In recent decades, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) have increasingly taken on development and political roles in Africa. This has partly been attributed to the New Policy Agenda (NPA) mounted by the international donors. The NPA is predicated on neo-liberal thinking advocating for an enlarged development role for the private sector and a minimalist state. This relatively new shift in development thought has been motivated by the declining capacity of the African state to deliver development and guarantee a liberal political system. This study, therefore, set out to empirically examine whether NGOs are capable of effectively playing their new-found development and political roles. The study was based on Kenya with the Western Province constituting the core research area. The fact that the Kenyan state has been gradually disengaging from the development process has created a vacuum of which the NGOs have attempted to fill. Equally important has been the observation that, for the greater part of the post-colonial period, the state has been largely authoritarian and therefore prompting a segment of civil society to take on political roles in an effort to force it to liberalize and democratize. Urban NGOs in particular, have been the most confrontational to the state with some remarkable success. Unlike their urban counterparts, rural-based NGOs have tended to be more developmental and play a politics of collaboration with the state. Many of the latter NGOs, although playing a significant role in rural development, have been co-opted into patron-client networks. Factors that influence NGOs= posture towards the state include the nature of their leadership, the extent of their nternational connections, and the level of resources at their disposal. The study=s principal conclusion, is that, in as much as NGOs and overall civil society have provided a basis for development and opposition to the state, there is an urgent and growing need for them to shift from a position of dependency, whether domestic or international, to relative autonomy. Only then, will their contributions be sustainable in society.

The reality today is that we are all interdependent and have to co-exist on this small planet therefore, the only sensible and intelligent way of resolving differences and clashes of interests, whether between individuals or nations, is through dialogue --the Dalai Lama Nomadic pastoralist communities all over the world depend on the keeping livestock for their livelihood, and are characterized by constant migration, in search of pasture and water, or what others may call “search for greener pastures”. Most often as the case such as in Northern Kenya these communities or clans are in conflict with each other mainly over the same scarce resources- water and pasture. This particular treatise explores the role of local NGOs in managing such inter-clan conflict. As aptly put by Lewis (1981: 10-13), when grazing land is abundant, settlement patterns of the pastoral communities may include many non patrilineal kin, or other clans, the true patrilineal kin is honored when pressure arises in the form of diminishing water and pasture, in such instances those who are not one‟s clan become undesirable aliens, thus it is was not a surprise to witness, in the course of conducting the study the many sprouting settlements in Wajir County consisting of entirely agnatic kin, meant to protect “clan‟s” ideals at any costs. Intra-clan and inter-clan conflicts are thus common in the entire Northern Kenya; this study explores the management of inter-clan conflict in Wajir County, North Eastern Province of Kenya. In particular, this research offers an exploration and discussion of the sources of inter-clan conflict, the role of the local NGOs and the perceptions of the local communities, politicians, provincial administration and the local peace committees in the processes of the managing inter-clan conflicts by the local NGOs. With reference to relevant research and literature, as well as the researcher‟s good background understanding on the interventions of the local NGOs in Wajir County, this treatise will provide a series of recommendations to respond to the recurrent inter-clan conflict in the Wajir County, which to some extent could also be applicable to communities with similar settings in Africa and beyond.

Non Governmental Organisations have been operating in Africa since the 1940’s; then, their work was heavily biased towards relief work. From the 1980s however, the role of NGOs evolved to include development; understandably, African governments were finding it increasingly difficult to provide adequate levels of basic services for their people. To this effect and initially; NGOs got involved in development as short term "gap fillers" in the provision of basic services; health and education amongst others. As Africa’s development discourse continued unabated, NGOs were recognised by donors and host governments alike, as indispensible to the provision of such services; in time however, they became the subject of criticism for allegedly failing to irreversibly ameliorate the conditions of the poor. In delivering services, NGOs work in a complex partnership characterised by power imbalances. The partnership involves donors who own the means of production which facilitate NGOs’ work and host governments who “own” the humanitarian space which NGOs need to fulfil their humanitarian mandate. While seemingly poor and powerless, the communities served wield the power to facilitate or block the success of NGO interventions through their commitment and/or lack thereof; respectively; NGOs’ contribution is their skills and humanitarian spirit. The success of NGO interventions is a function of resources, humanitarian space and the goodwill that donors, host governments and the communities served bring to the partnership table respectively. The study sought to establish why between 2001-2006; NGO post-drought rehabilitation through to development interventions failed to irreversibly reduce vulnerability against drought in communities in Machakos District and the extent to which power imbalances which characterise “partnerships for development” contributed to the failure by NGOs to fulfil their mandate. The study revealed that NGOs are unwaveringly committed to their humanitarian mandate however; the power imbalances that characterise “partnerships for development” and in particular, that between NGOs’ and donors militated against the fulfilment of their mandate in Machakos District. When NGOs fail to deliver on their mandate; they lose credibility amongst the other partners and this reinforces the power imbalances; it’s a vicious cycle. “Caught at Crossroads...” NGOs are indeed. / Development Studies / D.Litt. et Phil. (Development Studies)

