Political Geography: Africa / Publication Year: within 10 Years / Journal: African Journal on Conflict Resolution

1. On Designating the 14-Mile Area in the Cooperation Agreement: Missteps and Implications for Peace in South Sudan

Author:: Garang Yach James, James Alic Garang, and Joseph Geng Akech
Publication Date:: 01-2023
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: Using a literature-based review methodology, this paper examines the questions, fairness, and implications relating to the inclusion of the 14-Mile Area in the September 2012 Cooperation Agreement signed between Sudan and South Sudan. It finds that previous colonial arrangements and the subsequent inclusion of this area under the rubric of disputed territories muddied the waters, thus giving a wrong impression to the public about what was originally unintended and sanctioned. Second, it finds that the Malual Dinka community remains justified in arguing that the 14-Mile Area is undisputed. The fact that Arab nomads from Sudan have been permitted to enjoy access to the grazing and cross-border trade benefits does not confer right of ownership over the strip. Seen from this context, the article examines the implications of including the 14-Mile Area in the Cooperation Agreement and arrives at policy recommendations designed to ensure community resource management and investments in the area. Thus, the article advances not just community-to-community peace, but also regional peace and stability. It concludes by beseeching the governments of both Sudan and South Sudan to exclude the 14-Mile Area from any discussion of disputed areas of international borders. The article advocates that local communities should be given an unencumbered opportunity to manage issues of access to grazing areas by Sudanese nomads based on community-to-community negotiations, which have always been the tradition.
Topic:: International Cooperation, Territorial Disputes, and Peace
Political Geography:: Africa, Sudan, and South Sudan

2. Civil Society as a Transitional Justice Litigation Actor in Africa

Author:: Khanyisela Moyo
Publication Date:: 01-2023
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: This article examines the input into the transitional justice discourse by civil society as a litigation actor in postcolonial Africa. It does not analyse all civil society litigation in transitional contexts in Africa, but rather uses some examples to point to different kinds of contributions. From the examples provided, one can affirm that civil society organisations (CSOs) are significant transitional justice litigation actors. This relates to civil and criminal litigation. With regard to criminal litigation, CSOs participate in formal processes in several ways, including pointing out due process flaws and turning over to the prosecution evidence of violations that they would have gathered during the conflict. Also, in the context of impunity and inadequate government policies, some CSOs have filled the accountability gap by resorting to civil suits and regional, exported and international litigation. These examples may offer useful insights into contexts where transitional justice initiatives are undertaken where there is no transition. In addition, the experiences may question whether compensation to victims of state-orchestrated violations of human rights which is achieved through non-governmental organisations’ initiatives constitutes transitional justice.
Topic:: Civil Society, Transitional Justice, and Litigation
Political Geography:: Africa

3. The Colonial Legacy and Transitional Justice in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Author:: Shirambere Philippe Tunamsifu
Publication Date:: 01-2023
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) experienced a brutal colonial regime and a segregated judicial system with a weak educational system used to support colonial policies and a post-colonial legal framework designed to avoid prosecution for colonial-era crimes. Under such a regime, a broad range of violations were registered including about 10 million people who were killed. In the aftermath of the colonial era, the post-colonial regime did not sufficiently redress the situation through prosecution or meaningful reforms. Consequently, most of those atrocities remained unpunished. This study lists the main reasons for why the colonial-era crimes were not investigated which are linked to the gaps in the legal framework, the configuration of the judiciary, and an informal agreement between the DRC and the Belgian governments.
Topic:: Transitional Justice, Colonialism, and Judiciary
Political Geography:: Africa and Democratic Republic of the Congo

4. Impact of the Church on Conflict Transformation of Political Crises at Community Level: A Case Study of two Church Denominations in Dzivarasekwa, Harare

Author:: Angela Shoko
Publication Date:: 01-2023
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: This study, based on Lederach’s conflict transformation (CT) theory, analyses the participation of the local church in CT of political crises in Zimbabwe at the grassroots level – from 2005 to 2020. It compares the CT interventions of one Pentecostal church denomination and of one African Independent Church denomination in the Dzivarasekwa suburb of Harare. A convergent parallel mixed methods design was used. SPSS software was used to analyse quantitative data while the NVivo application was used for qualitative data analysis. One key finding is that both denominations believe CT entails community engagement. Major challenges to local churches’ CT participation include financial constraints, repressive laws and church executives’ fear of victimisation. The study concludes that the impact of the local churches is low because their interventions are limited to congregation members and their immediate neighbours. Another conclusion is that CT is politicised in Zimbabwe, which restricts effective church participation. The study makes some recommendations to address this.
Topic:: Religion, Transitional Justice, Conflict, Christianity, and Political Crisis
Political Geography:: Africa and Zimbabwe

5. Emerging Local Voices and New Possibilities Toward Attaining Sustainable Peace in Bawku, north-eastern Ghana

Author:: Aminu Dramani, Sebastian Angzoorokuu Paalo, and Samuel Adu-Gyamfi
Publication Date:: 08-2023
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: Globally, conflicts continue to change dynamics and increase in complexity, weakening the potential of various peacebuilding interventions, especially in the Global South. The Bawku crisis is a notable protracted conflict in Ghana and West Africa, which attracts enormous scholarly debates, especially on how to attain sustained peace in the area. However, there remains some important dynamics that are not significantly explored in the discussions on achieving sustained peace in Bawku. Drawing on in-depth field interviews, we present a new perspective on chieftaincy and landownership (and use), shifting from absolute control to a shared system, aimed at potentially resolving conflicts. The proposed shared political and landownership system also reveals important weaknesses relating to existing court verdicts and scholarly advocacy for a parallel system or the resettlement of the Mamprusi outside of the area. However, this empirical contribution offers a new possibility to resolve the Bawku crisis and similar challenges in Ghana and Africa.
Topic:: Transitional Justice, Peace, Land, and Sustainability
Political Geography:: Africa and Ghana

6. The Political Ecology of Farmer-Herder Conflict in Ghana: A Case Study of the Kwahu Afram Plains South District

Author:: Bernard Okoampah Otu and Kwasi Sarfo
Publication Date:: 08-2023
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: Farmer-herder conflict is an age-old phenomenon, which is widely spread in the West African sub-region. Current studies on the Ghanaian farmer-herder conflict have emphasised the land-related conflicts between indigenous farmers and nomadic herders. It has focused especially on environmental scarcity and climate change approaches. However, this study adopts the political ecology framework to highlight land conflicts between migrant farmers and nomadic herders, two migrant groups that are considered “strangers” to the Kwahu Afram Plains District. The study contributes to the broader debates on farmer-herder conflict. It provides contrary evidence with regard to the popular notion in literature and theory about the prevalence of land insecurity among nomadic herders. The study argues that migrant farmers in the study area experience more land insecurity compared to the nomadic herders. This is because of their history of immigration, their relationship with the Kwahu landowners, which is driving the escalating cost of accessing land, and disputes between landowning groups.
Topic:: Conflict, Land, Farmers, Political Ecology, and Herders
Political Geography:: Africa and Ghana

7. Africa’s Quest for Reform of the United Nations Security Council: A Just Cause Curbed by Unrealistic Proposals

Author:: Niguse Mandefero Alene, Mohammed Seid Ali, and Kebede Yimam Tadesse
Publication Date:: 08-2023
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: The debate around viable global governance has become increasingly topical, particularly from the perspective of countries in the Global South. Concerning Africa, despite the continent’s quest to reform the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), existing research has failed to comprehensively address the topic. Consequently, this article explores the arguments and challenges surrounding Africa’s drive to secure a permanent voice in the UNSC. It argues that despite the enduring legacies of colonialism, neocolonial interventions, and being the primary concern of the UNSC agenda, Africa’s claim for fair representation in the Council remains. The article attempts to address the research gap and contribute to the existing debate by examining why Africa has failed to be represented in the UNSC. Africa’s collective initiative towards reforming the UN system is instrumental in ensuring inclusive and sustainable global governance. Nonetheless, Africa’s insistence on immediate and full veto power for new entrants and its demand for representation merely through numbers inside the UN are unfeasible.
Topic:: Security, United Nations, Reform, Peace, and UN Security Council
Political Geography:: Africa

8. Civil War between the Ethiopian Government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front: A Challenge to Implement the Responsibility to Protect Doctrine

Author:: Israel Nyaburi Nyadera and Census Osedo
Publication Date:: 08-2023
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: How does the 2020–2022 civil war in Ethiopia contribute to our understanding of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) doctrine? This study seeks to revisit the debate over the effectiveness of the R2P doctrine in the wake of increased intrastate conflicts. The objective is to assess the dilemma that arises with the implementation of R2P when governments are involved in the conflict and the international community is reluctant or unable to intervene. The study adopts the systematic review approach (PRISMA) to identify the shortcomings, trends, and debates around R2P. It uses the Ethiopian civil war to contribute further to the existing body of literature. The paper finds that, indeed, the R2P doctrine is facing serious challenges with its implementation. It shows that when governments fail to acknowledge the other actors as legitimate combatants and instead describe them as terrorist groups, it becomes difficult to uphold the R2P doctrine. The paper also identifies a lack of leadership and coordinated efforts at regional and international levels as contributing factors, which further undermine the effectiveness of R2P. The paper concludes that the Ethiopian civil war exposes serious shortcomings in the R2P doctrine that need to be reviewed and reformed urgently. It proposes the adoption of a systems-thinking approach that can streamline the actors and processes of response during civil wars.
Topic:: Civil War, Human Rights, Conflict, and Responsibility to Protect (R2P)
Political Geography:: Africa, Ethiopia, and Tigray

9. Transferring Policy: The African Union’s Protection of Civilians Policy in Peacekeeping Missions in Somalia and South Sudan

Author:: Andrew E. Yaw Tchie and Liezelle Kumalo
Publication Date:: 08-2023
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: The African Union’s (AU’s) doctrine underlying Peace Support Operations (PSOs) highlights the fact that the AU should take the lead in providing political direction for all AU PSOs. This includes mainstreaming the standards and operating procedures applicable to the Protection of Civilians (PoC). The PoC guidelines mandate the AU to support and complement the efforts of the host state by enhancing its capacity to secure civilians and prevent abuse against them. The guidelines have allowed the AU to develop and grow its institutional capacity and emerge as the continent’s leading institution. It provides fragile member states with technical support through African led and AU-mandated missions (crafting the concept of operations, training and implementation and procedures for peace operations). However, little is known about how the AU transfers its PoC policy to member states during peacekeeping missions. This paper assesses the institutional capacity of the AU and its ability to influence specific national PoC policies and approaches through AU PSO and United Nations Peacekeeping Operations (UN PKOs). The paper highlights that although the AU has made progress in PoC policy, it has not been implemented effectively and practically in South Sudan and Somalia, despite being a significant priority for the organisation.
Topic:: Peacekeeping, Civilians, and African Union
Political Geography:: Africa, Somalia, and South Sudan

10. The Legislative Framework: A Path to Peace in Ethnically Divided Communities in Warri Conflict Area

Author:: Mathias Jarikre
Publication Date:: 01-2022
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: The literature on conflict interventions in Nigeria’s Niger Delta region have shown profound interest in Government attempts to prevent ethnic fragmentations and the proliferation of armed militia groups. Legislative structures have often generated the multi-track approaches adopted by government to mitigate the conflicts. Though significant, the results of these efforts have remained unclear. The article explores the role of legislation in designing paths to peace in fragile, ethnically divided communities. Specifically, the article examines the Delta Development Administration Committee Law 2004. The legislative plan to promote the development administration law was to enable the executive, with participatory governance assistance, to implement key strategies for conflict transformation and peacebuilding. The article concludes that, contrary to the fears that the establishment of exclusive ethnic Community Development Committees (CDC) is a dreadful anachronism that will increase the dangers of ethnic exclusivity and offensive actions, the CDC will in fact generate conflict transformation and peacebuilding.
Topic:: Conflict Resolution, Ethnicity, Legislation, Peace, and Community
Political Geography:: Africa and Nigeria

11. Too partial to work? Informal institutions in the midst of climate change and armed conflict in central Mali

Author:: Colin Walch
Publication Date:: 01-2022
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: In situations characterised by armed conflict and climate change, can informal institutions resolve conflict around shrinking resources? It is widely acknowledged that low state capacity increases the likelihood of violence in the context of climate change. In such context, informal institutions should play a crucial role in preventing and mitigating violence in the absence of formal institutions. However, little is known of the characteristics of these informal institutions and existing literature on climate change and conflict has examined them in isolation from national contexts and actors. This paper seeks to address this gap and argues that impartiality is essential for the ability of informal institutions to resolve resource-based conflict, a by-product of climate change, and prevent violence escalation. However, when institutions are partial, because of co-option by the state or other external actors, their decisions may further increase communal violence and prolong civil conflict. Partial institutions can encourage people to take justice into their own hands, and push individuals to join rebel groups offering more favourable options in redressing grievances. This theoretical argument is explored through a case study on central Mali, where partial informal institutions, in conjunction with other factors, have led to increased violence in the region.
Topic:: Climate Change, Armed Conflict, and Informal Institutions
Political Geography:: Africa and Mali

12. Communal Conflicts in Nasarawa State, North Central Nigeria: A Socio-Contextual Rethink

Author:: Al-Chukwuma Okoli and Damian Ukwandu
Publication Date:: 01-2022
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: Nasarawa State in North Central Nigeria has been notorious for communal conflicts. Such conflicts have often assumed complicated dimensions reflective of the social dynamics of the state. Oftentimes, the conflicts are framed in terms of identitarian differences and contestations, whilst the underlying drivers derive essentially from the socio-structural dynamics of the conflict context. By way of mixed research that is predicated on a combination of field and desk sources, this article interrogates the contemporary manifestations of communal conflicts in Nasarawa State through the combined lenses of liberal political ecology and conflict analysis. The article observes that the ethno-primordial cleavages of the focal state have provided veritable pretexts for the prevalence of communal conflicts, making such conflicts problematic to understand as well as resolve. The outcome of the analysis indicates that communal conflicts in the focal state have been both dynamic and opportunistic, often feeding into the existing primordial and structural fault-lines to assume multiple complications. There is therefore a need to understand the peculiar nature and dynamics of such conflicts in order to know how best to interpret, analyse and mitigate them.
Topic:: Politics, Conflict, Pastoralism, Community, and Farmers
Political Geography:: Africa and Nigeria

13. National dialogue and social cohesion in Zambia

Author:: Kabale Ignatius Mukunto
Publication Date:: 01-2022
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: National dialogues bring all major political stakeholders, decision-makers, and interest groups together following serious conflicts. In response to political differences that emerged from the 2016 general elections, Zambia enacted a National Dialogue (Constitution, Electoral Process, Public Order and Political parties) Act, 2019, which provided for holding a national dialogue forum (NDF). However, this trajectory has been turbulent and the outcome fiercely contested. This article is an appraisal shedding light on Zambia’s strides in hosting a post-2016 general elections national political dialogue process and an attempt to answer three critical questions. First, how can national political dialogue be best organised to build social cohesion? Second, what has been the Zambian experience with national dialogue, with particular reference to the 2019 NDF? Last, what lessons can be learned for future national dialogues in the country? The article offers some perspectives on how national dialogue can support the broader society to cohere. It also advances descriptive lessons for the future to vouch for an all-inclusive national dialogue process.
Topic:: Constitution, Social Cohesion, and Dialogue
Political Geography:: Africa and Zambia

