Shirley Gabriella Achieng’
Shirley Gabriella Achieng’, PhD
Executive Director
Shirley Gabriella Achieng’ is the Executive Director and inaugural co-convener of the Africa Network of Critical Security Scholars (ANeCS). She is the Chair of the African Association of Political Science Kenya Chapter, a pan-African organization of scholars whose main objective is to interrogate the state of the politics, governance, economy, and development of African states. She is a 2020 Manaaki New Zealand Scholarships recipient, funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) New Zealand. She holds a Ph.D. in Peace and Conflict Studies from the University of Otago, New Zealand.
She also holds a Master’s degree in International Relations from the United States International University-Africa (USIU-Africa), and a Bachelor’s in Political Science and Public Administration from Maasai Mara University. Her doctoral thesis titled Towards an Indigenous African Approach to Counterterrorism in Kenya was awarded the 2024 Exceptional Doctoral Thesis Award by the University of Otago. This award recognizes doctoral theses of exceptional quality and standard in every respect – research content, originality, quality of expression and accuracy of presentation – and is among the 10% of theses examined.
Shirley has extensive experience in the civil service spanning over eight years. She has worked in various capacities in government providing policy and technical advice to the Kenyan national and county governments on matters of peace and conflict, and legislative procedures. She has given numerous presentations at workshops and conferences, including a workshop organized by the IGAD Peace and Security Division on Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Development (PCRD).
She doubles as the co-founder of the Decolonial Terrorism Studies Network, where she is currently working with other scholars and stakeholders in the Global South to advocate for local solutions to the terrorism problem by centering subaltern voices to increase pluriversality and vibrancy of knowledges in the field of counterterrorism.
Her research interests include decolonial methodologies, counterterrorism and Countering Violent Extremism (CVE), restorative justice, peacebuilding and security studies. She has published many articles and book chapters on these topics in various journals, including The African Review and Critical Studies on Terrorism. Her recent publications include: CTS and Indigeneity. In A. Martini & R. Silva (Eds.), Contemporary Reflections on Critical Terrorism Studies (Routledge, 2023); Towards a Decolonial Approach to New Zealand’s Counterterrorism: Afrocentric Perspectives (2023); and Critical Terrorism Studies. In L. Frumkin, J. Morrison, & A. Silke (Eds.), A Research Agenda for Critical Terrorism Studies (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2023). She is a peer reviewer for many journals.
During her free time, Shirley engages with young people in high school and universities by giving motivational talks & encouraging students towards their full potential.
Shirley is a founding member of ANeCS and she is from Kenya, East Africa.
