The Role of the Church Leadership in the Effective Implementation of the Peace Building Strategies in Londiani, Kenya

Abstract

The study sought to establish the role of the church leaders in the effective application of the peace building strategies in enhancing lasting ethnic harmony in Londiani Sub County of Kericho County, Kenya. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design. The target population for this study was 27,336 subjects, from five churches: Roman Catholic Church, Presbyterian Church of East Africa, Deliverance Church, Worldwide Gospel Church, and Full Gospel Church in Londiani area. Purposive random sampling was employed to select Church leaders while, stratified simple random sampling was employed to select Church members. The study employed questionnaires for quantitative data collection. Data was analyzed using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS, version 23) for windows. Qualitative data obtained from the interviews and focus group discussions were analyzed thematically and presented in narrative form and where possible tabular form. A pilot study was done on 6 respondents that comprised 2 Church leaders, and 4 Church members who were not from the sampled group. Test re-tests method using Cronbach formula was used to evaluate the reliability of the research instruments. The research findings revealed that in principle there are peace building strategies in every church. The challenge was on the inability by church leaders to implement. The study recommends that church leaders should take their evangelization role seriously, instill in the community good values that may be used in promoting peaceful ethnic coexistence, act as bridging gap and reconciliation agent both vertically and horizontally.