14. An investigation into the role of traditional leaders in conflict resolution: The case of communities in the Mahikeng Local Municipality, North West Province, South Africa

Author:: Lovelyne Mboh
Publication Date:: 01-2022
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: For many decades, traditional leaders have been occupied with solving conflicts in African indigenous communities. Nevertheless, their contributions to conflict resolution have not been as widely documented as work in the area of formal conflict resolution. The core of this investigation was to explore the roles traditional leaders play in resolving conflict among indigenous communities in South Africa. The study also explored shortcomings of traditional authority institutions as they carried out their roles in peace building. A qualitative research methodology was adopted to answer the objectives of the article. The research found that conflict remains an element peculiar to communities and, as such, the need for traditional leaders to intervene and maintain peace. Traditional leaders were guided by moral values and belief systems which have been passed down from one generation to the next. These authorities used processes such as mediation and arbitration in achieving peace. However, in some instances, these traditional leaders have experienced disrespect from community members. Most of the participants in this study are knowledgeable about traditional practice and have played vital roles in local conflict situations.
Topic:: Conflict Resolution, Indigenous, Community, and Traditional Leaders
Political Geography:: Africa and South Africa

15. The impact of stakeholder management on the oil and gas industry in Africa: A case study of oil companies and African host communities

Author:: Nnaemeka Madumere
Publication Date:: 01-2022
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: The oil and gas industry is regarded as one of the most dynamic, complex and controversial industrial sectors and involves activities that generate a whole range of diverse viewpoints. This has resulted because the industry has several stakeholders who can influence and, at the same time, be impacted upon by activities associated with the value chain of oil and gas oriented business. However, one extremely important stakeholder is the community. Many researchers (Orsini 2016; Wall 2012; Mascarenhas 2011; Kinslow 2014; Boladeras, Wild and Murphy 2016) agree that the viewpoints of communities where oil and gas operations are carried out should be given high priority due to their significant influence over industry activities in their region, as well as the fact that they are the entities most impacted by these activities. This research examined notable conflicts experienced between oil companies and host communities in Africa with the aim to identify means by which relationships between the two aforementioned parties could be made cordial and sustainable. An integrated literature based research method and a case study strategy were adopted for this research. Two frameworks that will support organisations in effectively engaging and establishing cordial relationships with stakeholders were developed by the author; and the key findings of this research are that an effective means of establishing sustainable cordial relationships with host communities in Africa is by involving them in the ownership of operations in their region. This will naturally instill in them some sense of responsibility over the operations, which will in turn enable oil and gas companies to gain the trust, cooperation and support of host communities, as well as the social license to operate in their region. This relationship can be sustained if both parties work collaboratively to determine ways in which benefits from the operations may be maximised.
Topic:: Environment, Oil, Gas, and Stakeholders
Political Geography:: Africa

16. Resolving the Dagbon chieftaincy crisis and succession to the Ya-Na skin: The role of kingmakers and the electoral college system

Author:: Isaac Owusu-Mensah
Publication Date:: 06-2022
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: One chieftaincy conflict that has engaged the attention of all governments of Ghana since independence has been the Dagbon chieftaincy crisis. An ex-post analysis of the latest state of mediation and intervention efforts to resolve the crisis since the March 2002 eruption of bloody conflict, highlights a political stalemate that has challenged mediator intervention strategies. The Committee of Eminent Chiefs (CEC) appointed to mediate the dispute was stalled from 2009 until November 2018, when the Committee laid out a road map for peace which culminated in the installation of Ya Na Abubakar Mahama Andani. The approaches span 17 years of dealing with the crises – given several weaknesses associated with the resolution regimes. Adopting ethnographic and other qualitative methods of data collection, this article posits that, in spite of the inveterate tendency to resolve traditional political problems through modern democratic systems, the Dagbon crisis could have been resolved as a state-brokered intervention by adopting a modern electoral college system grounded in a ‘Clean Sheet Redesign process’ to pave the way for the restoration of the Andanis and Abudus family gate rotational system.
Topic:: Conflict Resolution, Electoral College, and Chieftancy
Political Geography:: Africa and Ghana

17. Malawi’s Peace Policy: The bedrock of a coherent national peace architecture?

Author:: Gwinyayi Dzinesa
Publication Date:: 06-2022
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: In November 2017, the government of Malawi launched the country’s first National Peace Policy (NPP) to systematically promote sustainable peace and unity. Malawi already had infrastructures for peace (I4P) that had been developed separately by the state, non-state actors and other stakeholders for various purposes. However, there was no integrated and coherent national peacebuilding framework which was focused on proactive conflict prevention and the promotion of sustainable peace and unity. The outbreak of deadly violence between police and civilians in July 2011 was a major manifestation of shortcomings and failures of the uncoordinated and mainly reactive top-down and bottom-up peace infrastructures established by the state and non-state actors, respectively. In response to the violence, the United Nations’ (UN) preventive diplomacy and facilitation of national dialogue in Malawi helped de-escalate tensions and mitigate conflict risk. This culminated in the development and approval of the NPP. The NPP is a bedrock strategy of a coherent and credible National Peace Architecture (NPA) to serve as the national pillar for peacebuilding. The NPP is being implemented by complementary state and non-state actors working closely with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in compliance with regional, continental and international instruments relating to the NPA. The case of Malawi presents an opportunity for building integrated local, national, regional, continental and international peace architectures.
Topic:: Conflict Resolution, Infrastructure, Violence, Peace, Domestic Policy, and Peacebuilding
Political Geography:: Africa and Malawi

18. Hydro-geopolitics and conflicts among the ‘traditional states’ of the Nun River Basin, Ndop Plain (North-West Cameroon)

Author:: Godwill Kungso Ndzofoa Eno
Publication Date:: 06-2022
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: The Nun River Basin (NRB) has a long history of cross-border conflicts, mostly connected to the impact of climate change on water sources and resources. This article discusses the link between water politics and conflicts among the traditional communities in the NRB. Water scarcity and floods have led to border conflicts among the “traditional states” at the drier edges and in the marshes of the NRB. Initial mappings to determine geopolitical and water security contexts helped identify the areas, including firstly, Bamali, Bamunka, Babungo and Baba I, with maritime border conflicts, and secondly the Babessi and Baba I floods, with access in the NRB. Based on our findings and analysis of existing sources and critical interviews, the recognised and unrecognised links that bind water to the regional politics and relations among the fondoms are central to the conflicts related to the control of water sources and the fertile rice cultivation marshes. The article concludes that although the “traditional states” have been in mutual competition, where food needs accelerate in response to rising populations and economic interest, the traditional method of conflict resolution through consensus has been most effective in achieving peace in the region.
Topic:: Climate Change, Water, Conflict, Borders, Hydro-geopolitics, and Traditional States
Political Geography:: Africa and Nigeria

19. Indigenous restorative justice mechanisms as a tool for transitional justice in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Author:: Patrick Bashizi Bashige Murhula
Publication Date:: 06-2022
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: The United Nations Mapping Report on the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is a powerful reminder of the gravity of the crimes committed in this country. This report found that the period between March 1993 and June 2003 is probably one of the most tragic chapters in the recent history of the DRC. A string of major political crises, wars and multiple ethnic and regional conflicts killed millions of people. However, since the publication of this report there has been a shocking lack of justice for the victims because the Congolese justice system has been ineffective in prosecuting the perpetrators. This article is a valuable contribution to ending impunity in that it proposes an alternative approach to justice. This is based on restorative values and principles, such as the Baraza indigenous restorative justice mechanism. This provides justice to victims, restores peace and reconciliation in the region and, most importantly, holds perpetrators accountable for the crimes and human rights violations they have committed.
Topic:: United Nations, Transitional Justice, Criminal Justice, Indigenous, and Restorative Justice
Political Geography:: Africa and Democratic Republic of Congo

20. Adaptation of local peace committees in Zimbabwe: Lessons from ChipingeEast constituency

Author:: Muneyi Rewayi Muchanyuka
Publication Date:: 06-2022
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: The article discusses a study conducted in the Chipinge-East District of the Manicaland Province in Zimbabwe. The possibilities of establishing local peace committees in a Zimbabwean context were analysed. The study was as a reaction to the recurring violence affecting Zimbabwean communities along the border with Mozambique. In addition, the absence of comprehensive violence-reduction measures from the Zimbabwean government and communities to address this violence was noted. An action research approach was used to conduct the study. The findings of the study revealed that the Chipinge-East community had the capacity and interest to set up a Local Peace Committee (LPC). The LPC managed to set up an early warning system to mitigate the violence which occurs in the community. The LPC members also managed to travel to other locations in Chipinge District to inform the wider community about the early warning system. Despite its notable achievements, the LPC faced obstacles which included a lack of financial resources, initial resistance, and suspicions from community members and state authorities. Despite the challenges, the LPC continues to forge ahead and serves as a model for peacebuilding in Zimbabwe.
Topic:: Conflict Resolution, Peace, Community, and Local Peace Committees
Political Geography:: Africa, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe

21. Violent Ethnic Extremism in Ethiopia: Implications for the Stability of the Horn of Africa

Author:: Yonas Adeto
Publication Date:: 01-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: Scholarship on the challenges of ethno-linguistic federalism in contemporary Ethiopia is copious; yet a critical analysis of violent ethnic extremism in the country and its implications for the sub-region is rare. This article argues that violent ethnic extremism is a threat to the existence of Ethiopia and a destabilising factor for its neighbours. Based on qualitative empirical data, it attempts to address the knowledge gap and contribute to the literature by examining why violent ethnic extremism has persisted in the post-1991 Ethiopia and how it would impact on the stability of the Horn of Africa. Analysis of the findings indicates that systemic limitations of ethno-linguistic federalism; unhealthy ethnic competition; resistance of ethno-nationalist elites to the current reform; unemployed youths; the ubiquity of small arms and light weapons; and cross-border interactions of violent extremists are the major dynamics propelling violent ethnic extremism in Ethiopia. Thus, Ethiopia and the sub-region could potentially face cataclysmic instabilities unless collective, inclusive, transformative and visionary leadership is entrenched.
Topic:: Political stability, Ethnicity, Conflict, and Political Extremism
Political Geography:: Africa and Ethiopia

22. Exploring the conflict-readiness of parties: The Dynamics of Proclivity Towards Violence and/or Conflict in Madagascar

Author:: Velomahanina T. Razakamaharavo
Publication Date:: 01-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: Since the beginnings of the anti-colonial struggle, Madagascar, a former French colony and an island in the Indian Ocean, has gone through nine episodes of conflict, ranging from political tension to high intensity conflicts. These changes of conflict intensity demonstrate that the proclivity towards conflict may take different forms in various episodes of violence and conflicts in the country. This phenomenon may be explored by examining the causal configurations and the co-existence of positive and negative processes and mechanisms which are interacting and co-constructing each other. In order to untangle the intricacy behind the conflict-readiness of parties preparing for conflict at low, medium or high levels of violence, use is made of concepts and theories pertaining to peace, conflict, negotiation and mediation, conflict escalation and de-escalation to explore the roles played by the following factors: local narratives and metanarratives. repertoires of action of the actors the actors’ framing of the conflicts the actors’ polarising of public opinion construction of the image of the self and the other conflict dimensions (socio-economic, cultural, political and global external) accommodation policies This paper argues firstly that proclivities toward violence/conflict in Madagascar are related to the coexistence of positive and negative elements, and secondly, that such proclivities are built partly upon the fact that liberal strategies for maintaining peace give rise to negative as well as positive effects on the dynamics of keeping that peace.
Topic:: Colonialism, Conflict, Violence, and Local
Political Geography:: Africa and Madagascar

23. Farm Attacks or 'White Genocide'? Interrogating the Unresolved Land Question in South Africa

Author:: Adeoye O. Akinola
Publication Date:: 01-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: Apartheid South Africa was noted for historical land dispossession, domination by the white group and disempowerment of the black population. Post-apartheid South Africa has struggled to address the land-related structural and physical violence in the country. Despite the implementation of land reform programmes since 1994, land inequality and impoverishment of black South Africans persist. The government’s failure to use land reform as instrument for socio-economic empowerment has engendered frustrations among those craving for land reform. This has found expression in farm attacks and murders. The subsequent instability in the farming sector and the categorisation of farm attacks as ‘white genocide’ have demonstrated the acute dynamics of the conversation, and the urgency to combat farm attacks, ameliorate the racial discourse and resolve the land question. Through unstructured interviews with key actors involved in the land and farm conflicts, the article engages the land attacks and ‘white genocide’ discourses and provides a more nuanced understanding of conflict recurrence in South Africa. It is claimed that unequal access to land and other intrinsic factors account for the destruction of lives and property on farms. It is concluded that, while white farmers are the major victims of farm murder, a conceptualisation of such as ‘white genocide’ does not adequately characterise the reality. One step among others would be for the government to inaugurate a ‘Panel of the Wise’, comprised of well-respected elders from all races, who would contribute to land reform and conflict-resolution strategies for the farms and agricultural sector.
Topic:: Discrimination, Land, Farming, and Socioeconomics
Political Geography:: Africa and South Africa

24. Examining the Potential of Conditional Cash Transfer for Stemming Cape Flats Gang Violence: A Directional Policy Research Project

Author:: Joseph Olusegun Adebayo and Blessing Makwambeni
Publication Date:: 01-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: Many low and middle-income countries have either implemented or considered conditional or unconditional cash transfers to poor households as a means of alleviating poverty. Evidence from pilot schemes in many developed and developing economies, including those in Africa, suggests that cash transfers do not only alleviate poverty; they also promote social cohesion and reduce the propensity for violent responses. For example, studies have shown a direct impact of cash transfers on Intimate Partner Violence (IPV). In some studies, the rate of IPV (including emotional violence) was significantly reduced when one of the partners was a beneficiary of cash transfer. However, there are limited studies on the potential of Conditional Cash Transfers (CCTs) for stemming gang violence. Our study contributes to filling this gap. We examine here the possibilities of conditional cash transfers for stemming intractable gang-related violence in the Cape Flats.
Topic:: Development, Violence, Gangs, and Cash
Political Geography:: Africa and South Africa

25. Nhimbe practice in Zimbabwe Revisited: Not only a Method of Socio-Economic Assistance but also a Communal Mechanism for Conflict Prevention and Peacebuilding

