Types of Security Awareness Programs to Enhance National Security in Lamu County

The security programs in a country are meant to ensure the national security of it. And the same applies in Kenya where there are various security programmes customized for each region in the country and also for each security situation. This is because, citizens in a nation, are bestowed some inalienable rights and freedoms including being safe from dangers and harms. As it is, Kenyans are constantly living in the fear of what could happen next, as well as the next point that could be attacked by the terror attacks as well as the local rebels. Despite this development, few studies have evaluated the types of security awareness programs on national security in Lamu County, Kenya. Using Theory of Reinforcement and The Theory of Reasoned Action, this study sought to demonstrate influence of security awareness programs on national security. The study adopted a cross sectional survey design, and was carried out in Lamu with the target population all adult residents. A multistage sampling technique was employed starting with the clustering of the regions in the study area. Purposive sampling was used to obtain the constituencies and the wards to be studied. Clustering was used to group the target population into three homogenous groups. Security agencies were randomly sampled. Village elders were purposively sampled. Ten nyumba kumi elders were purposively sampled and the general public were systematically random sampled. Questionnaire and interviews schedules were used to collect data. Quantitative data was analyzed by use of descriptive statistics. Descriptive statistics mainly frequency distributions were used to summarize the results that facilitated in the interpretation of the key findings as well as presentation of the findings. Qualitative data was analyzed thematically. Both qualitative and quantitative data were triangulated to provide robust illustrations of the key findings. The study found that, there are four types of security awareness programs: Nyumba Kumi Initiative, the School Outreach Security Awareness Programs, Physical Security Awareness Programs and Cyber Security Awareness Programs. The study concluded that, the state should be considered the central security provider, and whose stability and legitimacy are the main sources of protection for its citizens, from any kind of threats. The study recommended that, the state security agencies need to streamline their department in terms of the training and developing the skills of their agents to be at per with how to confront the various environments when doing community awareness.