Conflict is an inevitable occurrence in any human interaction setting and organisations are no exception. Communication is an essential an important aspect of conflict. People run organisations and without interaction through communication, organisational existence would be next to impossible. This dissertation aims to explore the role of interpersonal communication in managing peer co-worker conflict in a Non-Governmental organisation, SILC KENYA, Eldoret. This study adopted a qualitative case study. Semi-structured face-to-face interviews were conducted to collect data from fifteen employees of the same hierarchical level. The study revealed various causes of conflict amongst the peer co-workers. Exchange of resources amongst peer co-workers was seen to better interpersonal relations in the workplace and it was further noted that interpersonal communication plays an important role in conflict management. The study recommends that peer co-workers should be equipped with interpersonal communication skills through frequent teambuilding activities and training workshops to aid in conflict management. / Communication Science / M. A. (Communication Science)

Non Governmental Organisations have been operating in Africa since the 1940’s; then, their work was heavily biased towards relief work. From the 1980s however, the role of NGOs evolved to include development; understandably, African governments were finding it increasingly difficult to provide adequate levels of basic services for their people. To this effect and initially; NGOs got involved in development as short term "gap fillers" in the provision of basic services; health and education amongst others. As Africa’s development discourse continued unabated, NGOs were recognised by donors and host governments alike, as indispensible to the provision of such services; in time however, they became the subject of criticism for allegedly failing to irreversibly ameliorate the conditions of the poor. In delivering services, NGOs work in a complex partnership characterised by power imbalances. The partnership involves donors who own the means of production which facilitate NGOs’ work and host governments who “own” the humanitarian space which NGOs need to fulfil their humanitarian mandate. While seemingly poor and powerless, the communities served wield the power to facilitate or block the success of NGO interventions through their commitment and/or lack thereof; respectively; NGOs’ contribution is their skills and humanitarian spirit. The success of NGO interventions is a function of resources, humanitarian space and the goodwill that donors, host governments and the communities served bring to the partnership table respectively. The study sought to establish why between 2001-2006; NGO post-drought rehabilitation through to development interventions failed to irreversibly reduce vulnerability against drought in communities in Machakos District and the extent to which power imbalances which characterise “partnerships for development” contributed to the failure by NGOs to fulfil their mandate. The study revealed that NGOs are unwaveringly committed to their humanitarian mandate however; the power imbalances that characterise “partnerships for development” and in particular, that between NGOs’ and donors militated against the fulfilment of their mandate in Machakos District. When NGOs fail to deliver on their mandate; they lose credibility amongst the other partners and this reinforces the power imbalances; it’s a vicious cycle. “Caught at Crossroads...” NGOs are indeed. / Development Studies / D. Litt. et Phil. (Development Studies)

The Sustainable Development Goals SDGs were adopted in 2015. The contribution of FBOs in their achievement is however, not properly recognised owing partly to the historical perception of FBOs as peripheral rather than core development actors. Using the case study of one FBO in Kenya, this study examined the relevance of FBOs’ development work to the SDGs. Using Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) and a literature review for data collection, the study found that: FBOs possess a dual identity (faith and development). The faith identity gives them some comparative advantages over secular counterparts in engaging local faith communities; there was a direct link between the FBOs’ work and the SDGs. The case study organisation directly contributed to six of the 17 SDGs; the FBOs’ knowledge on SDGs and their engagement with SDG forums were found to be limited. The study recommends a renewed attention to FBOs work and more studies to increase evidence on the FBOs’ role and impact on SDGs. / Development Studies / M.A. (Development Studies)