Author:: Pindai Sithole
Publication Date:: 01-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: Nhimbe is an endogenous knowledge practice used in community-based development for community members to provide socio-economic assistance as required. The practice is couched in people’s socio-cultural and moral compass. Households in rural areas use it to assist one another on a wide range of development initiatives, especially agricultural activities to promote and sustain food security and community values. In Africa, practices similar to nhimbe are Harambee in Kenya, Chilimba in Zambia and Letsema in South Africa and Botswana. Since the 1800s or earlier, economic and social benefits have been the known key motivations for the practice of nhimbe. This paper is a re-visit of nhimbe from the perspective of its contribution to conflict prevention and peacebuilding in the communities where it is practised. No in-depth studies have been published concerning the conflict and peacebuilding potentials of nhimbe, but it is quite clear that it plays a fundamental role which emanates from its relatedness to social dimensions and community cohesiveness. The analysis here shows that the practice has inherent capacities for pre-conflict prevention, in-conflict mitigation, conflict management, conflict resolution, conflict transformation and post-conflict peacebuilding.
Topic:: Conflict, Peace, Community, and Socioeconomics
Political Geography:: Africa and Zambia

26. The nexus between shimglina as ADR and the formal criminal justice system: The case of the Amhara regional state, Ethiopia

Author:: Gubaye Assaye Alamineh, Kumilachew Siferaw Anteneh, Abebe Dires Dinberu, and Mohammed Seid Ali
Publication Date:: 06-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanisms have been the common practice to resolve various conflicts in general and blood feuds in particular in the Amhara national regional state. As such, the central objective of this study is to assess the interface between ADR and the formal criminal justice system when addressing blood feuds. To achieve this, an ethnographic research approach was used. As the finding reveals, shimglinaas the common indigenous resolution mechanism of blood feuds has been widely used. In this reconciliation process, we identified diagnosis, initiation, forgiveness and the oath as essential phases. Concerning the previous interfaces between shimglina and the formal adjudication system, the reconciliation decisions made by shimglina had been accepted and taken for granted by the formal adjudications. But now this trend has been changed due to interference by formal adjudication on the process and implementation of ADR decision-making.
Topic:: Conflict Resolution, Criminal Justice, Reconciliation, Disputes, and Shimglina
Political Geography:: Africa and Ethiopia

27. State Legitimation Crisis and Violent Extremism among Young People in Nigeria

Author:: Adejoh Pius Enechojo, Ottoh Ferdinand, Onah Emmanuel, and Agugua Augustine
Publication Date:: 06-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: This article assessed the perceptions of youth towards perceived failures of the Nigerian State and their resulting disposition towards violent extremism as a response. The subjects for the study were drawn from, and representative of Lagos, Delta and Plateau States of the Country. The article adopted an eclectic theoretical approach and utilised a crosssectional survey design to generate quantitative data from 2 106 young people aged 18 and 35 years. The chi square statistical test was used to analyse the quantitative data. The results indicated among others, that although most young people feel disenchanted by the failure of the state to fulfil its contractual mandate of delivering the public good, they are however, unwilling to personally accept acts of extremism/terrorism as legitimate means of pursuing desired goals, and are not positively disposed towards the use of violence or terrorism as a means of actualising their goals. However, the study revealed a positive relationship between young people’s belief that it is incumbent on citizens to use violence to oppose underperforming government and their willingness to adopt violence or terrorism to achieve desired goals at P-value of 0.000. The article, recommends a re-doubling of efforts by the political state to fulfil her contractual obligations of improving the socioeconomic well-being of her citizens, among others.
Topic:: Violent Extremism, Youth, State, and Legitimacy
Political Geography:: Africa and Cameroon

28. Situating the role of youth in indigenous African Peacebuilding interventions: The question of spoilers versus menders

Author:: Isabella Osiemo, Florence Maranga, and Ruthie Chepkoech Rono
Publication Date:: 06-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: United Nations Security Council Resolution 2250 (2015) acknowledges that the world cannot attain meaningful peace without including the youth. This is critical in Africa where the youth who constitute the bulk of the continent’s population are involved in armed conflicts as perpetrators, victims and witnesses. Consequently, the youth suffer physical, cognitive and psychosocial impact of conflict, blurring their meaningful participation in peacebuilding processes. This article discusses indigenous African interventions aimed at conflict resolution, peacebuilding, healing and restoration of youth involved in and affected by armed conflicts. Four areas are addressed, namely: introduction, youth, indigenous methods, and finally conclusion and recommendations. It was found that scholars frame youth involvement in armed conflicts as perpetrators, triggers and victims. However, there is an emerging trend which frames youth as peace-builders. Africans have a rich indigenous knowledge reservoir for conflict resolution, peacebuilding and psychosocial interventions. However, the application of these interventions is marginalised. This article therefore advocates for the revitalisation of these interventions in conflict resolution, peacebuilding, and encourages psychological healing and social restoration for the youth amid ever increasing conflicts in Africa. The researcher recommends, as a way forward, the following: greater involvement of youth in conflict resolution, peacebuilding, healing and restoration through indigenous African interventions; research on and inclusion of indigenous African knowledge in our educational system; and integration of indigenous African interventions into police, legal, justice and psychosocial support systems and practices.
Topic:: Conflict Resolution, Youth, Indigenous, Reconciliation, Social Capital, Marginalization, Peacebuilding, and Adjudication
Political Geography:: Africa

29. Does Community Saving Foster Conflict Transformation? The Debate and Evidence from Kenya’s ASAL Counties of West Pokot and Turkana

Author:: Caleb Wafula
Publication Date:: 06-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: The worldwide breakthrough of micro-finance has revolutionised lives of traditionally marginalised group; that few will dare dispute. Nowhere are the changes more sweeping than in Kenya, a country where significant adoption of community savings initiatives (Chamaas) is being witnessed.Chamaas builds on the traditional Rotating Savings and Credit Association (ROSCA) methodology and implemented as a social safety net to support communities address livelihood challenges. Despite the centrality of Chamaas in socio-economic strengthening, very little has been studied about their potential to contribute towards social cohesion and conflict transformation. This study sought to examine how Chamaas go beyond fostering economic empowerment, to enhance community member’s interaction, address communal conflicts and strengthen social bonds. This study is based on qualitative field research, undertaken in Kenya’s West Pokot and Turkana counties and focuses on how community savings contribute to conflict transformation, with especial attention to women’s issues. Importantly, it would be remiss of this study if there was no discussion on challenges that confront members of community savings schemes. Ultimately, the research will focus on how community savings can be strengthened and supported to fully integrate peacebuilding in their processes.
Topic:: Conflict Resolution, Women, Microeconomics, and Peacebuilding
Political Geography:: Kenya and Africa

30. The curbing of the collective voices of workers in Ethiopia’s state-led industrialisation: The case of the garment sector

Author:: Mohammed Seid Ali
Publication Date:: 06-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: A state-led industrialisation drive inspired by the East Asian ‘developmental state’ ideology is at the core of Ethiopia’s industrial policymaking. Yet, scholarship on the implications of Ethiopia’s state-led industrialisation on the collective voices of local industrial workers is rare. Hence, this article argues that Ethiopia’s state-led industrialisation has firmly stood for strong business-state alliances, thereby curbing the collective voices of local industrial workers. Using qualitative empirical data, the article attempts to address the research gap and contribute to the existing debate by examining why and how the country’s state-led industrialisation has been operating in this context since 2005. Analysis of the findings indicates that facilitating industrial catch-up is at the centre of the country’s industrial development policymaking. Also that, the voice of the workers has been considered as a threat to foreign direct investment (FDI). As a result of the policy, the Ethiopian government employs diverse de facto or de jure labour control mechanisms, exceptionally against the associational rights of workers in the garment exporting industries across the country’s industrial parks (IPs). Moreover, employing industries have enforced various forms of administrative and punitive measures to subdue the collective voices of their workers. Hence, Ethiopia’s activist industrial policy must navigate a reasonable balance between facilitating industrial catch-up and ensuring labour standards for inclusive, peaceful, and sustainable industrial labour relations.
Topic:: Government, Labor Issues, Industrialization, and Garment Industry
Political Geography:: Africa and Ethiopia

31. The Anglophone problem in Cameroon: The change from crisis to conflict, and a possible way forward to resolution

Author:: Billy Agwanda and Hacer Soykan Adaoğlu
Publication Date:: 06-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: Since the dissolution of the federal system in 1972, Cameroon has been entangled in an internal crisis between the Anglophone region and the government. After four years of violence, the outcome of peace efforts have largely been countered by more incidents of violence. This article traces how the crisis has evolved over the years from a political crisis into a conflict situation. While appreciating the theoretical perspectives of internal colonialism and ethnonationalism in explaining the conflict, the authors highlight that the evolution from a crisis into a conflict has been driven by factors such as the expanding waves of democratisation, the emergence of new actors (militias) and the evolution of the digital space (social media as platform for mobilisation). The article emphasises that whereas grievances over marginalisation form the underlying drivers of the conflict, disagreements over the judicial (common law) and education system in the Anglophone regions exacerbated the crisis, thereby leading to the outbreak of violence. Against this background, the article provides recommendations that may encourage a recourse to peace and stability for a nation previously lauded as one of the (few) stable countries in the Central Africa region.
Topic:: Nationalism, Political stability, Ethnicity, Conflict, Peace, Marginalization, and Anglophone
Political Geography:: Africa and Cameroon

32. Applying Restorative Justice in Resolving the Farmers-Herdsmen Conflict in Nigeria

Author:: Emmanuel Ikechi Onah and Bamidele Emmanuel Olajide
Publication Date:: 06-2020
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: Farmers-herdsmen conflict has become a recurring phenomenon in Nigeria. This article argues that the continuing occurrence of this conflict can be explained by the non-application of restorative justice procedures by government when dealing with such conflict. This has made the structures of traditional conflict resolution ineffective. The article concludes that the application of restorative justice as part of conflict resolution mechanisms will more sustainably resolve the farmers-herders conflict in the country, as well as enhance national security and development.
Topic:: Climate Change, Environment, Conflict, Justice, and Farming
Political Geography:: Africa and Nigeria

33. Community-based reconciliation in practice and lessons for the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission of Zimbabwe

Author:: Lawrence Mhandara
Publication Date:: 06-2020
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: Reconciliation in Zimbabwe remains a recurring question despite several interventions by the government to respond to the challenge. Such efforts stretch as far back as the first decade of independence. A key observation about the failure of the interventions is the weak utilisation of localism. Yet other countries with similar historical experiences as Zimbabwe have recorded better progress by embracing community-based methods. Indeed, the traditional liberal view that there is a universal set of approaches to reconciliation has for long been discredited and it is now widely accepted that due to diverse cultural values, practices and norms, communities should approach reconciliation in diverse ways. The National Peace and Reconciliation Commission (NPRC) of Zimbabwe has the opportunity to learn from other developing countries on how community approaches unfolded, and apply such lessons in enriching its own programmes in the country. The East Timor and Sierra Leone cases are adduced as providing practical and valuable insights upon which the NPRC can benchmark and refine its strategy, and take advantage of the idle pool of indigenous methods in the country.
Topic:: Culture, Peace, Reconciliation, and Community
Political Geography:: Africa and Zimbabwe

34. Strengthening Traditional Approaches to Community-Level Land Disputes

Author:: Noel Kansiime and Geoffrey Harris
Publication Date:: 06-2020
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: Since the discovery of oil in Bunyoro sub-region, land-related conflicts have grown rapidly. Traditional conflict resolution capacities, which were already in a state of disrepair, have been side-lined and the court system has been overwhelmed. Given this context, the objective of this research was to enhance the capacity of local peacebuilders to help resolve land conflicts in their communities. The research was based on an action research approach which involved three phases – exploring the issue, planning and implementing an intervention and evaluating the short-term outcomes. In the exploration phase, data was collected using focus group discussions with community members and in-depth interviews with key informants. In the intervention phase, an action team was formed to help resolve land- related conflicts in their communities, using traditional conflict resolution approaches. The short-term outcomes show that local peacebuilding capacities were enhanced and that many land-related conflicts were resolved using traditional conflict resolution approaches.
Topic:: Oil, Natural Resources, Conflict, Land, and Community
Political Geography:: Uganda and Africa

35. The role of Politics in Attempts to Resolve the Manya-Yilo Conflict in Ghana

Author:: John Narh
Publication Date:: 06-2020
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: Conflict over a natural resource deposit is commonplace in many resource-rich African countries. Such is the case at Odugblase in the Eastern Region of Ghana where the Manya Krobo and the Yilo Krobo traditional councils are in a protracted conflict pertaining to their claims of sovereignty over land-sites where limestone is mined – each vying for a greater portion of the mineral royalties set aside for local authorities. This article studies the attempts by the government and the mining company (Ghana Cement Limited) to resolve the Manya-Yilo conflict, in order to understand why none of them was successful. This study finds that the government’s committee of enquiry to resolve the Manya-Yilo conflict was unsuccessful as the investigation process did not adequately involve the traditional councils and there is no political will to enforce the recommendation of the committee. Similarly, a mediation attempt by Ghana Cement Limited was unsuccessful due to the limited involvement of the opponents. The complex political structure, the inadequate regulations for distributing mineral royalties, and weak municipal assemblies are major factors protracting the Manya-Yilo conflict. The traditional councils need to negotiate with each other so that they and their respective municipal assemblies receive the limestone royalties and use the funds to develop the mining community.
Topic:: Politics, Natural Resources, Conflict, and Mediation
Political Geography:: Africa and Ghana

36. Students’ Union–Management Relations and Conflict Resolution Mechanisms in Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria

Author:: Odunayo Ogunbodede, Harrison Adewale Idowu, and Temitayo Isaac Odeyemi
Publication Date:: 06-2020
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: Conflict is inevitable in any human relationship. The situation is the same in the university system where several groups with diverse interests exist. While scholarly attention has focused on conflict and conflict resolution in the larger human society, less attention has been directed towards conflict and its resolution between and among various groups within a university. This article empirically examines the relations between the Students’ Union (the body representing the students) and the management of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), and the conflict resolution mechanisms available to the groups. The article adopts secondary and primary data sourced from semi-structured interviews, and analyses the data using descriptive and content analysis methods. Findings show that the relations between the Students’ Union and the management of OAU are mixed, largely depending on the strategies adopted by the union leaders and the university administrators; that conflicts are mostly triggered by issues bordering on students’ welfare; and that mechanisms such as mediation, negotiation, and consultation are some of the conflict resolution mechanisms between OAU students and management. The article concludes that the central issue between the Students’ Union and management of OAU is student welfare, and that to avert future conflicts, student welfare must be management’s priority at all times.
Topic:: Conflict Resolution, Education, Labor Issues, Conflict, and Higher Education
Political Geography:: Africa and Nigeria

37. What works?

Author:: Jude Cocodia
Publication Date:: 06-2020
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: The African Union (AU) has achieved much in conflict management through its ad hoc approach to peacekeeping. Rather than contend on how to make this approach more effective, African conflict scholars and bureaucrats are now favouring and focusing on the African Standby Force (ASF) and the African Capacity for Immediate Response to Conflict (ACIRC). The debates often laud these mechanisms as necessary for effective peacekeeping in Africa without assessing if they can really get the job done. This paper queries the competency of these mechanisms in achieving stability in conflict areas and asks if they can really be more effective than the ad hoc approach? This article contends that emphasis should rather be on improving the ad hoc approach than on the operationalisation of the two new mechanisms. This paper argues that the ad hoc approach has had major successes. The newly established mechanisms, though yet to be tested, will be ineffective in keeping the peace due to their major structural defects.
Topic:: International Cooperation, Conflict, Peace, and African Union
Political Geography:: Africa

