Assessing The Effectiveness Of Intelligence Gathering And Sharing (IGS) In Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) In Kenya

Intelligence, Intelligence gathering and sharing, Transnational terrorism, Counterterrorism

Despite Kenya’s continuous efforts to streamline intelligence gathering and sharing (IG & S) to help curb transnational terrorism, debates continue to range on its effectiveness within the context of increased global terror threats. The purpose of this paper is to appraise the effectiveness of intelligence gathering and sharing as a counterterrorism strategy in Kenya. The paper begins by identifying main types of intelligences applied to curb transnational terrorism in Kenya; progresses to assess the contribution of different types of intelligence in curbing transnational terrorism in Kenya; analyze the effectiveness and or ineffectiveness of intelligence gathering and sharing in curbing transnational terrorism in Kenya; and finally examines the challenges undermining the use of intelligence in curbing transnational terrorism. An exploratory research design was applied where data was collected and analyzed using the mixed methods approach from disciplined and civilian components. Findings revealed that most of Kenya’s Intelligence gathering and sharing (henceforth abbreviated as IG & S) use different types of intelligence. IG & S agencies largely handle human intelligence and signals intelligence to confront transnational terrorism. The use of IG & S is fundamentally contributing to the fight against terrorism in the country but it is confronted by several conspicuous challenges that need to be addressed. The study concludes by noting that while efforts at reinvigorating IG & S have borne fruits more needs to be done especially with regard to precision of the target of anticipated attack and timeliness of the intelligence gathered and dispatched to other security agencies.