School of Humanities and Social Sciences

Areas of Interest:
Pastoralism, Resource Conflict, Energy and Infrastructure futures in Africa.

Profile:
Kennedy Mkutu is a dedicated Professor with a commitment to quality, and to capacity building the next generation of African scholars. He has a strong record of publications in the areas of security, peacebuilding, conflict and pastoralism as well as effective networks with policy-makers in the region.

His recent research interests include the rapidly changing future of rural Africans and resource conflicts. He is a team member in the Collaborative Research Centre’s Future Rural Africa project, see www.crc228.de/sub-projects/b03-violent-futures, a Co-PI for the project 'Understanding the dynamics of water security and conflict in Kenya', January 2020 to September 2021, see https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/projects/heritage-dignity-violence-understanding-dynamics-water-scarcity-and-violence-kenya, a team member in the Shared Lands participatory action research programme, see https://shared-lands.com/research, and a Senior Consultant in Conflict Sensitivity for the World Bank.

From 2011 to 2020 Prof. Mkutu was involved in the Crime and Violence Prevention Training (CVPT) Program first as a manager and later as a coordinator between the program and the World Bank. The funder was the Open Society Foundation and later the World Bank. The CVPT was a capacity-building initiative bringing together a multi-sector pool of learners from diverse state and non-state institutions. The CVPT was effective in promoting partnerships and best practices in crime prevention, tailored to the local context. The program managed to hold county-specific trainings for 8 counties, and to contextualise the discussions through rigorous county-based research on crime and violence. The research which focused on drivers, dynamics and potentials for prevention, which have been published by the World Bank.

Academic Degrees:

• 2005: PhD in International Relations and Security Studies, University of Bradford, United Kingdom.
• 2004: Diploma in Research Methods,
• 1991: Masters in Public Administration, Jacksonville State University, Alabama, USA.
• 1990: Bachelor of Arts in Social Studies, Southeastern University, Lakeland, Florida, USA

Publications:
Journal Articles and Working Papers

1. Mkutu, K. 2021 (in press). “Anticipation, Participation and Contestation Along the LAPSSET Infrastructure Corridor in Kenya.” Working Paper Series No. 4. Bonn International Centre for Conversion, Bonn..
2. Mkutu, K., M. Mller-Koné and E. Owino. 2021 (in press). “Future Visions, Present Conflicts: The Politics of Envisioning and Anticipation Surrounding an Infrastructure Corridor in Northern Kenya.” Journal of East African Studies.
3. Schetter, C., K. Mkutu, and M. Mller-Koné. 2021 (in press). “Frontier NGOs: Conservancies, Control, and Violence in northern Kenya.” Journal of World Development.
4. Kim, H.S and Mkutu Agade, K. 2021. “Oil Extraction and Public Attitudes: A Conjoint Experiment in Turkana, Kenya.” Extractive Industries and Society 8 (3). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.exis.2021.100956
5. Mkutu, K. 2020. “Conservancies and Security in Isiolo County.” Working Paper Series No.73. Bonn International Centre for Conversion, Bonn.
6. Mkutu, K. and A. Mdee 2020. “Conservancies, Conflict and Dispossession: The Winners and Losers of Oil Exploration in Turkana, Kenya” African Studies Review. https://doi.org/10.1017/asr.2020.2
7. Mkutu, K. 2019. “Pastoralists, Politics and Development Projects. Understanding the Layers of Armed Conflict in Isiolo County, Kenya.” Working Paper Series No. 7/2019. Bonn International Centre for Conversion, Bonn.
8. Mkutu, K, T. Mkutu, M. Marani and A. E. Lokwang. 2019. New Oil Developments in a Remote Area: Environmental Justice and Participation in Turkana.” Journal of Environment and Development. Volume: 28 issue: 3, page(s): 223-252.
9. Mkutu, K and T. Mkutu. 2019. “Public Health Problems Associated with “Boda Boda” Motorcycle Taxis in Kenya: The Sting of Inequality.” Aggression and Violent Behaviour. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2019.02.009
10. Mkutu, K and V. Opondo. 2019. “The Complexity of Radicalization and Recruitment in Kwale, Kenya” Journal of Terrorism and Political Violence. https://doi.org/10.1080/09546553.2018.1520700
11. Bond, J. and K. Mkutu. 2018. “Patchwork for Peace: Institutions and Activities in Kenya’s Northern Drylands.” Local Environment 23 (3), 293-315.
12. Bond, J. and K. Mkutu. 2018. "Exploring the Hidden Costs of Human-Wildlife Conflict in Northern Kenya” African Studies Review, 61 (1) 33-54.

Books and Book Chapters

1. Mkutu, K. (Ed.). 2018. Security Governance in East Africa: Pictures from the Ground. Lanham, MD.: Lexington Publishers.
2. Mkutu, K. 2008. Guns and Governance: Pastoralist Conflict and Small Arms in North Rift, Northeast Africa. (James Currey, Oxford, Indiana Press, India, East African Publishing House Ltd, Nairobi, Fountain Press, Kampala).
3. Mkutu, Kennedy. (2020) “‘We Will Not Watch Like Monkeys:’ Development Visions and Conflict Potentials in Northern Kenya.” In Clemens Greiner, Michael Bollig and Steven Van Wolputte (eds) African Futures (Leiden: Brill) (in print).

Courses Teaching Prof. Mkutu is currently on a research assignment and is not teaching. However, this are the courses he undertakes:

• Introduction to Research Methods
• Introduction to International Organizations
• Introduction to Peace Studies
• Conflict Resolution
• Peace and Security Studies