38. Communal Conflict, Communal Peacemaking and Governmental Intervention in Nigeria

Author:: Kazeem Oyedele Lamidi
Publication Date:: 12-2019
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: This article presents a contextual discourse on the communal conflict in Nigeria, using the Ife-Modakeke crisis as a case study. It conceptualises the key terms to understand the dynamics of communal conflict and its peacemaking processes vis-à-vis government as an institutional mediator. It reviews existing studies on communal conflict resolution and empirical underlying assumptions. It argues that peacemaking processes demand serious attention of government in a non-partisan mediation perspective. It x-rays the possible roles of government in peacemaking processes as well as its commitment problems. In concretising government efficacy, adaptable peacemaking principles are discussed for communal conflict resolution within the sociopolitical space of Nigeria and beyond. The paper concludes that governments can play a significant role in communal peacemaking, and recommends a few valuable principles
Topic:: Governance, Humanitarian Intervention, Conflict, Peace, and Community
Political Geography:: Africa and Nigeria

39. Regional security cooperation in Africa: An evaluation of the Regional Cooperation Initiative for the Elimination of the Lord’s Resistance Army

Author:: Andrea Prah
Publication Date:: 12-2019
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: This article provides an analysis of less traditional forms of regional security cooperation in Africa through the case study of the Regional Cooperation Initiative for the Elimination of the Lord’s Resistance Army (RCI-LRA) in Central Africa. It explores the progress and shortcomings of this task force. It argues that although its successes were limited by its militarised mandate and approach, the operation has been largely effective in downgrading the threat status of the Lord’s Resistance Army. This example of regional cooperation offers important lessons for other arrangements which deal with similar threats. This type of response represents an emerging trend in security cooperation in Africa and it is clear that task forces of this structure are becoming more frequent in dealing with transnational violence as opposed to more traditional cooperative arrangements organised through the African Union’s African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA).
Topic:: Security, International Cooperation, Regional Cooperation, and African Union
Political Geography:: Africa

40. The Entanglement between Peacekeeping and Counterterrorism

Author:: Theo Neethling
Publication Date:: 12-2019
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: A growing emphasis on stabilisation and counterterrorism in international peacekeeping operations has increasingly become apparent. In Africa, the phenomenon of terrorism has become of special importance in contemporary peacekeeping activities and has significantly influenced the nature and profile of peacekeeping operations on the continent. Bloodshed, death, displacement and destruction caused by terrorism and violent extremism are increasingly posing challenges to peacekeepers in African conflict theatres. In view of this, this article analyses the tasks and contours of two of the most important peacekeeping operations on the African continent, namely those in Mali and Somalia. These operations could be considered laboratories for further exploration and innovation in the African peacekeeping landscape. At the same time, any scholarly discussion on contemporary peacekeeping and counterterrorism would be incomplete without reflections on scholars and analysts who consider an increasing entanglement between peacekeeping and counterterrorism as highly problematic. In this regard, the discussion touches on some of the fundamental questions that have started to surface on the future of United Nations and (to some extent) African Union peacekeeping operations.
Topic:: International Cooperation, Terrorism, Counter-terrorism, Peace, and African Union
Political Geography:: Africa, Somalia, and Mali

41. A Case for Theory Building in Peace and Conflict Sensitivity

Author:: Demola Akinyoade
Publication Date:: 12-2019
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: For about a decade, numerous activities involving practitioners, policy-makers, researchers, and scholars in peace and conflict sensitivity (PCS) have led to an appreciable volume of scientific knowledge on the nature, dynamics and the implications of the interactions of interventions and their contexts. Thus, there is a relatively high level of development in the practice of PCS, but the level of development of theory for PCS is significantly low. This paper argues that the building blocks for developing theories of PCS abound. But disincentives also abound, and these may be found in the conditions that informed the emergence of the field, the inherited orientation and normative commitment of PCS, stakeholders’ justifiable preference for practice, and the epistemological contention between and among social science methodologies. Despite these encumbrances, there is a need to bridge the gap between theory and practice. This will require a concerted effort, employing both qualitative and quantitative methodologies, to construct and build context-specific and generalisable theories in PCS.
Topic:: Development, Conflict, and Peace
Political Geography:: Africa

42. Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria

Author:: Aduku A. Akubo and Benjamin Ikani Okolo
Publication Date:: 12-2019
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: This study attempts to draw attention to the Boko Haram insurgency and its implications for national security in Nigeria. Using a historical method of research and content analysis, it adopts a descriptive and exploratory approach. It shows how the Boko Haram insurgency has resulted in a dire humanitarian situation evident from the human casualties, human rights abuses, population displacement and refugee debacle, livelihood crisis, and public insecurity – which portend negatively for the maintenance of national security in Nigeria. The study discusses how the counter-terrorism in northeast Nigeria appears to have caused more harm than good and how the terrorist conflict is far from reaching a stalemate ripe for resolution. It is recommended that the Nigerian government should refocus its efforts on a people-centric, community-based and intelligence-driven, whole-of-government approach to better police its borders, improve the capacity of the security forces, enhance interagency cooperation and improve cooperation in the sub-region. The Government should empower the local communities to reach out to the perpetrators of the insurgency with a message of peace and reconciliation. A shift to a restorative and community justice approach may be a pointer to a lasting solution.
Topic:: Security, Terrorism, Violent Extremism, Boko Haram, and Community
Political Geography:: Africa and Nigeria

43. State Fragility and Conflict Nexus

Author:: Yonas Adeto
Publication Date:: 07-2019
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: Although research on natural resource and ethnic identity-based conflict abounds, studies which critically examine how the state fragility–conflict nexus shapes the contemporary security of the Horn of Africa are rather limited. Qualitatively designed, this study attempts to explore and explain security implications of such a nexus. Analysis of the regional security complex (RSC) and empirical data from the field reveal that conflict dynamics feed and fuel state fragility in the Horn of Africa sub-region. The presence of extra-regional security actors, who are competing for military bases along the coast of Djibouti, the spill-over effects of violence in Yemen, and the Iran–Saudi power rivalry, together with incompetent regional political leadership, tend to shape the security of the Horn. Hence, a new and innovative approach to contemporary security and political commitment are sine qua non since the existing institutions and policies are not fully capable of coping with the need for a new security regionalism. It is hoped that the recent rapprochement between Eritrea and Ethiopia, albeit at an embryonic stage, is and will be a positive force capable of bringing about a paradigm shift in security structure, and inducing a viable and sustainable economic, political and security community in the Horn of Africa.
Topic:: Security, Regional Cooperation, Fragile States, and Conflict
Political Geography:: Africa

44. Boko Haram insurgency and the necessity for Trans-Territorial Forestland Governance in the Lower Lake Chad Basin

Author:: Al-Chukwuma Okoli
Publication Date:: 07-2019
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: The significance of forests as an existential threat to national security in Nigeria has been underscored in the phenomenon of Boko Haram insurgency. The occupation and apparent ‘weaponisation’ of Sambisa and the adjoining forests by Boko Haram insurgents have continued to pose an enervating tactical challenge that complicates the ongoing counter-insurgency efforts in northeast Nigeria. The instrumentalisation of forests as an operational and defensive stronghold by the insurgents in the lower Lake Chad Basin has been enabled by the existence of large expanses of dispersed, uninhabited and un-policed forested spheres in the area. This study examines the imperative for transnational forestland governance in the lower Lake Chad Basin, in the light of a continual incidence of Boko Haram insurgency in that context. Drawing discursively from the ‘ungoverned spaces’ (territorial ungovernability) hypothesis, the study posits that the prevailing vacuum of effective forestland governance in the region must be filled in order to mitigate the security challenge. To that end, the study prescribes a strategic trans-territorial forestland governance regime whereby Nigeria and Cameroon synergise efforts in bringing about effective reclamation and occupation of the volatile forested landscapes.
Topic:: International Cooperation, Terrorism, Insurgency, Governance, Violent Extremism, and Boko Haram
Political Geography:: Africa

45. Linking Governance and Xenophobic Violence in Contemporary South Africa

Author:: Jean Pierre Misago
Publication Date:: 07-2019
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: By demonstrating that local governance facilitates the occurrence of xenophobic violence by providing what I term favourable micro-political opportunity structures, the article argues that governance is a key determinant of xenophobic violence in South Africa and of collective violence generally. Research evidence (from extensive comparative empirical data and the global literature) informing this argument sits incongruently with the common and widely accepted understanding of governance and its relationship with collective violence. It shows that some aspects of this relationship are misunderstood and others are yet to be examined. Indeed, theoretical predictions in this regard indicate that collective violence and other forms of contentious collective action tend to occur in societies where mechanisms of social control have lost their restraining power. This article challenges these predictions by illustrating that, in most cases, xenophobic violence occurs in areas where social controls are strong and actually a facilitating factor. Further, the article indicates that the biggest misunderstanding of the relationship between governance and collective violence lies in interconnections yet to be examined. Such an examination would reveal the predominant role of governance, not only as a determinant, but particularly because of the significant role it plays in the making of violence co-determinants.
Topic:: Civil Society, Governance, Discrimination, Violence, and Xenophobia
Political Geography:: Africa and South Africa

46. The Challenges of Power-Sharing and Transitional Justice in Post-Civil War African countries

Author:: Sadiki Koko
Publication Date:: 07-2019
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: This article uses the cases of Burundi, Mozambique and Sierra Leone to analyse transitional justice processes in African societies where power-sharing was used as a key tool to end very protracted and violent civil wars. It is argued that, by affording warring parties a prominent role in the post-settlement political environment, power-sharing inadvertently impeded the pursuit of both restorative and criminal justice in all three countries. As an instance of ‘warriors’ justice’, power-sharing was used by such actors as an opportunity to avoid facing retributive justice. Indeed, due to the central position they held within the power-sharing dispensations, former warriors emphasised amnesty while paying lip service to reparations for victims. In all three countries, the decision to revert to the international judicial system or not was mainly motivated by political calculations rather than any genuine concern for justice. However, notwithstanding the shortcomings above, the consensus brought about by the power-sharing dispensations enabled the three countries to effect meaningful institutional reforms, albeit with limited and different levels of success.
Topic:: Civil War, Diplomacy, Political Power Sharing, and Transitional Justice
Political Geography:: Africa, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, and Burundi

47. Pervasive Intra-Party Conflicts in a Democratising Nigeria

Author:: Adeniyi S. Basiru
Publication Date:: 07-2019
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: Intra-party conflicts of all shapes and complexions have been part and parcel of Nigeria’s democratic journey. However, in recent times, they have become much more pervasive and even assumed crisis dimensions, with negative implications for democratic stability and consolidation. Drawing from the literature and interpreting the evidence, this article examines the terrain, implications and drivers of intra-party conflicts in a democratising Nigeria with a view to recommending options for resolution. It proceeds from the premise that pervasive intra-party conflicts, which have now assumed crisis dimensions, are not given, but have been nurtured by certain structural factors which have shaped the contours of politics in Nigeria. Specifically, it argues that the crises are closely connected with the neo-patrimonial character of the Nigerian petro state, the nature of politics being played by the political actors, praetorian hangover, and the paucity of democrats who genuinely have democratic temperaments to play the game of democratic politics according to established rules. It calls for, among others, the reform and strengthening of the internal conflict management capacities of political parties in Nigeria.
Topic:: Elections, Democracy, Conflict, and Political Parties
Political Geography:: Africa and Nigeria

48. Celebrating the Centenary of Nelson Mandela’s Birth and his Nationalist Humanist Vision

Author:: Ndlovu-Gatshenim Sabelo J. and Busani Ngcaweni
Publication Date:: 12-2018
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, charismatic and iconic, is a product of his time and can only be understood within the context of the social movements that he belonged to and led. Thus, this article locates Mandela within the local and global context in which he emerged while at the same time making sense of his instrumental interventions and nationalist humanist vision of life, peace and justice. This article situates Mandela’s political life within the broader context of the third humanist revolution, which was a response to the inimical processes of racism, enslavement and colonisation. In its centenary celebration of Mandela, the article re-articulates how he embodied alternative politics founded on the will to live as opposed to the will to power; the paradigm of peace as opposed to the paradigm of war; political justice as opposed to criminal justice; as well as pluriversality as opposed to tragic notions of racial separate development known as apartheid. What is fleshed out is a ‘Mandela phenomenon’ as founded on strong progressive politics albeit predicated on the unstable idea of the potential of advocates and victims of apartheid undergoing a radical metamorphosis amenable to the birth of a new pluriversal society.
Topic:: Nationalism, Leadership, Peace, and Justice
Political Geography:: Africa and South Africa

49. Memorialisation as an Often Neglected Aspect in the Consolidation of Transitional Justice

Author:: Shirambere Philippe Tunamsifu
Publication Date:: 12-2018
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: For more than five decades after the Independence Day (1960–2018), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has continued to witness large-scale violations of human rights and serious violations of international humanitarian law. Trying to deal with past abuses, the country twice experienced a process of transitional justice, in 1992 and in 2004, as the result of the Conférence Nationale Souveraine and the Inter-Congolese Dialogue, respectively. Both of these processes failed to achieve the desired result, and neither adopted any memorialisation process that honours the memory of victims. In October 2013, however, delegates to the Concertation Nationale recommended the government to build monuments in memory of victims of the different armed conflicts. Unfortunately, five years later the government has not yet done anything to implement that recommendation. Based on the interrogation of stakeholders, this paper offers strategies on how to honour the memory of victims of the various armed conflicts in the DRC – in order to consolidate the degree of transitional justice that had been attained. To collect data, 32 key informants were interviewed and two focus group discussions were held in areas affected by armed conflicts. Findings included the recommendation that the State should apologise publicly for its failure to protect the civilian population. Thereafter, a commemorative day should be adopted to bring together victims and alleged perpetrators, and official monuments and memorials should be built in the most affected areas. Uncostly monuments, and aptly named schools, hospitals and public markets in memory of abuses should be built as symbolic collective reparation.
Topic:: Transitional Justice, Memory, Reparations, and Symbolism
Political Geography:: Africa and Democratic Republic of the Congo

50. South Sudan Conflict from 2013 to 2018

Author:: Israel Nyaburi Nyadera
Publication Date:: 12-2018
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: With the South Sudanese conflict in its fifth year in 2018, this paper seeks to not only examine the status of the civil war that has engulfed the youngest nation on earth but to also discuss the evolving narratives of its causes and provide policy recommendation to actors involved in the peace process. Having examined the continuously failing peace treaties between the warring parties, it is evident that the agreements have failed to unearth and provide solutions to the crisis and a new approach to examining the causes and solutions to the problem is therefore necessary. This paper argues that ethnic animosities and rivalry are a key underlying cause that has transformed political rivalry into a deadly ethnic dispute through vicious mobilisation and rhetoric. Therefore, it recommends a comprehensive peace approach that will address the political aspects of the conflict and propose restructuring South Sudan’s administrative, economic and social spheres in order to curb further manipulation of the ethnic differences.
Topic:: Civil War, Ethnicity, Discrimination, and Conflict
Political Geography:: Africa and South Sudan

