The Future of Intrastate Conflict in Africa More Violence or Greater Peace?

The Role of State, Non-State Actors and Information Communication Technologies in Peace-Building in Mt. Elgon Region, Kenya

“…In order to investigate ICTs effectiveness in transforming violent situations into peaceful coexistence and to establish ICT tools that could be used to provide reconciliation, researchers sought to establish the extent of use of ICTs in alleviating these conflicts. For instance, social networking is fundamental in reintegrating ex-combatants into civilian life (Cilliers, & Schuenemann, 2013). Ex-combatants also use their personal social networks for other means such as finding work or potential investors and sourcing credit.…”

“…Ex-combatants also use their personal social networks for other means such as finding work or potential investors and sourcing credit. In Africa, social networking is usually conducted via telephone, text messaging and face-to-face interaction (Cilliers, & Schuenemann, 2013). Hattotuwa (2004), in his study in South Asia, observed that peace-building processes could be greatly strengthened by social networks.…”

“…The wave of conflicts ushered in by the post-cold war period has led to various approaches by stakeholders including state and non-state actors aimed at ensuring sustainable peace and security. Conflicts have various effects on individuals and society at large (Cilliers & Schuenemann, 2013). These effects include loss of lives, evictions and displacements, destruction of infrastructure, loss of property and psychological trauma on the affected individuals, especially due to torture and disappearances of family members.…”

“…For instance, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) anchors around Nigeria, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) on South Africa while the Inter-Governmental Agency on Development (IGAD) and the East African Community (EAC) anchors around Kenya. Subsequently, this makes the organizations negotiate conflicts to the benefit of these countries (Cilliers & Schuenemann, 2013).…”

Civilians, Arms and Endemic Conflicts in Africa

“…In the eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the M23 rebel movement has recently split into different groups on getting the information on the decision to deploy a neutral intervention force as part of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the region. (Cilliers and Schünemann, 2013) Several insurgent groups in contemporary Africa have strong transnational connections, capacity and luxury to move, as easily as possible, across borders. A well-known example of these insurgent groups is alQaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, which originally fought to overthrow the Algerian government while consolidating its activities across the Sahel region, particularly in northern Mali.…”