Assessing the Efficacy of Sports Tourism in Peace Making amongst the North-Rift Pastoralists: A Case Study of the annual Tegla Loroupe Peace Races

Abstract

This study was conducted among the North Rift Valley Pastoralists with the aim of assessing the efficacy of sports tourism in peace making. Specifically, the study used the annual Tegla Loroupe peace races to address the specific objectives of the study among them: establishing the causes and stakeholders in the North Rift Valley conflict; assessing the perceptions and attitudes of the North Rift communities towards the annual Tegla Loroupe peace race; determining the impacts of the annual Tegla Loroupe peace race in the region, and to make recommendations to the government and other peace seeking organizations on the role of sports in achieving/promoting peace and policy reforms. A sample of 200 respondents determined by both purposive and simple random sampling was surveyed using questionnaires while 50 key interviewees were interviewed from nine contact administrative divisions: Kollowa, Tot, Chesegon, Tirap, Tapach, Sigor, Alale, Kainuk and Turkwel. Out of the 200 questionnaires distributed, 152 were returned. The study employed the social learning theory with specific emphasis on symbolic interaction theory as advanced by Albert Bandura. The data were coded and statistical analysis done quantitatively using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The objectives were tested by use of descriptive methods and the results presented using frequencies, percentages, distribution tables and charts. Both primary and secondary data were gathered through interviews, questionnaires, direct observation, and document analysis. The study established that insecurity in the North Rift region is largely due to resource competition, high poverty levels, need for economic independence, single main economic activity (pastoralism), negative ethnicity, negative socialization, pastoralist cultural practices as well as poor governance and inadequate security in the region. The study recommends the establishment of irrigation agriculture in the area so as to broaden the economic base for the North Rift residents; need for proper economic policy formulation, legal and institutional reform for improved enforcement of law and order, inculcating a culture of respect for human life and also the use of sports in promoting positive ethnicity, socialization and promoting understanding. Further, the study recommends the establishment of pro-poor tourism projects in the region so as to diversify the economies of these communities. In addition, land ownership in the region need to be changed from communal to private land ownership because there is a positive correlation between communal land ownership and high poverty levels.