51. The Proposed Hybrid Court for South Sudan

Author:: Owiso Owiso
Publication Date:: 12-2018
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: The 2015 Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan provides quite ambitiously and laudably for the creation of the Hybrid Court for South Sudan under the auspices of the African Union. The article is an extract from the author’s 2016 LL.M. dissertation submitted to the University of Pretoria. It critically examines the salient features of the proposed court with the aim of testing the court’s ability to effectively address historical grievances and injustices in South Sudan. In so doing, the article draws lessons from similar mechanisms in Africa and beyond. It also interrogates the role of the African Union and South Sudan in operationalising this court. It reveals strengths as well as weaknesses in the proposed design of the court as well as in the ability of the African Union and South Sudan to fulfil their obligations. Despite these weaknesses, the article argues that by harnessing the strengths identified and learning from lessons from across the continent, the African Union (AU) and South Sudan can overcome the anticipated challenges and operationalise a hybrid court which will effectively deliver sustainable justice to the victims of international crimes committed during the South Sudan civil war.
Topic:: Human Rights, International Cooperation, Transitional Justice, and African Union
Political Geography:: Africa and South Sudan

52. Community Resilience and Social Capital in the Reconstruction and Recovery Process for Post-Election Violence Victims in Kenya

Author:: Julius Kinyeki
Publication Date:: 12-2018
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: This study addresses three questions: how Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) following the post-election violence of 2007/2008 in Kenya are recreating their community resilience capacities; how the Kenyan government and non-state interventions are influencing the victims’ livelihood strategies towards their reconstruction and recovery process and how social support and social capital have accelerated their reconstruction and recovery process. The study adopted qualitative research methodology, and primary data were collected since January 2015, continuously and concurrently with data analysis. The key finding was that ownership of land is identified and perceived as a milestone in the process of post-conflict reconstruction and recovery, and as an avenue for community resilience. The study found that after the rather short-term programmes of the Kenyan government, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Non-governmental Organisations (NGOs), the main means of livelihood for IDPs still is casual labour and other menial jobs. However, many IDPs, especially those who were not placed in camps or resettled on farms, but integrated with host communities, developed new emergent norms to support each other. The key recommendations are that government should evaluate the economic loss of every integrated IDP, and that those resettled in government procured farms should be provided with legal ownership documents. There should be an urgent re-profiling of IDPs in camps and a definite commitment to follow the United Nations’ Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement (Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2004). The findings of this study bring to light new knowledge on the theory of social capital. It shows how victims of displacement develop new emergent norms, values and culture to support each other, which eventually creates a new society/community.
Topic:: Reconstruction, Violence, Recovery, Social Capital, and Community
Political Geography:: Kenya and Africa

53. Conflict Implications of Coal Mining and Environmental Pollution in South Africa

Author:: Adejoke Christianah Olufemi
Publication Date:: 07-2018
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: Globally, mining and combustion of fossil fuels, especially coal, have resulted in various environmental problems. The adverse effects of these industries on human health, agriculture and the general ecosystem, and how they could result in conflict, have been widely reported. Firstly, this study examines the current state of environmental pollution at a few places in South Africa, and how it could possibly result in environmental conflict between the affected communities and the polluting industries. Secondly, using Nigeria as a case study, it suggests pre-emptive measures that can be taken to forestall such conflict. The issues raised in this study are supported by findings from previous studies conducted at Emalahleni, in the Mpumalanga Province of South Africa. This study used a mixed-methods approach involving interviews with relevant stakeholders and scientific analysis to prove the levels of pollution in the Emalahleni area. The levels of certain air pollutants which are commonly linked with coal combustion and mining activities were assessed at five different schools around mines. Based on these scientific and qualitative results and other issues raised in this study, a number of recommendations are made. It was found that air pollution is a problem which cannot be ignored and immediate action should be taken to avoid future problems.
Topic:: Climate Change, Environment, Health, Conflict, and Pollution
Political Geography:: Africa, South Africa, and Nigeria

54. Power-Sharing Consociationalism in Resolving South Sudan’s Ethno-Political Conflict in the Post-Comprehensive Peace Agreement Era

Author:: Francis Onditi, Kizito Sabala, and Samson Wassara
Publication Date:: 07-2018
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: This article uses Arend Lijphart’s notion of ‘power-sharing consocia-tionalism’ to understand the mutually reinforcing conflict system and the barriers to resolving such conflicts in South Sudan. ‘Consociationalism’ has been affirmed as an ideal approach for resolving conflicts in ethnically divided societies, but in South Sudan, the formal institutions of power sharing have not delivered sustainable peace. Analysis in this article reveals that the implementation of the various ‘peace agreements’ and ‘deals’ deviated from classical ‘consociationalism’. Consequently limited attention was paid to inter-ethnic tensions and too much emphasis was placed on the mechanics of power sharing among the executive and military institutions, leading to the proliferation of ‘organised political movements’. Rather than focusing on the mechanics of power sharing, a viable consociational model for South Sudan should concentrate on how such multifaceted layers of issues can be accommodated within a single settlement. Therefore, the South Sudan conflict system requires a stronger reconceptualisation of issues. Hence we have coined the term ‘tragedy of ethnic diversity’, not as a replacement of the well-known concept of ‘resource curse’, but as new thinking that might shape future research and scholarship in the increasingly complex South Sudan conflict system.
Topic:: Political Power Sharing, Ethnicity, Discrimination, Conflict, and Peace
Political Geography:: Africa and South Sudan

55. Towards Justice and Reconciliation in Post-Conflict Countries

Author:: Charles Mulinda Kabwete
Publication Date:: 07-2018
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: This article contributes to the debates around concepts of truth, confession, forgiveness and reconciliation. The theoretical discussion shows to what extent these concepts are interconnected, and share a complex relation with justice and reconciliation. It argues that the knowledge about past violence is hardly a canonical truth. It is at best a negotiated truth. This knowledge is inevitably a combination of facts and interpretations. This knowledge is sought and used for understanding past violence but also for paving a way towards the reconstruction of post-conflict societies. The article argues that confession offers a twofold opportunity: it produces knowledge of past violence, and acknowledgement of victims’ pain through perpetrators’ expression of remorse, although in a limited manner. Forgiveness is also discussed in relation to its essential meaning, the actors involved, and its purposes. Finally, reconciliation is built on two pillars, firstly, the proclamation of a seemingly achieved reconciliation; and secondly, the experiencing of reconciliation in everyday interaction between perpetrators and victims.
Topic:: Conflict, Justice, Reconciliation, and Truth
Political Geography:: Africa

56. Linkages between Political Parties and Political Violence

Author:: John Rabuogi Ahere
Publication Date:: 07-2018
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: Political struggles and competitions are conflictual by their very nature, and if not well managed can lead to violence. As political parties are crucial actors in political processes, it is vital to understand the roles they play in escalating or de-escalating political violence. This paper provides an analysis of political parties in Kenya and South Africa, focusing on their linkages to political violence. It concludes that political parties are indispensable actors in peacebuilding. The design and implementation of peacebuilding interventions that effectively target political violence must therefore anticipate the involvement of political parties. This applies to both case study countries, but most probably to other countries as well.
Topic:: Security, Political Violence, Peace, and Political Parties
Political Geography:: Kenya, Africa, and South Africa

57. The International Criminal Court and the African Union

Author:: Westen K. Shilaho
Publication Date:: 07-2018
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: There is a diplomatic impasse between the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the African Union (AU) regarding accountability for mass atrocities committed in Africa. The AU accuses the ICC of bias against African rulers, in effect, ‘Africans’, while the ICC insists that as a permanent legal institution, it affords justice to all victims of egregious crimes such as war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. And so Africans, victims of these crimes, deserve justice too. Since the indictment of the Sudanese president, Omar al-Bashir, twice for crimes against humanity and then for genocide, the ICC has elicited antipathy from some African rulers and their supporters who perceive it as an adjunct of imperialism encroaching on Africa’s sovereignty. However, sovereignty entails responsibility to protect (R2P). The AU Constitutive Act of 2000 affirms this under the non-indifference principle. It is therefore counter-intuitive to accede to international norms and concurrently invoke ‘absolute sovereignty’ as some African rulers attempt to do. Africa’s conflicts are characterised by mass atrocities owing to weak states that are unable and often unwilling to protect citizens and dispense justice. In some cases these states are themselves perpetrators of heinous crimes, which necessitates intervention by the international community. Historically, realpolitik, self-preservation and geopolitics have marred international criminal justice, and Africa’s relationship with the West is steeped in humiliation making some African rulers suspicious of Western-dominated institutions. The perception that the ICC dispenses lopsided justice stems from this history. This paper argues that the choice between justice and peace is a false one since the two mutually reinforce each other, while impunity, if not checked, portends instability in Africa.
Topic:: International Cooperation, United Nations, Justice, International Criminal Court (ICC), and African Union
Political Geography:: Africa

58. The Ethnification of Electoral Conflicts in Kenya

Author:: Muema Wambua
Publication Date:: 12-2017
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: Kenya has since the re-introduction of multiparty politics in 1991 experienced periodic electoral conflicts. In the analysis of these conflicts, however, there is an evolving tendency to perceive their causes as merely, or mainly, manifestations of negative ethnicity. In other words, there is the tendency on the part of the state, and non-state actors, to deliberately ‘ethnify’ extra-ethnic conflicts in the country in a phenomenon herein conceptualised as ethnification. The ethnification of extra-ethnic conflicts has caused the country to continually drift into an electoral-conflict trap. The failure to address substantive extra-ethnic factors which have historical, structural, institutional, legal, and cultural standpoints has constrained the pursuit of positive peace in the country. This paper, therefore, examines the evolving tendency to treat extra-ethnic electoral conflicts from the ethnic-identity premise. The centrality of underlying causes and rationales of electoral conflict that are extra-ethnic is highlighted, and a way forward for the pursuit of positive peace in the country is recommended.
Topic:: Elections, Democracy, Ethnicity, and Peace
Political Geography:: Kenya and Africa

59. Ethnic Federalism and Conflict in Ethiopia

Author:: Bekalu Atnafu Taye
Publication Date:: 12-2017
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: The current regime in Ethiopia adopted ethnic federalism and redesigned the country along ethnic lines as soon as it took political power in 1991. The aim of this article is to examine the prevalence of ethnic conflict in Ethiopia and to evaluate the potential causes of the conflicts that followed in the past twenty-five years. There are competing claims, for and against federalism. And though it may be accurate to state that the founding principles of federalism have few ideological shortcomings, it may be that technicality issues (types and forms) may hamper the imposed federal system in Ethiopian. Thus, ethnic conflicts prevailing in Ethiopia may be caused by such technicality problems and the ethnic federal arrangement in Ethiopia needs an urgent reconsideration before the case moves to the worst scenario.
Topic:: Ethnic Government, Governance, Ethnicity, Conflict, and Federalism
Political Geography:: Africa and Ethiopia

60. Blurring ‘the Other’

Author:: Philip Ademola Olayoku
Publication Date:: 12-2017
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: Nigeria, as a multi-ethnic state, has been rife with perennial conflicts resulting from struggles for territorial dominance, administrative and political legitimacy and resource control. This study thus explores the relational contexts of these conflicts, which are often subtended by contours of ethno-religious differences as was the case between the Hausa and Atyap in the Zangon Kataf Community of Kaduna State, Nigeria. The study details the historical context of manipulation of these differences by state actors in asserting and changing the dynamics of political legitimacy and control. The latter part of the paper describes qualitative research supporting earlier assertions. It employs a qualitative methodology with the use of key informant interviews and personal observation involving major stakeholders within a three year period between 2011 and 2014. It subsequently contends that the restoration of peace in the community was dependent on the transformation of relations between hitherto belligerent parties through the adoption of the joint-problem-solving approach and a mediating 14-member reconciliation committee, which created a blueprint for political inclusion. It thus recommends an all-inclusive stakeholder approach in the transformation of relations for the management of resurging ethno-religious conflicts in the region.
Topic:: Religion, Governance, Ethnicity, and Conflict
Political Geography:: Africa and Nigeria

61. Experimenting with a Reconciliation Pedagogy in South African Primary School History Classrooms

Author:: Reville Nussey
Publication Date:: 12-2017
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: n the South African context, the need for peacebuilding is sometimes not acknowledged in a post-conflict society, although there are ongoing everyday examples within the educational sphere that challenge this assumption. A way of addressing the need for peacebuilding in education is via a reconciliation pedagogy, which uses oral history tasks and cooperative learning in the history curriculum. By drawing on the similarities and differences between a reconciliation pedagogy, and reconciliation as articulated by the ‘4R’ framework for peacebuilding, this article shows that there are constraints and possibilities inherent in this process at school level. The main argument is that there are a number of practical constraints within and beyond the classroom which hinder peacebuilding in practice. Using a method of narrative inquiry, this article focuses on the results of the research conducted by a history teacher educator who observed and interviewed eight teachers in history primary school classrooms in Johannesburg. While some of the successes of using a reconciliation pedagogy show that it has the potential to facilitate peacebuilding from the ‘bottom up’, teachers’ intentions and how they implement a reconciliation pedagogy affect whether or not sustainable peacebuilding is possible in the classroom.
Topic:: Education, History, Pedagogy, Reconciliation, and Teaching
Political Geography:: Africa and South Africa

62. The Quest for Happiness as an Underlying Motive for Violent Conflict in Africa

Author:: Mark Chingono
Publication Date:: 12-2017
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: Violent conflicts continue to be a major feature of much of Africa’s political landscape. Not only are Africa’s conflicts increasing, but they are also interpreted and theorised in varied ways, with irreducible discrepancies. In the dominant literature, ethnicity, religion, resources, territory, poor governance, and the struggle for power, among others, have been identified as the major causes of violent conflict on the continent. This paper, a broad brush that raises more questions than answers, argues that, underlying these apparent causes of violent conflict is the undying desire for happiness. It concludes by paraphrasing Von Clausewitz’s dictum that war in Africa is a pursuit of happiness by other means and, therefore, to prevent it, policy should promote popular happiness.
Topic:: Governance, Democracy, Ethnicity, Conflict, and Identity
Political Geography:: Africa

63. Japan’s international peace operations in South Sudan

Author:: Daisuke Akimoto
Publication Date:: 12-2017
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: After the independence of South Sudan from Sudan on 9 July 2011, the Japanese government decided to dispatch its Self-Defence Forces (SDF) to South Sudan under the auspices of the United Nations Mission in the Republic of South Sudan (UNMISS). Despite the post-conflict military clashes in South Sudan, the Japanese government did not withdraw the SDF, but instead, the Abe administration assigned a new mission, the so-called ‘kaketsuke-keigo’ (‘rush and rescue’), to rescue staff of international organisations and non-governmental organisations (NGO) in preparation for possible armed attacks during peacekeeping operations. The new mission can be regarded as Prime Minister Abe’s ‘proactive contribution to peace’ (proactive pacifism) in action, and the policy is congruous with the purpose of ‘human security’ and ‘protection of civilians’. This paper aims to investigate Japan’s contribution to peacekeeping operations in South Sudan and examine associated dilemmas facing the United Nations, the Japanese government, and the Japanese peacekeepers in UNMISS – which need to be overcome for future international peace operations.
Topic:: Security, Humanitarian Aid, Military Strategy, and Peace
Political Geography:: Africa, Japan, Asia, and South Sudan

