"It is important to ask how peacebuilding can take place when the state is perceived as biased, partisan, unfair, and favoring some groups over others. How can peacebuilding reduce violence and at the same time address injustices and improve fragile relationships when the state is directly or indirectly responsible for increasing violence, perpetuating injustices among different identity groups, and contributing to the worsening of their relationships?"
Essays
Essays present critical analysis and debate on a pressing issue in African peacebuilding.
Elections & Governance
Amending the Uganda Constitution: Isn’t It Time to Rethink the Process and the Key Issues?
by Patricia Nangiro
"As Ugandans we need to push for a systematic and comprehensive overhaul of the entire constitution, which in its current form is a representation of elite interests. The new constitution must rethink governance as a never-ending process of exercising power to manage public affairs and resources in a manner that allows for equitable redistribution of benefits to all."
Essays
The Politics of Reconciliation in Zimbabwe: Three Times Failure—Will the Fourth Time Count?
by Ruth Murambadoro
"When the appropriate time would be to address past social injustices and how they should be addressed remains unclear, but ignoring the past will arguably only perpetuate the cycle of violence that remains prevalent in Zimbabwe .... Reconciliation cannot occur in Zimbabwe without legal tender and a proactive commitment to bind the voices and intentions of the government."
Research and Practice
Rethinking Models of African Peacebuilding: Lessons from Nigeria
by Chris Kwaja
"As the case of Nigeria shows the endogenous ways of managing local conflict and building peace are organically linked to the history, tradition, and culture of the African people…Indeed, a situation in which modern and endogenous methods complement, rather than displace or supplant each other, should be encouraged."
Elections & Governance
Malawi’s 2014 Elections: An Assessment
by Kizito Tenthani
"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."
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."