Although many young people were and are implicated in long-term political violence in Mbare specifically and in the country more generally, some have resisted and denounced conscription into these violent networks in…
Essays
Essays present critical analysis and debate on a pressing issue in African peacebuilding.
Essays
Reintegration Challenges in the Post-2015 Amnesty Program for Former Foreign Fighters in Coastal Kenya
by John Mwangi Githigaro
This essay reflects on the reintegration challenges in the implementation of the post-2015 amnesty program for returning foreign Al-Shabaab fighters (hereafter returnees) in Coastal Kenya. Based on insights from fieldwork in Mombasa and Kwale Counties, it argues that reintegration is hampered by three key factors: trust deficits, community acceptance, and policy lacunas.
Mediation & Reconciliation
Prospects of using Theatre for Development (TfD) as a tool for resolving Farmers-Pastoralist conflict in Kilosa, Tanzania
by Julieth T. Kabyemela
This essay establishes that TfD has immense potential in mediating and resolving farmer-pastoralist conflicts as it has the power to empower community members to reflect more on their conflicts and address conflicts through community members' proposed means.
Nigeria
Language, Conflict Mitigation and Mediation Processes in Kaduna State, Nigeria
by Hauwa Mohammed Sani
Conflict is part of human everyday existence. Occasionally, conflict may become confrontational and culminate in physical violence. The approach to conflict in the essay is framed within the context of poor communication between certain groups and actors in society.
Democracy, Development and Governance
Anticipating the new awful: Covid-19 and South Africa’s fragile peace
by Gideon van Riet
The coronavirus and lockdown measures have had a crippling effect on the South African economy and her people. The pandemic exacerbated pre-existing conditions of economic hardship and marginalization in South Africa in many ways.
Cameroon
Grassroots Perspectives on Building Sustainable Peace in the North West and South West Regions of Cameroon
by Sakah Bernard Nsaidzedze
Based on a qualitative research approach, this article analyzes some grassroots perspectives and voices captured through field interviews, focus group discussions, and collage-making sessions with local populations across the Anglophone regions. It revisits some critical implications of the conflict and prospects for peacebuilding processes in the restive regions.
Essays
Between Violent Separatist Agitation and Political Reforms? The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and the Crisis of Post-War Nigerian Federalism
by Ngozika Anthonia Obi-Ani
Igbo youths have mobilized themselves to agitate for the reform of a system they see as structured against them. Sensing that their agitation is not attracting any response to their grievances, some are demanding to opt out of a federal arrangement that is perceived as unfair.
Democratic Republic of Congo
Strategies for Building Inclusive Peace in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: A Reflection
by Olivier Bahoze
This article critically examines the strategies for building inclusive peace in the DRC in the face of armed groups backed by neighboring states, foreign companies, and transnational actors seeking to exploit the country’s abundant natural resources.
Democratic Republic of Congo
Fostering a Gendered Approach to Peacebuilding in the African Great Lakes Region: Perspectives from the Democratic Republic of Congo
by Trésor Makunya Muhindo
Introduction Since the late 1990s, the African Great Lakes Region (AGLR) and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), in particular, have been ravaged by interstate and intrastate conflicts. Negotiations were undertaken, under the supervision of the international community and regional organizations, in order to broker agreements among the belligerent parties and establish sustainable peace. These […]
Democratic Republic of Congo
Promoting Inclusive Peacebuilding in the African Great Lakes Region: A Case Study of the Democratic Republic of Congo
by Balingene Kahombo
This Special Issue of Kujenga Amani brings together articles by Congolese scholars and researchers, largely from the University of Goma, examining peacebuilding efforts in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and prospects for the future. The DRC remains one of the most conflict-affected and unstable countries in the African Great Lakes Region (AGLR) because of […]