64. Towards Ending Conflict and Insecurity in the Niger Delta Region

Author:: Angela Ajodo-Adebanjoko
Publication Date:: 09-2017
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: Since independence in 1960, insecurity has been a feature of the Nigerian State as conflicts in different parts of the country have continued to make life insecure. In the Niger Delta, violence has been the bane of the region where conflicts have been occurring for over four decades. Beginning from the pre-colonial period, the region has witnessed a series of conflicts, which had their roots, initially in the protest against injustice, and in recent years in the quest for resource control. All efforts to resolve conflict in the region failed until 2009 when amnesty was declared by the Yar’adua/Jonathan administration and some form of uneasy peace prevailed. However, seven years down the line, there is renewed militancy in the region and effort is once again geared towards finding lasting peace. This article assesses the efforts made by the Federal Government of Nigeria to address conflicts in the region from the early 1960s to date. It is based on a literature study and on the author’s knowledge of the issues in the Niger Delta. Findings from the work show that the Federal Government’s approach to resolving conflict in the region has not been successful because it has not adequately addressed the issues that gave rise to the conflict, and because of its emphasis on the use of force. The article therefore recommends a Collective Non-violent Conflict Management approach – involving a group of negotiators, both international and local, an international mediator, as well as all the parties to the conflict – as the means for resolving conflict in the region. There is no doubt that a viable resource conflict strategy based on an alternative framework of multilateral cooperation is necessary for resolving and preventing a recurrence of future conflict in the Niger Delta region.
Topic:: Security, Military Strategy, Conflict, Peace, and Nonviolence
Political Geography:: Africa and Niger

65. ‘Vote not Fight’

Author:: Joseph Olusegun Adebayo
Publication Date:: 09-2017
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: African elections are unique in several respects; in ethno-religiously divided nations, elections are often decided on the basis of candidates’ ethnic or religious affiliations rather than political ideologies. In Nigeria for example, campaigns differ greatly from what is obtainable in other countries. For example, music plays a huge role in the outcome of elections in Nigeria. It also significantly determines whether or not the elections will be violent or non-violent. This is because music evokes emotions and connects with people in a personal and intimate way. This study critically examines the two-edged nature of music’s effect on society and offers some evidence to demonstrate that music can help in fostering peace in the society particularly as it concerns peaceful elections. Adopting an ethnographic research methodology, the article’s argument draws on examples from Ghana, Kenya and Nigeria, countries where the medium of music was fittingly utilised to promote peaceful non-violent elections.
Topic:: Culture, Elections, Conflict, Music, and Nonviolence
Political Geography:: Kenya, Africa, Nigeria, and Ghana

66. Withdrawal from the International Criminal Court

Author:: Michelle Nel and Vukile Ezrom Sibiya
Publication Date:: 09-2017
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: After a century in the making, the International Criminal Court (ICC) came into existence in 2002 with an overwhelming number of states ratifying the Rome Statute. With 34 signatories, Africa is the largest contributor in the Assembly of State Parties, yet Africa has become its severest critic. As threats of withdrawal become a reality with the imminent withdrawal of Burundi, this article considers the question of whether Africa has an alternative solution. With an African Union (AU) Constitutive Act purporting a commitment to combating impunity and promoting democracy, rule of law and good governance, one would expect the AU to be ready to pick up the reins. To end impunity and hold perpetrators accountable, finding an alternative for the lacuna left in the absence of the ICC has never been more pressing. The recent adoption of a strategy by African countries for a mass withdrawal has pushed the matter to the fore. This article discusses the feasibility of amnesty, domestic and local trials, or an African regional court as viable alternatives to ICC jurisdiction and prosecution. The creation of an African regional court in the guise of the African Court of Justice and Human Right (ACJHR) seems the preferred solution, enabled by the Malabo Protocol extending its jurisdiction to international and transnational crimes. Slow ratification does not bode well for the proposed ACJHR and its extended jurisdiction. Time is of the essence and whatever solution is found will necessitate decisive action by the AU.
Topic:: Human Rights, International Cooperation, Regional Cooperation, Transitional Justice, International Criminal Court (ICC), and African Union
Political Geography:: Africa

67. African Union Approaches to Peacebuilding

Author:: Siphamandla Zondi
Publication Date:: 09-2017
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: This article argues that the African Union (AU) approach to peacebuilding, out of Africa’s historical experience and lessons from the United Nations (UN), is comprehensive and holistic, but requires the existence of a legitimate government, a functional society and domestic parties for dialogue to begin. Without these conditions, the approach leads to extended peace enforcement rather than peacebuilding. Yet, whatever the conditions that prevail, peacebuilding in Africa has experienced limited success due to the failure to fundamentally transform the inherited post-colonial state, society and politics. The neo-colonial conditions helped to stall the achievement of lasting peace. The African experience with peacebuilding demonstrates a need for a more fundamental peace than is internationally the norm – a peace paradigm that hinges on the continued decolonisation of the African state and society in order to give rise to what may be called a decolonial peace.
Topic:: Diplomacy, International Cooperation, Peace, and African Union
Political Geography:: Africa

68. Indigenous institutions as an alternative conflict resolution mechanism in eastern Ethiopia: The case of the Ittu Oromo and Issa Somali clans

Author:: Zigale Tamir Tenaw
Publication Date:: 12-2016
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: The study was conducted in eastern Ethiopia where the Somali and Oromo ethnic groups live. The main purpose was to examine the roles and challenges of the indigenous conflict resolution mechanisms practised as an alternative to modern methods among the Ittu Oromo and Issa Somali clans. The study employed a qualitative research approach under which key informant interviews, focus group discussions, observations and informal discussions were conducted. Key informants and focus group discussants were selected purposively. It was found that territorial expansion, resource competition and cattle raiding were considered as the main causes of violent conflict in the area. Boundary disputes between the two regions have been associated not only with the accessibility of resources, but also with issues of identity. According to the participants, the indigenous institutions can play a major role in preventing and resolving intra-ethnic conflicts. There are cases of government support for indigenous institution leaders, especially where there is proximity between such leaders and the current political system. Government intervention in the indigenous systems can also result, however, in the weakening of customary institutions in the area. The absence of a single common binding indigenous institution that governs inter-ethnic conflict in the area is another challenge for indigenous systems of conflict resolution. Indigenous institutions can deal effectively with many conflicts caused by the above mentioned factors, but since they also have certain limitations, serious thought should be given to the option of appropriately integrating modern and indigenous institutions.
Topic:: Conflict Resolution, Natural Resources, Institutions, Indigenous, Strategic Competition, and Territory
Political Geography:: Africa and Ethiopia

69. Competing orders and conflicts at the margins of the State: Inter-group conflicts along the Ethiopia-Kenya border

Author:: Asebe Regassa Debelo
Publication Date:: 12-2016
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: In this paper, the interplay between various competing orders among three ethnic groups on the margins of the Ethiopian state that have overlapping presence along the Ethiopia-Kenya border is analysed. The paper probes into complex and intertwined causes of inter-group conflicts by going beyond the commonly asserted resource scarcity and ethnicity assumptions, arguing that any attempt to establish sustainable peace becomes futile without assessing inter-group conflict within a context including historical, environmental, political, economic, cultural and institutional dimensions. The paper also conceptualises the state as an active player in inter-group relations, as it plays a fundamental role in instigating and/or resolving conflicts based on its political, economic and strategic interests. Taking the case of inter-group conflicts among three groups inhabiting border areas along southern Ethiopia and northern Kenya, and by employing actor-oriented perspectives, the paper argues that the involvement of competing interests and claims on the side of the Ethiopian state, local communities and individuals, both in the instigation of conflicts and peacebuilding processes further complicates the situation. It concludes that inter-group conflict and attempts at peacebuilding in the region are to a large extent influenced by national political dynamics, changes in traditional institutions and cross-border relations.
Topic:: Conflict, Borders, State, and Peace
Political Geography:: Kenya, Africa, and Ethiopia

70. ‘There’s no thing as a whole story’: Storytelling and the healing of sexual violence survivors among women and girls in Acholiland, northern Uganda

Author:: Seun Bamidele
Publication Date:: 12-2016
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: Storytelling has become an acceptable intervention tool among transitional justice promoters and peace-builders because of its cathartic nature and ability to help society in transition to come to terms with a traumatic past. It has played a significant role in the area of truth finding and accountability and has been widely used in several countries in the last decade. In this article the focus is on Acholi women and girls in Acholiland, northern Uganda, who have suffered most severely from the impact of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) led by Joseph Kony. Their stories of trauma in the face of terror have not been properly acknowledged. This paper examines the role of storytelling in the healing of sexual violence survivors. It argues that constructive storytelling projects can provide an avenue for survivors of sexual violence to acknowledge trauma and attain healing, and counter the violent narrative of the group. Finally, the paper proposes a platform for a community initiative storytelling project.
Topic:: Women, Gender Based Violence, Trauma, Memory, and Sexual Violence
Political Geography:: Uganda and Africa

71. Efficacy of top-down approaches to post-conflict social coexistence and community building: Experiences from Zimbabwe

Author:: Manase Kudzai Chiweshe
Publication Date:: 12-2016
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: This paper provides an assessment of the work done by the Organ on National Healing, Reconciliation and Integration (ONHRI) in post-2008 Zimbabwe. ONHRI was employed by the Zimbabwean government (precisely as Government of National Unity) to ensure national healing and integration. The efficacy of top-down approaches to social cohesion in post-conflict contexts is questioned. The paper outlines how political expediency, mistrust and polarisation debilitated the work of ONHRI. There was little consultation done in creating ONHRI, especially with communities affected by political violence. Academics, civil society, smaller political parties and private entities were left out of the process of creating social cohesion mechanisms. For the Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF), the Organ was a concession on their part to the demands of the MDC and this led to problems in implementing its mandate. What transpired became a political cat and mouse game in which actors at the national level frustrated the process of uncovering the truth and the promotion of healing. ONHRI’s work has to be understood within a context of political competition in the Government of National Unity (GNU) in which self-interest overtook the mandate of the Organ. The paper therefore argues that Zimbabwe lost an opportunity to entrench grassroots social cohesion and healing processes.
Topic:: Conflict Resolution, Treaties and Agreements, Transitional Justice, Social Cohesion, and Community
Political Geography:: Africa and Zimbabwe

72. The role of civil society in conflict resolution in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 1998-2006

Author:: Sadiki Koko
Publication Date:: 08-2016
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: The second Congo war (1998-2003) was a very complex conflict that involved a vast array of actors, interests and issues. After a stalemate was reached on the battlefield with none of the warring parties able to achieve military victory, peace negotiations became the only viable option to end the war. Civil society organisations were directly involved in both the peace process and the subsequent transitional dispensation designed to resolve the conflict, providing some sort of popular legitimacy to these two processes clearly dominated by politico-military forces. The central argument of this article is that while civil society involvement in the peace and transitional processes was instrumental in resolving the conflict underpinning the second Congo war, it entrenched a legacy: the politicisation of the civil society movement as inaugurated in the early 1990s. Indeed, although ground-breaking, the direct involvement of civil society in the management of transitional institutions contributed to weakening its member organisations as many of their leaders were either directly recruited into existing political platforms or simply decided to establish their own political organisations and join active politics.
Topic:: Conflict Resolution, Civil Society, Civil War, History, and Conflict
Political Geography:: Africa and Democratic Republic of the Congo

73. Ethnic and religious crises in Nigeria: A specific analysis upon identities (1999-2013)

Author:: Haldun Çancı and Opeyemi Adedoyin Odukoya
Publication Date:: 08-2016
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: Today, Africa is laced with some of the most obstinate conflicts, most of them constructed from differences in religious and ethnic identities. Religious and ethnic nationalism has led to conflicts about control of state power, unequal allocation of resources, citizenship issues, state collapse, economic decline and ethno-religious clashes. Nigeria has been pushed hither and thither by recurrent crises of regional or state illegitimacy, often impairing efforts at economic transformation, democratisation, national cohesion and stability (Osaghae and Suberu 2005:4). With this continental background in mind, this research paper seeks to examine the relationship between religion, ethnicity and conflict in Nigeria, focusing mainly on issues in the North of the country. The question is: To what extent are conflicts emerging from ethnic or religious sources? This paper also looks at the notion of Identity and how it explains the crisis of development and complexities in modern Nigeria.
Topic:: Development, Religion, History, Ethnicity, and Identity
Political Geography:: Africa and Nigeria

74. The quest for Great Heart Leadership to activate and promote the ending of violent conflict in Africa

Author:: Andreas Velthuizen
Publication Date:: 08-2016
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: Inspired by the never-ending quest for the end of violence in some African communities, the author asks what kind of leadership is required to lead a community from violent conflict to peaceful coexistence. The aim of the article is to propose some principles for leadership in situations characterised by violent conflict. By departing from a conceptual framework to explain holistic leadership, conflict leadership and peace leadership, the author explains what Great Heart Leadership is, citing several examples to illustrate these concepts. The author argues that a leader with a ‘great heart’ is a leader who is able to apply analytical, intellectual, emotional and spiritual/normative leadership to activate peaceful change. This argument is applied to the challenge of leading people towards lasting peace in Africa, offering the specific case of a San community in South Africa to illustrate Great Heart Leadership.
Topic:: Leadership, Conflict, and Nelson Mandela
Political Geography:: Africa and South Africa

75. The civilianisation of ex-combatants of the Niger Delta

Author:: Hakeem Onapajo and Abdul-Wasi Babatunde Moshood
Publication Date:: 08-2016
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: The focus of research on the Niger Delta has shifted considerably from the large-scale violence affecting the region, to the effects of the post-amnesty era which followed the introduction of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) by the government in 2009. Unfortunately, the emergent literature on the amnesty topic has been pessimistic in its reductionist assessment of the whole programme as a mere ‘cash-for-peace’ or ‘settlement’ exercise which can only lead to a fragile peace in the Niger Delta. This paper, being a product of an in-depth investigation of the programme through direct observations and field interviews, presents a different perspective. The paper demonstrates the capacity of the amnesty programme to facilitate and sustain peace in the troubled Niger Delta, with specific focus on the reintegration aspect of the PAP. The paper shows that the reintegration programme has recorded some positive progress which has not been well captured in the literature. Indeed, these achievements are a clear sign of the potential of the PAP to bring about a lasting peace in the Niger Delta. Furthermore, the paper analyses the current challenges bedevilling the programme. Following the highlighted challenges, the paper offers recommendations on how the reintegration programme can be properly utilised to sustain peace in the Niger Delta.
Topic:: Conflict Resolution, Civilians, Amnesty, and Post-Conflict
Political Geography:: Africa and Niger

