The Social Science Research Council’s African Peacebuilding Network (APN) had the opportunity to sit down with APN Alumnus Dr. Duncan Omanga (Individual Research Grant 2014), a lecturer and head of the Department…
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Conflict
Gang Violence in Gugulethu, South Africa: Notes from the field
by Godfrey Maringira and Diana Gibson
Gang violence continues unabated in South Africa, particularly in impoverished black and “coloured” communities. This essay focuses on black communities. We reveal how young men living in majority Xhosa-speaking black townships become part of a gang and how the gang relationship is forged and sustained over time. We pay attention to how the gang relationship […]
Mediation & Reconciliation
What is “the Local”? Exploring grassroots justice systems as a means of understanding the local
by Cori Wielenga
The liberal peacebuilding framework has been extensively critiqued and increasing attention is being given to “the local” in peacebuilding. What “local” means, though, still needs to be more deeply understood. What are the norms, values, and power dynamics, for example, that characterize diverse local contexts? An ongoing research project in Southern and Central Africa provides […]
Democracy, Development and Governance
Internal Party Reforms or Power Consolidation by African Ruling Parties?
Democracy, Development and Governance
Celebrating Army Generals in Zimbabwean Politics?
by Godfrey Maringira
Considering that former President Robert Mugabe was a long-time ally of the Zimbabwean military, no one expected that he would be overthrown by the military. Mugabe had favored the military as one of the bulwarks against challenges to his regime, so why would they then turn against a man who had for more than four […]
Policy and Practice
Can Peace Education Help Heal a Divided Kenya?
by John Mwangi Githigaro
The political impasse in Kenya Kenya needs national healing and reconciliation. This can be attributed to the protracted and hotly contested 2017 elections that re-opened ethnic divisions and tensions. Elections in Kenya since the return to multipartyism in 1991 have deepened divisions in the country, often resulting in ethnic clashes. The August 8, 2017 presidential […]
Essays
Eastern Nile Cooperation at a Crossroads: The Costs of Missing Another Opportunity
by Rawia Tawfik
“The Nile constitutes a common destiny; we either sink or swim together, and we chose to swim together.” Ethiopia’s Former Prime Minister, Hailemariam Desalegn, Speech at Egypt’s Economic Conference, March 13, 2015. “I invite you to write a new chapter in the history of Egyptian-Ethiopian relationships… We have the opportunity today to set a new […]
Conflict
The Snake and the Hedgehog: Managing Farmer-Herder Conflicts in Nigeria
by Patience Adzande
The recent escalation in violence in the farmer-herder conflict poses a serious threat to peace and security across Nigeria. These incidents have claimed an estimated annual average of two thousand lives between 2011 and 2016, led to massive destruction of property, and tens of thousands of displaced persons. The attacks are reportedly carried out by militant pastoralists […]
Democracy, Development and Governance
Sierra Leone’s Fourth Post-War Elections and the Trial of Democracy