New Community Composition Resulting from Internal Migration Influencing Inter-Ethnic Tensions in Kajiado County, Kenya

Internal migration has increasingly transformed the demographic and social composition of rapidly urbanizing areas in Kenya, particularly counties neighbouring major urban centres. Kajiado County has experienced substantial population influxes associated with its proximity to Nairobi City County, urban expansion and expanding socioeconomic opportunities, resulting in increasingly diverse communities. While such demographic transformation can promote economic and social interaction, it may also alter established community relations, intensify competition over land and other resources, and create conditions for inter-ethnic tensions. However, limited empirical evidence exists on the extent to which new community composition resulting from internal migration influences inter-ethnic tensions in Kajiado County. The study therefore sought to analyze the influence of new community composition resulting from internal migration on inter-ethnic tensions in Kajiado County, Kenya. The study was anchored on the Aspirations-Capabilities Framework of Migration and Structural Functionalism Theory and adopted a cross-sectional survey design. The target population comprised adult residents categorized into security agencies, village elders and the general public. The study area was clustered into selected constituencies and wards, while security personnel and village elders were purposively selected and members of the general public were selected through systematic random sampling. Data were collected using questionnaires and one-on-one interviews and analyzed using descriptive statistics, multiple linear regression and thematic analysis. The findings established that new community composition resulting from internal migration significantly influenced inter-ethnic tensions in Kajiado County, with the regression model explaining 6.7% of the variation in inter-ethnic tensions (R² = .067, F(7, 409) = 4.196, p < .001). Although the relationship was statistically significant, the relatively low explanatory power indicates that inter-ethnic tensions are also shaped by other social, economic, political and institutional factors beyond changing community composition. The study concludes that migration-induced changes in community composition constitute a significant, though partial, factor in explaining inter-ethnic tensions in Kajiado County. It recommends inclusive local governance, community integration initiatives, equitable mechanisms for managing access to land and shared resources, and strengthened inter-community dialogue to enhance social cohesion within rapidly changing settlements.