76. Transitional justice and democratisation nexus: Challenges of confronting legacies of past injustices and promoting reconciliation within weak institutions in Kenya

Author:: Ibrahim Magara
Publication Date:: 08-2016
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: Following the post-election violence (PEV) of 2007-8, which almost jettisoned the country into civil war, Kenya put in place a number of transitional justice mechanisms, such as truth telling, as a peacebuilding strategy. One of the major recommendations of Kenya’s Truth, Justice, and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC) is the creation of institutions and mechanisms for peacebuilding, reconciliation, and early warning with a view towards harmonising their activities and adopting a coordinated approach. This article explicates the centrality of democratic institutional reforms in the process of reconciliation, peacebuilding, and long-term stability. In tackling the notion of national reconciliation as a central pillar in post-conflict recovery and peacebuilding, this paper proposes that reconciliation happens within strong and properly functioning institutions of governance that are supportive of transitional justice mechanisms. Based on the transitional justice process in Kenya and building upon a view of reconciliation as a process, rather than an end, this paper argues that strengthening institutions that function within governance structures will go a long way towards placing Kenya on the path to reconciliation, national cohesion, and long term stability.
Topic:: Democratization, Transitional Justice, Institutions, Reconciliation, and Injustice
Political Geography:: Kenya and Africa

77. Social cohesion, sexuality, homophobia and women’s sport in South Africa

Author:: Cheryl Potgieter and Mari Engh
Publication Date:: 01-2016
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: In the post-Apartheid era sport has been consistently celebrated as an avenue for fostering social change, curing various social ills, and uniting South Africans across the divides of race, class, gender and geography. The argument for using sport to foster social cohesion in South Africa rests on two main assumptions: firstly, that direct participation in sport and physical activity promotes sustained communication, collaboration and understanding across social divides; and secondly, that the success of national teams and athletes promotes national pride and unity. In this article we raise the question of whether sport can indeed foster social cohesion in a context where women’s sports participation and symbolic embodiment of the nation give rise to regulatory schemas that enforce compulsory heterosexuality and mainstream constructs of ‘feminisation’. We explore these issues by drawing on media reports of cases in which South African elite women athletes have had their gender or sexual identities questioned, challenged or regulated according to heteronormative gender regimes. By so doing we argue that efforts to increase women’s sports participation or the promotion of women athletes as embodiments of the nation can contribute to facilitating social cohesion. To realise the potential of sport as a tool for building social cohesion, a conscious and dedicated effort must be made, we argue, to deal more directly with narrow heteronormative gender regimes and the homophobic attitudes and prejudices that these foster.
Topic:: Sports, Sexuality, Social Cohesion, and Homophobia
Political Geography:: Africa and South Africa

78. Student leadership and advocacy for social cohesion

Author:: McGlory Speckman
Publication Date:: 01-2016
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: This article utilises the insights of sociology and social psychology in defining social cohesion, outlining the ideal state and making a case for the role of student leadership in social cohesion. It draws from personal experience as former Dean of Students while it relies mostly, not entirely, on secondary sources in the disciplines of sociology and social psychology. The conclusion is that given the numbers behind them and the position of influence derived from student structures, student leadership is ideal for advocacy and activism.
Topic:: Leadership, Advocacy, Social Cohesion, Students, and Liminality
Political Geography:: Africa and South Africa

79. South Sudan’s December 2013 conflict: Bolting state-building fault lines with social capital

Author:: Robert Gerenge
Publication Date:: 01-2016
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: The December 2013 violent conflict in South Sudan, the world’s newest and most fragile state, has shown that a state-building trajectory that only emphasises formal institutional development is not viable. Like any state at its formative stage, formal institutions in South Sudan have demonstrated limited capacity to meet the high demands by citizens for ‘peace or post-secession’ dividends. The state’s limited capacity has further been eroded by political constructs claiming ethnic supremacy by both the Dinka and Nuer, the main parties to the December 2013 conflict. This article argues that the entitlement tied to post-secession dividends claims by the Dinka and Nuer has (re)produced a generally volatile social space for South Sudan by defining the mode of political settlement of the state, and undermining the generation of social capital for conflict management in the society. By constructing a nexus between state-building and social capital, this article shows that the state-building process in South Sudan requires the hybridity of formal and informal institutions. This helps in transforming the volatile social space created through the supremacy constructs of the Dinka and Nuer and high citizen demands placed on the fragile state.
Topic:: Fragile States, Ethnicity, Conflict, and State Building
Political Geography:: Africa and South Sudan

80. Towards Pentecopolitanism: New African Pentecostalism and social cohesion in South Africa

Author:: Chammah Kaunda
Publication Date:: 01-2016
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: This article evaluates the challenges that militate against the full engagement of New African Pentecostalism (NAP) in the process of social cohesion in South Africa. It argues that this new religious phenomenon in South Africa has been preoccupied with the promotion of internal social cohesion within its ecclesiastical boundaries to the neglect of national social cohesion. Employing the notion of ‘religious cosmopolitanism’ (Cahill 2003) as theoretical underpinning, the article proposes a new concept termed Pentecopolitanism, as an ethical frame for New African Pentecostal engagement in democratisation and social cohesion in South Africa. The notion of Pentecopolitanism is envisaged to function as an antidote against sectarianism and fundamentalism within NAP and a framework for its constructive engagement with pluralism in the current South African search for national social cohesion. Pentecopolitanism is a philosophy which arises out of the need for recognition of the social function of religion, so as to enable human beings to discover their humanity through the humanity of others.
Topic:: Religion, Christianity, Social Cohesion, and Pentecostalism
Political Geography:: Africa and South Africa

81. Towards a framework for resolving the justice and reconciliation question in Zimbabwe

Author:: Ndlovu-Gatshenim Sabelo J. and Everisto Benyera
Publication Date:: 12-2015
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: Zimbabwe has never had meaningful and comprehensive programmes to provide justice in the many issues that cascade from conflict and violence in the nation. What has been done, amounts to armistices rather than transitional justice mechanisms. Consequently, Zimbabwe has not seriously dealt with the primary sources of conflict and violence that date back to colonial times. The rhetoric of unity premised on amnesia has been privileged over effective practical healing and reconciliation mechanisms that address the root causes of recurrent human rights violations. Indemnities, amnesties and presidential pardons have been used to protect perpetrators of conflict and violence. This article attempts to explore key issues and challenges around the healing and reconciliation question by exposing the contending perspectives and issues provoked by the adoption of the new constitution in Zimbabwe and the setting up of the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission (NPRC). Theoretically, the article posits that the very logic that informs the construction of ‘the political’ (as a domain of political values and incubator of political practices), which privileges notions of ‘the will to power’ and the ‘paradigm of war’, makes conflict and violence to be accepted as normal. Practically, the article advances ideas of ‘survivor’s justice’ as opposed to the traditional ‘criminal justice’ that fragments a society emerging from a catalogue of conflicts and violence into simplistic ‘perpetrator’ and ‘victim’ binaries. Survivor’s justice privileges political reform as a long-lasting solution involving reconstitution of ‘the political’ itself.
Topic:: Conflict, Peace, Reconciliation, and Robert Mugabe
Political Geography:: Africa and Zimbabwe

82. The consequences of not healing: Evidence from the Gukurahundi violence in Zimbabwe

Author:: Dumisani Ngwenya and Geoffrey Harris
Publication Date:: 12-2015
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: Between 1983 and 1987, an estimated 20 000 people from Matabeleland and parts of Midlands Province in Zimbabwe were killed by government forces in an operation code-named Gukurahundi. Since that time no official apology, justice, reparations or any form of healing process has been offered by the government which was responsible for these atrocities. Many people still suffer trauma from the events of this time. This article reports part of a larger research project which investigated whether the survivors of Gukurahundi could heal themselves via participation over time in a group action research project directed at their healing. The present article focuses on the consequences of failing to heal, based on the experiences and attitudes of the participants. We found that to the extent that healing does not occur: trauma is passed on to the next generation, a strong desire for revenge is felt, and high levels of mistrust are maintained towards the ethnic group involved in the massacres.
Topic:: Conflict, Violence, and Revenge
Political Geography:: Africa and Zimbabwe

83. Getting the past right in West Africa and beyond: Challenging structures through addressing gender-based violence in mediation

Author:: Elisa Tarnaala
Publication Date:: 12-2015
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: Fifteen years after the launch of the UN’s landmark resolution 1325 on women, peace and security, its recommendations concerning women as civil society actors, and women as victims of conflicts, have become part of a largely accepted and standardised guide for the international community and in many states. Fewer advances have been made with involving politically skilled women in high-level negotiations and understanding the wider processes of conflict mediation – where the basis for peace is crafted at different levels of society. This article offers insights on which issues should be taken into account regarding gender-based violence during mediation and suggests how a conflict context can be analysed from a perspective of gender and women. It also explores the issues that have dominated the agenda of peacemaking in West Africa in particular and across the continent, in order to provide real-world examples of peace and transitional processes where lessons can be learnt about addressing or failing to address gender-based violence. A transformative and inclusive peace process that changes conceptions of the status quo, fights gender-based violence, and includes women in post-conflict planning could remove many risks from women’s agency in post-conflict peace and security. It could gradually reform structural factors that constrain women’s participation.
Topic:: Civil Society, United Nations, Women, Gender Based Violence, and UN Security Council
Political Geography:: Africa, Liberia, West Africa, and Côte d'Ivoire

84. The International Criminal Court and conflict transformation in Uganda: Views from the field

Author:: Linus Nnabuike Malu
Publication Date:: 12-2015
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: The International Criminal Court (ICC) commenced investigation of the armed conflict in Uganda in 2004. In 2005 it issued arrest warrants for five leaders of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). This article examines how the court’s involvement in the situation has impacted on conflict transformation in Uganda after ten years of judicial work. It also addresses the problem of assessing the impact of law on conflict through the use of an analytical framework that is based on four variables: deterrence, victims’ rights, reconciliation, and accountability to the law. Relying on this framework, and on a report of a field research project in Uganda, it argues that the ICC’s intervention has had multiple impacts on the situation in Uganda, and that despite some arguments to the contrary, the ICC does promote conflict transformation through deterrence, promotion of accountability to the law and promotion of victims’ rights.
Topic:: Religion, Non State Actors, Conflict, International Criminal Court (ICC), Post-Conflict, and Lord's Resistance Army
Political Geography:: Uganda and Africa

85. Women, war and peace in Mozambique: The case of Manica Province

Author:: Mark Chingono
Publication Date:: 03-2015
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: The Mozambican civil war, 1977–1992, left an ambiguous legacy for women. Whilst women were among the most vulnerable victims of the war, in some ways they were also its unintended beneficiaries. The civil war, by weakening both the state and the traditional family, offered unprecedented opportunities for women to break free from patriarchal control. Especially decisive were women’s own responses to the war, which in turn were a function of their pre-war situation, class, and personal history. Some women managed to see and seize opportunities in their predicament and prospered, especially as informal entrepreneurs, while many others succumbed to their fate. A few even engaged in civil society activism, for instance, setting up victim support networks and participating in peacebuilding. This paper shows that, while destroying society the war also catalysed the process of gender transformation, social fragmentation and civil society activism. It concludes that violent conflict is a moment of choice, in which individual and collective responses create opportunities and/or constraints.
Topic:: Civil War, Women, Feminism, Peace, and Patriarchy
Political Geography:: Africa and Mozambique

86. Informal peacebuilding initiatives in Africa: Removing the table

Author:: Tendai Mtukwa
Publication Date:: 03-2015
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: This article interrogates the practicability and efficacy of arts-based methods for peacebuilding as opposed to the formal negotiating table within African grassroots communities. It problematises the application of western liberal peace models at grassroots level. The article reviews and locates itself within the broader discourse of alternative or informal peacebuilding. Using the case study of Rwandan post-genocide dramatic reconstructions, the article illustrates specific participatory theatre techniques extracted from the applied theatre field and how these can be employed for peacebuilding at grassroots level. The article argues for a safe, aesthetic space, created by theatre as critical to peacebuilding activities. To give a rounded overview, the article finally reflects on potential disadvantages and controversies of using participatory theatre for peacebuilding and concludes that creative arts-based methods offer practical, inclusive, inexpensive space conducive for organic peacebuilding at grassroots level.
Topic:: Genocide, Peace, Theater, and Post-Conflict
Political Geography:: Africa and Rwanda

87. Transitional justice and peacebuilding in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Author:: Shirambere Philippe Tunamsifu
Publication Date:: 03-2015
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: Almost two decades ago, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) was confronted with a vicious cycle of internationalised armed conflicts in which between six and ten million people are estimated to have been killed. Those conflicts were resolved through peace agreements between the leaders of the warring parties, leaving affected populations to their predicaments. From among the mechanisms during peace talks aimed at dealing with the past, the Congolese opted for an international ad hoc tribunal and a truth and reconciliation commission (TRC). Unfortunately, the United Nations was unwilling to establish such a tribunal in the DRC and the TRC put in place did not investigate a single case. Therefore, the DRC lost opportunities to hold accountable alleged perpetrators, establish the truth of the past, promote reconciliation, and prevent further violence. The subsequent resumption of conflict is the result of failing to address the past. After the stabilisation of the country, a combination of judicial and non-judicial mechanisms of transitional justice could respond to past abuses and contribute to the peacebuilding process in the DRC. Hence, this paper endorses as a judicial mechanism, in addition to the International Criminal Court (ICC), the establishment of a hybrid international tribunal to hold accountable those who bear the greatest responsibility for events since 1996. This paper also endorses the promotion of the non-judicial indigenous mechanism Barza intercommunautaire to help resolve low-level disputes and pave the way for a new TRC that could promote reconciliation, formulate recommendations on institutional reform, identify criteria for the lustration and vetting process, identify victims and recommend reparations.
Topic:: Transitional Justice, Peace, International Criminal Court (ICC), and Post-Conflict
Political Geography:: Africa and Democratic Republic of the Congo

88. ‘We cannot reconcile until the past has been acknowledged’: Perspectives on Gukurahundi from Matabeleland, Zimbabwe

Author:: Ruth Murambadoro
Publication Date:: 03-2015
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: Since the Matabeleland massacres in the early 1980s, reconciliation remains unattainable in this region of Zimbabwe. Reasons for this include the fact that survivors of these atrocities have not received the acknowledgement they require from the government. As a result, their perception is that the government has continued to repress them by failing to provide for their needs. More so, the preceding episodes of violence in the region have engendered fear, anxiety and distress among a population that is battling to deal with its past. This article explores the attempts by the government and civil society representatives in the region to facilitate reconciliation and seeks to determine their ability to establish durable peace at the community level. Drawing from fieldwork undertaken in Matabeleland in April 2014, this article describes what the community identifies as central requirements for reconciliation to occur, as against what is provided by the national framework for reconciliation implemented by the government.
Topic:: Transitional Justice, Conflict, and Reconciliation
Political Geography:: Africa and Zimbabwe

