Attachments
Editorial
In 2024, the mountain kingdom of Lesotho is set to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the founding of the Basotho nation. Like any state over the last 200 years, Lesotho has undergone many changes to its system of government, including embracing multi-party democracy. Over the years, Lesotho’s democratic consolidation has been impacted by a number of challenges including the frequency of changes of government. One of the factors contributing to this is frequent motions of no confidence in the government. These motions of no confidence, writes Mokete Pherudi, destabilise the government and carry the financial burden of conducting snap elections, when Prime Ministers lose votes of no confidence. While there have been efforts to address the destabilising impacts of the motions of no confidence, recent developments have proven that the issue is not resolved.
Across the continent, the protection of human rights is something every country grapples with. Ojot Miru Ojulu discusses the intersection between the protection of human rights and peacebuilding in Africa. The article discusses the difficulties of balancing peace and justice in cases of human rights abuses during conflicts. In addition, the article also identifies the continental and regional efforts to incorporate human rights into peacebuilding in Africa, and the role that civil society can play.
Another challenged faced across the continent is election-related conflicts. One country that has faced such conflicts has been Zimbabwe. Tinashe Sitole has written about the role of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in Zimbabwe’s electoral processes. There are a number of reasons why Zimbabwe has faced election-related challenges, as the author argues, including the extended involvement of the security sector.
The article argues that SADC should integrate electoral security into broader human security frameworks to better resolve election-related conflicts.
Moving to the Lake Chad Basin, the region faces challenges relating to security and disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) of former Boko Haram fighters. Since 2021, approximately 90 000 people have defected from Boko Haram. This has placed strain on the states in the region and the infrastructures that exist to reintegrate former combatants due to the large volume of defectors.
Mariana Llorens Zabala has written an article about third generation DDR in the Lake Chad Basin and the Screening, Prosecution, Rehabilitation and Reintegration (SPRR) approach that has been developed. The article further discusses the challenges that exist in implementing the SPRR, the broader impact of DDR on security, while also offering recommendations for future DDR policies in the Lake Chad Basin.
Asmare Shetahun has written an article on a study conducted on the conflicts faced by the Dassanech,
Hammer and Nyangatom Woreda collective pastoralist community in South Omo, Ethiopia.
A number of these conflicts are resource related such as over access to water. In addition, poor crop yields have led people to seek food and income through other means, such as fishing, or through more nefarious means, such as cattle rustling. This has led to conflicts and tensions amongst the surrounding communities. The best way to mitigate conflicts in the area is through an early warning mechanism where people at the grassroots level are able to share information with relevant parties.
Finally, we end this edition of Conflict Trends with a book review by Christopher Odhiambo, who has reviewed The Frontlines of Peace: An Insider’s Guide to Changing the World by Séverine Autesserre.
The book highlights cases of resilience of communities engaged in peacebuilding while also helps deepen the understanding of what makes peacebuilding effective.