Sahelian Peacebuilding and Development Initiative: 2013

Monday, December 30, 2013

Rethinking Security in Sub-Saharan Africa: Chad as a Case Study

Recurring security threats have led many countries in Africa to resort to militarism – the belief that nations need large powerful military forces to ensure their safety, security and the protection of their interests.

For these countries, safety and security have often meant buying more weaponry, enlisting more active duty soldiers, whether trained or untrained, and the sidelining of opponents.
Eritrea, DRC, CAR, Chad, the Congo, Sudan, and South Sudan are, among others, a perfect illustration of this mindset.

This article uses Chad as a case study to argue that the paradigm of security as militarism without a deliberate pursuit of positive peace to ensure the safety and security of persons can become counterproductive in the current environment of the growing threat of Islamic insurgency in Africa.

It then advocates for a security paradigm shift that must be more attentive to, and respectful of, human rights. Read full article on the Center For Security Governance page

Friday, November 22, 2013

Chad's Idriss Deby: A Hero turned Tyrant?

This month Chad’s President Idriss Deby will mark his 23-year rule in the landlocked West African country. In the 1990 coup that toppled the former President Hissein Habre, President Deby was welcomed by the Chadians as a national hero after he delivered a powerful populist speech promising to bring “neither gold nor silver but freedom and democracy.”

Two decades later, the much anticipated freedom and democracy is yet to materialise. The irony is that the long awaited promise of democracy has metamorphosed into a costly dictatorship that has cost thousands of lives and stifled progress. Read full article on Africa Review

Monday, October 28, 2013

The Rise in Islamic Militant Insurgent Activities to Hamper Africa's Development

The emergence of Africa as a rising continent has been a subject of much attention and interest in the world among political leaders, scholars and business organisations lately.

At the same time, Africa has become the focus of terror organisations as well, stoking fears that this ascending trajectory might soon be interrupted as evidenced by the recent waves of attack in Kenya, Niger and Algeria, all directed often against Western interests.

With the US military upgrading its facilities and means to address the new threats of radical Islamic militant insurgency, there are now questions as to whether and how this move will yield the desired results. Read Full Article on Africa Review

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Africa and The Challenges of Militant Islamic Insurgency

The recent attack on the Westgate Mall in Kenya and the continual challenge to security posed by Islamic militant insurgent groups in Mali, Nigeria and Somalia provide clear evidence of the new security challenges that African security forces face.

These new security challenges are happening in a backdrop of a theater of on-going internecine conflicts that many countries on the continent are already struggling to address.

Understanding the new security challenges and rethinking how to efficiently counter them could save lives and mitigate potential threats. Read full article on the Center for Security Governance page

Monday, October 21, 2013

Ugandan peacekeepers' bosses 'sold' guns in Somalia

This article about the behavior of the peacekeepers from Uganda in Somalia is nothing short of a Hollywood movie. Appropriate investigation into the behavior of other African peacekeeping forces there should give the world a broad overview of what might be going there in the name of peace.
Read full article by the Daily Monitor

Friday, October 18, 2013

South Africa: Is there any alternative to the ANC?

This is no time to leave the ANC alone. NO. Not when its controversial legacy is giving rise to so many legitimate concerns. As the 2014 election is up in the offing for the nation to set the sail for a new chapter in the country’s democracy, the natural question for many South Africans has been whether the ANC leadership can still be trusted after so many failures. Read full article on News24

Friday, October 11, 2013

Can the ICC survive the African Jungle without the Cooperation of the AU?

The African peoples' calls for justice are growing too high to ignore. But the African Union is not listening.

Why then is the AU so determined to undermine the work of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in a bid to provide a safety net to oppressors accused of war crimes? What could this mean for peace efforts on the continent? Read full article from Africa Review

Saturday, October 5, 2013

South Africa cannot unproblematically afford to ignore the EFF

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) is composed of a bunch of losers and malcontents. The EFF is broke and cannot win elections. Malema, the head of the EFF, is a danger. And so goes the narrative as long as we feel justified in our vilification. Can informed South Africans afford to allow this vilification to unproblematically marginalize the EFF indefinitely?

If the EFF is so bad, why on earth are so many people identifying with or joining it? These perceived malcontent land-grabbing fellows might not be all right in their claims but can they be all wrong in their cause? How has Malema turned their grievances into opportunities? What might happen next if we keep ignoring them? Read full article on News24

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

IS THERE ANY WAY OUT OF AFRICA’S WARS?

In his 1992 book entitled The End of History and the Last Men, Francis Fukuyama made the bold claim that with the proliferation of liberal democracy, wars between nations would decline. Indeed, we are witnessing a sharp decline in inter-state wars in the world today. A result of the proliferation of democracy?–Who knows.

In any case, the decline in inter-state wars has been welcomed in the world as a sign of hope. Unfortunately, however, this hope is quickly compromised by the emergence of several new wars. Read more from News24

Thursday, September 12, 2013

THE WEST IN SYRIA: THE MAKING OF DAR AL-HARB AND DAR AS- SALAM

The Western World’s continual use of military actions is dividing the world into two camps: The Dar Al-Harb (land of war) and the Dar As-Salam (land of peace). The Dar Al-Harb represents those countries that are often used for instrumental purposes to achieved particular aims, often Western powers’ aims. In contrast, the Dar As-Salam represents those countries that, whether true or not, are believed to benefit from the continual use of military actions. Another conspiracy theory?–Not this time. Just read to find out. Read more from News24

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Egypt: Should the Islamists still believe in democracy?

The political crisis in Egypt has entered a new phase—a full- blown conflagration with heavy human and material losses. With now more than 700 deaths—still rolling, and thousands of people injured, some of whom are in critical condition, the reactions of the international community, long delayed, have been rushing in.

These reactions that range from condemnations to sanctions are mostly disabling, not enabling for Egypt. Read full article on News24

African conflicts: Why a change is needed in African forces?

On July 29, 2013 a video that depicted a group of supposedly Congo Brazzaville presidential guards stripping naked a group of refugee women from the Democratic Republic of the Congo went viral on social media networks. Despite the gravity of the deed, there was no appropriate response from the country’s authorities.

The only audible but fledgling voice that was raised to condemn this heinous act was that of the president’s wife. This situation, emblematic of a culture of brutality developed by uniformed men in many African countries in the last few decades, requires attention and action. Read full article on News24

Egypt: Botched revolution and Washington indecision

Egypt might be experiencing one of its worst crises in history. Since the ousting of president Mohamed Mursi on July 3, 2013, the security situation has been fast deteriorating as violent clashes are increasing, people are being reported killed daily, and the economy is faring no better.

Different debates have been staged with different governments outlining their positions. What is baffling in this flurry of debates is Washington’s absence. Calls to get its attention remain unanswered. Yet Egypt is sinking deep into the quagmire of violence. What, then, explains Washington’s low-key attitude? An abdication of responsibility? A complicit attitude? Or simply a dilemma? With windows of opportunity for political dialogue closing, what can Egypt do next?
Read full Article on News24

Visionary quote

'Overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is an act of justice. It is the protection of a fundamental human right, the right to dignity and a decent life. While poverty persists, there is no true freedom' --Nelson Mandela--

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. Never again can we afford to live with the narrow, provincial "outside agitator" idea. --Martin Luther King, Jr.--