"The elections of 2014 demonstrated a lot of weaknesses in Malawi’s electoral system...which renders it vulnerable to errors that can conceivably undermine completely the credibility of elections conducted in Malawi’s future. A critical reassessment of the process and its reform are therefore necessary to avoid a repeat of the chaos that was the 2014 elections."
Essays
Essays present critical analysis and debate on a pressing issue in African peacebuilding.
Research and Practice
Ushahidi Crowdsourcing Platform: A People-Centered Approach to Conflict Transformation in Kenya
by Toyin Ajao
"New media technologies have opened avenues for the African people to participate more directly, and more strategically, in public affairs. A closed door of morbid silence has suddenly been flung wide open, and different people-centered initiatives are emerging as the African general public utilizes these new technologies to address societal issues."
Elections & Governance
Article 46A Bis: A Step Backward in Ending Impunity in Africa
by Dan Kuwali
"If this retrogressive provision comes into force, the survivors and victims of atrocities will have no option but to seek justice and reparation from elsewhere—in this case, the ICC, which still has jurisdiction to try perpetrators of mass atrocities, regardless of official position—thereby defeating the principle of 'African solutions to African problems.' "
Essays
The Central African Republic Crisis: Neighboring Countries and the Prospects for Peace
by Kiven James Kewir
"Ultimately [...] the future of peace in the CAR lies in the hands of the leaders and people of the country. The real challenge will be to develop the political will to rise above the current divisions and address the structural roots of the conflict ravaging the country head on."
Research and Practice
Kenya’s Long-Term Security Should Be a “Discursive Project”
by Fredrick Ogenga
"Terrorism is a constructed ideology. For it to be defeated in Kenya and elsewhere, we need to construct a counter-ideology through an equally discursive process...Yet creating an effective counter-ideology, like the 'We Are One' campaign, requires a reconstruction of identity and an answer to the question, Who is really a Kenyan, and who is not?"
Elections & Governance
Democracy versus Stability: Political Reconciliation and the Government of National Unity in Zanzibar
by Nicodemus Minde
"Race, political economy, social classes, the struggle for democracy, the question of unity, and proximate factors such as leadership have all been cited by scholars as causes of political instability in Zanzibar. To understand political reconciliation in the region, however, one needs to approach the problem from the perspective of actors, interests, and strategies for peace."
Elections & Governance
The May 2014 Malawi Elections: A Democratic Success Story?
by Blessings Chinsinga
"These results have been widely embraced by democracy enthusiasts and seen as a significant milestone in Malawi’s democratization project .... However, a critical review of the overall conduct and handling of the polls in May raises a crucial question as to whether or not these elections should be celebrated as the significant achievement they have been made out to be."
Essays
Post-M23 Euphoria and the Recurrent Peace Dividends in Eastern DRC
by Christoph Vogel
“The examples of M23 and ADF showcase the positive potential of decisive peace enforcement, but neither the unsatisfactory ‘peace agreement’ following the FARDC-FIB success against M23, nor the atomization of ADF into much less powerful but persistent micro-units, are long-term solutions .... [T]he quest for peace needs to be understood as a molecular process involving at least as much of a bottom-up as a top-down logic.”
Essays
A Beleaguered Political Marriage: The Tanganyika-Zanzibar Union and the Constitution Process in Tanzania
by Nicodemus Minde
"The proposed three-tiered government structure will ease the historical tensions between Tanzania Mainland and Zanzibar, and strengthen this iconic political union. The contentious issues between these two entities raised...can best be addressed by this government format which gives Zanzibar an identity, as well as Tanganyika, through a revised Union government. Having a constitution that captures and espouses the aspirations of a majority of Tanzanians is key for continued statebuilding."
Elections & Governance
Kenya 2013 Elections: A Reflection
by Njoki Wamai
"The 2013 Kenyan elections should be assessed as a process and not as an event. Although it is not clear what direct impact they had on democracy and peacebuilding in the short term, three factors are identified which seem to have influenced the elections significantly by providing opportunities for democracy and peacebuilding to thrive in the long-term. These three factors are: the legacy of Agenda Four; vigilance by Kenyan civil society, the media, and social media; and the role of the International Criminal Court (ICC)."