89. Democratisation in Africa: The role of self-enforcing constitutional rules

Author:: Sophia du Plessis, Ada Jansen, and Krige Siebrits
Publication Date:: 03-2015
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: Following several decades during which violent civil conflict was common in African countries, the period from 1990 onwards was marked by a spreading and deepening of adherence to democratic principles. Nonetheless, many African countries still experience political instability and civil unrest. This raises the question of why these countries have not succeeded in resolving conflict in a sustainable manner. Drawing on economic ideas about contracts and institutions, this paper outlines a conceptual framework for thinking about the role of constitutional rules in achieving political stability. It also elucidates a critical requirement for sustainable democratic systems, namely that constitutional rules must become self-sustaining to safeguard such systems and to avoid relapses into violent civil conflict. The experiences of selected African countries are presented as brief case studies that illustrate the relevance of the conceptual framework and the notion of self-enforcing constitutional rules.
Topic:: Civil War, Democratization, Constitution, and Political stability
Political Geography:: Kenya, Africa, Mozambique, Botswana, Central African Republic, and Côte d'Ivoire

90. Security regionalism and flaws of externally forged peace in Sudan: The IGAD peace process and its aftermath

Author:: Aleksi Ylönen
Publication Date:: 07-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: During 1983-2005 Sudan hosted one of Africa’s longest insurgencies. Throughout the conflict a number of competing peace initiatives coincided, but a process under the mediation authority of the Inter-Governmental Authority for Development (IGAD) prevailed. However, although initiated in 1993, the IGAD process only accelerated after the September 2001 attacks on the United States (US) and was consequently finalised through the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in less than four years’ time. Although it was presented as IGAD’s success as a conflict resolution body, in reality the organisation’s role in the making of peace in Sudan was to a large extent conditioned by the involvement of a narrow selection of Western stakeholders. This article examines the IGAD peace process in Sudan, highlighting the dynamics and relative roles of the principal actors involved. It argues that although the negotiations were portrayed as inherently sub-regional, and adhering to the idea of ‘African solutions for African problems’, a closer analysis reveals that the peace process was dominated by external protagonists. This resulted in the interests of Western actors, particularly the US, playing a prominent role in the negotiated agreement, consequences of which are currently experienced both in Sudan and South Sudan.
Topic:: Security, Insurgency, Peace, Regionalism, and Post-Conflict
Political Geography:: Africa, Sudan, and South Sudan

91. Formal and informal land tenure systems in Afar region, Ethiopia: Perceptions, attitudes and implications for land use disputes

Author:: Kelemework Tafere Reda
Publication Date:: 07-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: Land is a contentious resource in the pastoral areas of Ethiopia. Traditional pastoralism, which is both a mode of production and a cultural way of life, dictates communal ownership of grazing land on which individually owned livestock graze. Pastoral land in Afar has traditionally been administered by the local communities themselves. However, with a gradual incorporation of the pastoralists into the Ethiopian modern polity, there have been competitive interests over issues of land administration between local communities and the state which often led to conflict and instability. Government land administration policies often contravene the age-old pastoral customary institutions; and stakeholder relations have taken a bitter course following the expansion of commercial agriculture, land investments and development projects. Using data obtained through Qualitative Interviews and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) this paper analyses land administration trajectories and dynamics in Afar region. It assesses how contradictions between statutory and customary tenure systems shape relations between multiple resource users including the state, investors, local communities, and neighbouring cultural groups. It also examines the impact of multi-stakeholder land disputes on land resource management, thereby identifying appropriate policy options for effective land administration practices in the pastoral areas.
Topic:: Territorial Disputes, Land Law, Pastoralism, Land Rights, and Tradition
Political Geography:: Africa and Ethiopia

92. The Nigerian State as an equilibrium of violence: An explanation of the Boko Haram insurgency in Northern Nigeria

Author:: Emmanuel Ikechi Onah
Publication Date:: 07-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: This paper argues that the Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria is a religious crisis that is flowing directly from the country’s political system. It is the political system in Nigeria that has brought about the present realities of corruption, poverty, and underdevelopment throughout the country. Religion has only served, especially in northern Nigeria, to ignite these realities into a violent flame. Boko Haram is the latest in the long list of religiously inspired violence that has flared up in Nigeria on account of deficiencies in the political system. For as long as these systemic deficiencies exist, religious disturbances such as the Boko Haram violence will continue to be there. Such violence has served fundamentalist entrepreneurs or groups and other such champions to call attention to the plight of their people. However, such violence most often only provokes the government into counter-violence. The cycle of violence and counter-violence then enables the government to keep the people in check, even without addressing their demands, and, to dominate and exploit society without hindrance. What the state must do to sustainably tackle this systemic violence is to use a combination of poverty reduction strategies, anti-corruption drives, development efforts, law enforcement and military engagement (where necessary), and dialogue to try and bring about lasting peace, particularly in northern Nigeria, but also throughout the whole country.
Topic:: Religion, Insurgency, Conflict, Violence, and Boko Haram
Political Geography:: Africa and Nigeria

93. Pastoral conflict in Kenya: Transforming mimetic violence to mimetic blessings between Turkana and Pokot communities

Author:: Ryan Triche
Publication Date:: 07-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: Livestock raiding has been a source of conflict amongst and between pastoral societies in Africa for hundreds of years. However, more recently, these raids have become more violent and have triggered much more organised retaliations. Many times raids themselves are perceived as motivated by ethnic dimensions. The following paper looks at tensions and conflict between Turkana and Pokot communities in rural Kenya. The paper first traces the historical context of cattle rustling and livestock raiding between pastoral communities within Kenya. It then identifies contemporary factors driving exacerbated tensions: access to resources, profiteering, and weapons proliferation. The paper further explores the systemic nature of the conflict through analysing livestock raiding as a conflict spiral dictated by negative reciprocal actions. The spiral is ultimately maintained due to mimetic violence structures that are in place. It then offers prescriptions and potential solutions to the conflict, which are centred on transcending the relationship from mimetic violence to mimetic peace and reconciliation. Ultimately, by empowering local pastoral communities in the form of multi-ethnic coalitions, and promoting broad-based interest groups, cultural transcendence can reverse the conflict spiral into a relationship of mutual reciprocity and mimetic peace.
Topic:: Conflict, Violence, Pastoralism, Peace, and Land
Political Geography:: Kenya and Africa

94. Terrorism and governance crisis: The Boko Haram experience in Nigeria

Author:: Efehi Raymond Okoro
Publication Date:: 07-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: Terrorist acts by Boko Haram have attracted enormous scholarly attention in recent years. A majority of the studies have implicated Islam in the emergence and dynamics of the uprising. In contrast to this popular view, this article argues that, despite the strategic role played by Islamic religion in the uprising, terrorism and its security threats in northern Nigeria are more a product of a governance crisis including pervasive corruption, growing youth unemployment and poverty. It further argues that if good governance concurrently with development is not employed as a remedial strategy, the Nigerian State will further create a much more enabling environment for the growth of resistance from below. Thus, it concludes that good governance and credible leadership practices are antidotes to terrorism in Nigeria.
Topic:: Religion, Terrorism, Governance, Al Qaeda, Youth, Al Shabaab, and Boko Haram
Political Geography:: Africa and Nigeria

95. Mozambique’s peace decades since the end of the conflict: Inclusive or managed democracy?

Author:: Madalitso Zililo Phiri and Antonio Macheve Jr
Publication Date:: 02-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: The article analyses Mozambique’s post-conflict democratisation and argues that Mozambique has become a ‘managed democracy’ in the new period. Mozambique is viewed by the donor community and multilateral institutions, such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, as a success story of post-war reconstruction and used as a model to be emulated. The article traces the trajectory of democratisation under the auspices of a liberal peace theoretical framework which was agreed upon in the General Peace Agreement ending the conflict in 1992. Secondary quantitative data were made available from leading International Organisations such as the World Bank and the Mo Ibrahim Governance Index. The article found that, despite Mozambique’s commitments to build an inclusive democracy, corruption unmasks Mozambique’s success story. The authors conclude that democratic consolidation has been accompanied by extractive political and economic institutions leading to a disgruntled citizenry. The country’s peace agreement remains fragile, and faces the reality that political stability has not been accompanied by social justice, equity and deepening democratisation.
Topic:: Democratization, Democracy, Conflict, and Peace
Political Geography:: Africa and Mozambique

96. Nigeria united in grief; divided in response: Religious terrorism, Boko Haram, and the dynamics of state response

Author:: Daniel Agbiboa and Benjamin Maiangwa
Publication Date:: 02-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: This article critically examines the current developments regarding the religious terrorism of Boko Haram, an extremist Islamist group, which operates largely in the north-east states of Nigeria. Boko Haram’s avowed aim is to wrest control from the Nigerian government and to impose a strict form of Sharia law across a country of about 170 million people. Since 2009, when Boko Haram first launched its Islamic insurgency, over 5 000 Nigerians have lost their lives in bombings and shootings carried out by the group. In addition to a brief discussion of the emergence, demands, ideology and external links of Boko Haram, the article focuses analytic attention on how the Nigerian state has responded to the menacing threat of the group. This is followed by a critical engagement with the current debate in Nigeria regarding what can be said for and against negotiating with Boko Haram members, and for or against fighting them. In conclusion, the article offers some fresh and multifaceted recommendations on how to effectively address the Boko Haram impasse.
Topic:: Religion, Terrorism, State, and Boko Haram
Political Geography:: Africa and Nigeria

97. Popular dispute resolution mechanisms in Ethiopia: Trends, opportunities, challenges and prospects

Author:: Gebreyesus Teklu Bahta
Publication Date:: 02-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: This article finds that high-ranking officials within the judiciary and executive, heads of some organisations, and certain researchers have acclaimed the harmonisation and application of the Popular Dispute Resolution Mechanisms (PDRMs) in Ethiopia’s justice system. To this effect, they have sponsored national and regional forums, conferences and workshops; established research institutions and centres as well as sponsored scholars who conduct research on this initiative. The positive attitude of these stakeholders towards PDRMs, the multiplicity and diversity of PDRMs, as well as the support of various institutions to such initiatives are considered to be good opportunities for the harmonisation and application of these practices in the country’s justice system. On the other hand, the absence of clear laws and policies related to the legitimacy of the informal justice systems, the level of administration to which they should be accountable, their interconnection with the formal courts and other state structures, the scope of application of their jurisdiction and their financial transactions are found to be serious challenges that demand immediate attention. Some of the hitherto existing research works are found to be scattered, poorly cross-referenced and out-of-the-reach of researchers and readers; while others are shallow in their investigative depth and limited in thematic and geographical coverage. In order to address these challenges and dilemmas, the article recommends the establishment of a new regulatory organ at macro level that has the capability and legitimacy to adapt and harmonise PDRMs in ways that can preserve the traditional African indigenous values and at the same time respect international human rights convention.
Topic:: Conflict Resolution, Religion, and Justice
Political Geography:: Africa and Ethiopia

98. Accounting for violence in Eastern Congo: Young people’s narratives of war and peace in North and South Kivu

Author:: Denis Bentrovato
Publication Date:: 02-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: In the last two decades, wars and mass violence have marked much of the life of ordinary people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In its eastern provinces of North and South Kivu, an entire generation has grown up knowing little else than conflict and deprivation. This article intends to give a voice to young Congolese in this troubled region in the heart of Africa. The article is based on the results of a survey that was conducted at the end of 2009 among nearly one thousand students. It examines the way young people in the Kivu make sense of the prevalence of violence in their home-provinces and the solutions they envision for a peaceful future. In its analysis, the article exposes a predominant role of ‘the Rwandese’ in Congolese narratives of war and peace. Influenced by fresh memories of war, various respondents exhibited Manichean views and deep-seated feelings of resentment towards those who were deemed responsible for the Congo’s recent suffering. This article argues that, unless such understandings and sentiments are acknowledged and addressed, the risk of further escalation of conflict will continue to loom on the horizon. Educational and cultural programmes targeting the youth and their views of ‘the other’ are here proposed as a promising peacebuilding measure that should complement existing efforts to promote stability in the region.
Topic:: Education, War, Culture, Youth, Violence, Peace, and Narrative
Political Geography:: Africa and Democratic Republic of the Congo

99. Ethiopian customary dispute resolution mechanisms: Forms of restorative justice?

Author:: Endalew Lijalem Enyew
Publication Date:: 02-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: The customary dispute resolution mechanisms of Ethiopia are playing an important role in resolving crimes of any kind and maintaining peace and stability in the community though they are not recognised by law and not properly organised. The customary dispute resolution mechanisms are run by elders; involve reconciliation of the conflicting parties and their respective families using different customary rituals where needed; emphasise the restitution of victims and reintegration of offenders; and aim at restoring the previous peaceful relationship within the community as well as maintaining their future peaceful relationships by avoiding the culturally accepted practices of revenge. However, despite the fact that Ethiopia’s indigenous knowledge base of customary justice practice has the enormous advantage of implementing the ideals of restorative justice, restorative justice has not yet taken root in the criminal justice system of Ethiopia. This article examines the legal, de jure, and factual, de facto, jurisdictions of Ethiopian customary dispute resolution mechanisms in resolving criminal matters, and explores whether they are compatible with the core values and principles of restorative justice. Based on the analysis of the relevant legislations, literature in restorative justice and customary dispute resolution mechanisms, and interviews, it is found that Ethiopian customary dispute resolution mechanisms are compatible with the values and principles of restorative justice. Hence, it is argued that the customary mechanisms of Ethiopia can be used as a basis to develop restorative justice programmes if they are properly institutionalised and sufficient legal recognition is provided for their functioning.
Topic:: Conflict Resolution, Community, and Restorative Justice
Political Geography:: Africa and Ethiopia

100. Relevance of the law of international organisations in resolving international disputes: A review of the AU/ICC impasse

Author:: Mba Chidi Nmaju
Publication Date:: 02-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: The paper examines the legal nature of the dispute between the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the African Union (AU), and observes that the core issue revolves around the arrest warrant issued by the Court for Al-Bashir. Therefore, it locates this to be within a legal rather than political impasse. The paper argues that the general rules of the law of international organisations may provide the key to resolving the impasse. And that accordingly, the general principles of the regime of international law point to the interpretation of the provisions of the constitutions of the two international organisations to identify the extent to which they were empowered to make the decisions that resulted in the dispute. The provisions of the Rome Statute on immunity are identified as providing the key to the resolution. Therefore the interpretation of the Statute on the immunity of certain state officials is important. The paper argues that accordingly the ICC should change its approach to the arrest of certain officials in order to prevent facilitating the violation of the customary principles of diplomatic immunity in international law – which should have also been codified in treaties. Such an interpretation of the Rome Statute would indicate that states should exercise caution in arresting a sitting Head of State such as Sudanese President Al-Bashir until such a time that he leaves office or that Sudan waives his immunity.
Topic:: International Law, International Organization, International Criminal Court (ICC), African Union, and Omar al-Bashir
Political Geography:: Africa and Sudan

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COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS