Determinants of Exploitation of Kenya’s Blue Economy among Policy Actors Case of the State Department of Maritime and Shipping Affairs in Kenya

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume IV, Issue IX, September 2020 | ISSN 2454–6186

 Determinants of Exploitation of Kenya’s Blue Economy among Policy Actors Case of the State Department of Maritime and Shipping Affairs in Kenya

 Thuo Kinyua¹, Dr. Wilson Muna PhD.^2
1Public Policy Scholar in Department of Public Policy and Administration of Kenyatta University & Co-Founder of Tafiti Sera Think Tank.
²Lecturer of Public Policy, Administration and Management at Kenyatta University, Kenya
corresponding author*

Abstract: The exploitation of Kenya’s Blue Economy presents a challenge for policy actors in the process of policy harmonization and creating synergy among the diverse policy actors and their agencies. This study interrogated the nature of engagement of this policy actors with the State Department of Maritime and Shipping Affairs under the Blue Economy by utilizing the parameters of Coordination Mechanisms, Information Sharing and Resource Mobilization. The objective of this study was to establish how these parameters impact on the exploitation of Kenya’s Blue Economy. The theory employed for this study was the Self-Governance of Common Pool Resources Regime Theory. The study population included the members of staff of the State Department. The data collection instruments utilized were questionnaires and interview guides. The study established that indeed the three affected the exploitation of Kenya’s Blue Economy. The study progresses to propose policy recommendations to the challenges by proposing actionable policy guidelines.

Keywords: Blue Economy, Coordination Mechanisms, Exploitation, Information Sharing, Policy Actors, Resource Mobilization, State Department for Maritime and Shipping Affairs (SDMSA), Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs), Domestic Resource Mobilization (DRM).

I. INTRODUCTION

Kenya like many of her peers in the global south, gained her independence during the cold war. The government that was formed upon independence led by President Jomo Kenyatta focused on eradicating three “enemies of progress” these were; poverty, ignorance and disease. Kenya’s economy has since then weathered many storms to emerge as the 6th largest in Africa and among the 5 top most rapidly growing economies of Africa in 2018 (Relsen, 2010). This is despite the fact that Kenya’s economy is faced with a myriad of challenges that have hampered its growth throughout its 6 decades of existence chief of which being corruption and poor governance (Relsen, 2010).

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