Kenya’s Peace Diplomacy in Eastern Africa: Regional Hegemon?

Kenya’s peace diplomacy in Eastern Africa has encompassed mediation, negotiations, peacekeeping operations, and complex peace restoration efforts in collaboration with other actors. The country has contributed significantly to peace initiatives in the region where most of the countries have suffered wars, civil strives and general instability. These efforts have earned the country global accolades and recognition. They are anchored on the country’s peace diplomacy pillar which seeks to consolidate her legacy in promoting peace and stability in countries within the region. This research paper based on the review of secondary data examines the application of Kenya’s peace diplomacy to the resolution of conflicts in Eastern Africa. It surveys the elements of Kenya’s foreign policy that have bolstered her peace diplomacy in the region, analyzes how the country has engaged herself in the pursuit of peace in a region beset by numerous and complex conflicts and questions whether this role and the nature of its execution is elevating the country into the status of a regional hegemon in Eastern Africa. The article concludes that Kenya has harnessed the combined strength of her imminent leaders and personalities, relative stability, regional economic dominance, and the expansion of the space for regional and continental diplomacy to play a major role in the resolution of conflicts and stabilization in the region. The country has consistently projected herself in her foreign policy stance as a peace-loving nation with solemn honor for the basic international norms of respect for the sovereignty of neighboring states, good neighborliness, the peaceful settlement of disputes and non-interference in the internal affairs of other states. The modest achievements in the peace processes combined with the continuing support for peace and state building efforts in neighboring countries are steadily propelling Kenya into the rank of a regional hegemon and a diplomatic powerhouse in Eastern Africa.