Thailand: understanding the conflict's evolving dynamic (Vol. 198). Rand Corporation.
Counterterrorism, B. O. (2019). Country Reports on Terrorism 2019. US Department of State.
Felbab-Brown, V. (2009). Shooting Up: Counterinsurgency and the War on Drugs.
Felbab-Brown, V. (2013). Aspiration and Ambivalence: Strategies and Realities of Counterinsurgency and State-Building in Afghanistan. Brookings Institution Press.
Galeotti, M. (1995). Diego Gambetta, The Sicilian Mafia. The Business of Private Protection, Harvard University Press, Cambridge Mass.
Gastrow, P. (2011). Termites at work: Transnational organized crime and state erosion in Kenya. New York: International Peace Institute.
Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC). (2023). Global Organized Crime Index 2023. https://globalinitiative.net/
Group of Experts on Somalia. (2017). Report of the Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea. UN Security Council S/2017/924. https://main.un.org/securitycouncil/en/sanctions/2713/work-and-mandate/reports
Gumba, D. E. O., & Turi, G. C. (2019). Cross-border arms trafficking inflames northern Kenya’s conflict. ISS Today.
King, C. (2001). The benefits of ethnic war: Understanding Eurasia's unrecognized states. World Politics, 53(4), 524–552.
Kumah, D. M. (2024). Exploring the nexus between transnational organized crime and regional security challenges in West Africa. Global Scientific Journal, 12(1), 1-15.
M.Collin (2019) Illicit Financial Flows: Concepts, Measurement, and Evidence. The World Bank Research Observer, vol. 35, no. 1 (2020)
Makarenko, T. (2004). The crime-terror continuum: Tracing the interplay between transnational organised crime and terrorism. Global Crime, 6(1), 129-145. https://doi.org/10.1080/1744057042000297025
NASA Earth. (2021). Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS) interactive fire map [Web map]. NASA Land, Atmosphere Near-real-time Capability for Earth Observing System (LANCE). https://firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/map/#d:24hrs;@39.650,-0.493,13.468z
National Crime Research Centre. (2012). A study of organized criminal gangs in Kenya (Research Report No. 1) [PDF]. National Crime Research Centre. https://www.crimeresearch.go.ke/wpcontent/uploads/2022/04/Organized-Criminal-Gangs-in-Kenya-Report.pdf
Nyadera, I. N., & Ahmed, M. S. (2020). The Somali Civil War: integrating traditional and modern peacebuilding approaches. Asian Journal of Peacebuilding, 8(1), 153-172.
Nyadera, I. N., & Massaoud, M. H. (2019). Elusive peace and the impact of ungoverned space in the Sahel conflict. Güvenlik Bilimleri Dergisi, 8(2), 271-288.
Nyadera, I. N., Islam, N., & Agwanda, B. (2024). Spatial (Un)Governance and Its Application in Somalia. In I. N. Nyadera, N. Islam, & B. Agwanda, The Somalia Conflict Revisited (pp. 59–90). Springer Nature Switzerland. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-55732-3_3
Onamu, B., & Nyadera, I. N. (2024). Paramilitary Forces, Domestic Politics and Conflict: A Case of the Sudan Crisis. Defense & Strategy/Obrana a strategie, 24(1).
Phillips, B. J., & Schiele, A. (2023). Dogs and Cats Living Together? Explaining the Crime-Terror Nexus. Terrorism and Political Violence, 36(5), 699–715. https://doi.org/10.1080/09546553.2023.2189968
S Shelley, L. (2004). The unholy trinity: transnational crime, corruption, and terrorism. Brown J. World Aff., 11, 101
Shaw, M., & Reitano, T. (2013). The evolution of organized crime in Africa: Towards a new response. Institute for Security Studies Papers, 2013(244),28
Shihundu, F., Nyadera, I. N., & Agwanda, B. (2021). Experience of Terrorism in Kenya: What are the Vulnerabilities and Strengths? African Journal on Terrorism, 11(1), 127–144.
Sullivan, J. P., & Bunker, R. J. (2013). Rethinking insurgency: Criminality, spirituality, and societal warfare in the Americas. In Criminal Insurgencies in Mexico and the Americas (pp. 29-50). Routledge.
The East African. (2023, June 15). Police probe Kenyan trader for importing weapons for Al Shabaab terrorists.
Tongola, M. (2021, June 17). Distress as kidnappers demand Sh5m ransom for Kamukunji woman—The Standard. https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/business/nairobi/article/2001415936/distress-as-kidnappers-demand-sh5m-ransom-for-kamukunji-woman
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). (2022). Environmental Crime and Terrorism Nexus in East Africa [Internal Assessment Report - Illustrative].
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). (2019). Linkages between Organized Crime and Terrorism in East Africa. https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/terrorism/expertise/links-with-organized-crime.html
UNODC. (2010). The globalization of crime: A transnational organized crime threat assessment. https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/data-and-analysis/tocta-2010.html
UNODC. (2015). Transnational Organized Crime in Eastern Africa: A Threat Assessment. https://www.unodc.org/documents/dataandanalysis/Studies/TOC_East_Africa_2013.pdf
UNODC. (2019). Linkages between Organized Crime and Terrorism in East Africa. https://www.unodc.org/documents/e4j/FINAL_Module_16_Linkages_between_Organized_Crime_andTerrorism_14_Mar_2019.pdf
Varin, C. (2016). Boko Haram and the War on Terror. Praeger.
Williams, P. (2008). Violent non-state actors and national and international security. International Relations and Security Network, 25, 1-21.
