ASSESSING THE INFLUENCE OF THE COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP IN MONITORING AND EVALUATING COMMUNITY SAFETY IN LAMU WEST SUB-COUNTY, KENYA

Abstract

Despite the fact that community leadership as a key community policing element has been mentioned as a factor influencing monitoring and evaluation of community safety, there is limited research to ascertain this in Lamu West Sub County. The purpose of this study was to establish the effect of community leadership in monitoring and evaluating community safety in Lamu West Sub-County. The study adopted quantitative design where data was collected from a sample of 405 respondents drawn from 32,873 of Lamu West Sub-County residents with the aid of a questionnaire. Correlation and regression analyses were adopted in data analysis to help in establishing the relationship between the dependent and independent variables. The findings of this study demonstrated that there was statistically positive relationship between community leadership and monitoring and evaluating of community safety at (β=0.106; p<0.05). The study concludes that community leadership significantly influences monitoring and evaluating community safety. the study recommends that effective collaborations between law enforcement and community stakeholders are critical to public safety, and it is critical that government agencies, community organizations, nonprofits, companies, and private citizens all see public safety as a shared duty. It is recommended that community leadership should be people centered in order to enhance accountability that seeks to promote community safety. There is need for more involvement of all key stakeholders in maintaining security. The government agencies in charge of community policing should consider ensuring that community leaders have the skills and competency of resolving security matters.. KEY WORDS: Community Leadership, monitoring and evaluating of community safety, Lamu West Sub-County.