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How to achieve and sustain peace and security in Africa
Before we attempt to answer this question, we must understand what peace and security really
mean. The Cambridge Dictionary defines peace as ‘freedom from war and violence, especially
when people live and work together happily without disagreement’. That’s almost a utopian idea
because it does not only prescribes lack of conflict but also precludes fear of violence between
heterogeneous social groups. Security on the other hand can be defined as the resistance to or
protection of a person or an entity against threats or harm.
Hypothetically speaking, peace, like happiness, can not in itself be pursued; it must ensue.
According to the Institute for Economics and Peace (I.E.P) the Global Peace Index are
correlated to indicators such as income, schooling and levels of regional integration. Besides,
the same study shows that peaceful countries often shared high echelons of transparency of
government and low levels of bribery. The implication is obvious; social, political and economic
justice must be at the core of any peace building initiatives. It doesn’t require a genius or a
mentally enhanced being to figure out that the greatest causes of unrest in Africa are flawed
electoral processes and socioeconomic injustice.
In light of the above facts, here is my five point plan to ensure peace and security is achieved
and sustained in Africa: ensure an accountable and transparent government through
institutionalization, free fair and credible elections, impartial law enforcement, observance and
upholding human rights and social and economic justice for all. If I were a leader in Africa, I
would spare no efforts to ensure that economic and social justice are not just clichés thrown
about in rallies and conference halls, but are a realities both enshrined in our constitution and
the moral fabric of our society. This is an essential foundation upon which other efforts must be
built.
Flashing back to the incidence that still wounds many Kenyans, the 2008 post-election violence
was just a representative of the common pathetic events that threaten almost every African
nation. On the back of charged political campaigns, Kenya went into the December polls, a
polarized and uptight country, with ethnic tensions rising and the hitherto fragile peace hanging
on the balance. Following the release of the results, violence erupted in every corner of the
nation almost pushing it to a cliff-edge of total collapse. A few years later the same thing
happened in Zimbabwe and Ivory Coast just because Africa never learns that there can never
be lasting peace without real justice.
One of the missing links in the peace building jig-saw has been and continues to be social and
economic justice because of entrenched tribalism and racism in most of Africa. We must
acknowledge that the major threat to peace and security in Africa is not external aggression or
radical ideological groups like communism but inter-ethnic clashes and armed conflicts fuelled
by social and political injustice, real or perceived. If I were a leader in Africa, this would be a top
priority. I would solve this by ensuring strict and equitable (re)distribution of resources, jobs and
state investments across the country and equal representation, notwithstanding which tribe is in
power.
Bluntly said, Africans fight fellow Africans because of tribal suspicions and reservations. This
was the case in Rwanda in 1994, in Kenya in 2008, in South Sudan and most of Africa today. If
tribalism is not a problem in Africa, then Africa has no problem. Any government is always
identified with an ethnic community and tribe. Professor Michael T. Mboya puts it more
succinctly: “Successive governments of independent [Africa] have nurtured this idea as
presidents have used ethnicity as a criterion for resource allocation, favoring their ethnic groups
