Ben Lewis of Australia’s Tune FM sits down with University of New England PhD candidate, John Ahere, to discuss the subject of his research, which happens to be Peace Studies with a focus on political violence in Kenya and South Africa. John spoke about the aftermath of the 2017 Kenyan election; the civil unrest and recent attacks in the nation and the continuing efforts of the United Nations to keep the peace. He also offered insight into the difference (yet similarity) between Kenya and Australia from a political standpoint. Listen to interview…
New Actors and Democratic Governance in a Rising Africa
This paper broadly examines the continued nuancing of the practice of democracy in Africa with a focus on how Africa’s democratic governance is increasingly getting influenced by new actors in the international system, who are driving the formation of a new world order that challenges the current unipolar liberal global order. The paper traces the origins and rationale of the democratization project in Africa and uses this as a basis to delve into some issues around which many African countries have increasingly been engaging with new actors. These broad aspects include: Africa’s international relations, peace and security; civil liberties as well as investments and trade. This paper contends that some states in Africa are charting middle grounds that increasingly, specifically align with their national/elite interests, and broadly, is in tune with the consolidating discourse on Africa Rising. Read more…
Party Politics in Kenya and South Africa: The Conundrum of Ethnic and Race Relations
Since the colonial period, group identity has affected politics in Kenya and South Africa. Ethnicity and race are used to explain many issues in both countries including party politics. This article examines the linkages between ethnic and race relations in the activities of political parties in both countries. The article finds that ethnicity and race are endemic to the nature and operations of political parties in Kenya and South Africa. As a result, most political parties formulate policies and allocate public goods and national resources along ethnic and racial lines in a bid to satisfy their support bases so as to achieve and maintain political power. Read more…
“Acts of dignity”: How volunteering promotes peace
Celebrating International Volunteer Day 2019 – 5 December
UNE Peace Studies PhD candidate John Ahere, from Kenya, is dedicated to working for transformative change across Africa for lasting conflict resolution. While his thesis is focused on the role of political parties in the management of political violence, he also knows first-hand the importance volunteering plays in peace-building.
Volunteering can start anywhere. For John, it started in Tanzania at a trade fair during his second year of undergraduate studies in 2002. Read more…
Political Violence in Africa: The Role of Political Parties in Kenya and South Africa
Tue 29 Oct 2019 1:00pm–3:00pm
Venue: 39A, Room: 501, The University of Queensland, Australia.
This presentation based on a wider project investigating the links between the management of intra-political party disputes and wider political violence often witnessed in Kenya and South Africa during competitive political processes. Although there have been recent constitutional reforms of public governance systems aimed at avoiding violence as a means of resolving disputes in many African societies, such reforms have not always extended to dispute management within and between political parties. Read more…
For the PowerPoint presentation, click here.
Can the Media Be Conflict Sensitive? An Analysis of Kenya and South Africa
The media shapes conflicts, especially in how the conflicts are perceived and understood. In Kenya and South Africa, beset by ongoing structural conflict, the media has played crucial roles in the shaping of narratives about the actors and the drivers of conflict. This article explores the nexus between the nature and operations of media outlets and the escalation or de-escalation of political violence. This article contends that, based on the way that they are regulated, owned and editorially structured, the media in Kenya and South Africa have contributed to the escalation of political violence. Nonetheless, there are useful cases where the media have contributed to de-escalation of political violence. The tackling of political violence in both countries can be more effective if the media are embedded in holistic conflict transformation strategies implemented by government and non-governmental actors, and if media outlets understand and implement the principles and practice of peace journalism. Read more…
Linkages between political parties and political violence: Some lessons from Kenya and South Africa
Political struggles and competitions are conflictual by their very nature, and if not well managed can lead to violence. As political parties are crucial actors in political processes, it is vital to understand the roles they play in escalating or de-escalating political violence. Published by the African Journal on Conflict Resolution (Vol 18, No. 1), this paper provides an analysis of political parties in Kenya and South Africa, focusing on their linkages to political violence. It concludes that political parties are indispensable actors in peacebuilding. The design and implementation of peacebuilding interventions that effectively target political violence must therefore anticipate the involvement of political parties. This applies to both case study countries, but most probably to other countries as well. Read more…
When a Compatriot becomes a Foe: Political Parties and Violent Elections in Kenya and South Africa
Published by the Journal of African Elections (Vol. 17, No. 1), this paper examines the operations of political parties in Kenya and South Africa and provides an analysis of how such operations have become drivers of election violence. The paper contends that as a result of the structure of political parties and how they operate, they have contributed to the violence that has become an endemic feature of the electoral processes in both countries. In Kenya, most election violence has been between supporters of different political parties who contest election outcomes. In South Africa, even though there were many incidents of inter-party violence in the 1990s, recent trends indicate reductions of the same but with an increase in intra-party violence, especially over disputed party lists. Read more…
Kenya’s presidential election forced to be re-run
Incumbent Uhuru Kenyatta and Opposition Leader Raila Odinga will have to face off again after the Aug 8 election was declared invalid by the judiciary.
Kikuyu and Luo ethnic tensions are once again on the rise, with the death toll from this election currently standing at 24. This was an interview with the The Wire, a daily current affairs program, broadcast exclusively on Community and Indigenous radio stations around Australia. Listen to interview…
Elections are only part of the story in Kenya’s history of post-poll violence
Kenya’s opposition leader Raila Odinga and his National Super Alliance are contesting the country’s general election results in the Supreme Court. Odinga rejected the official results which showed that Uhuru Kenyatta had reclaimed the presidency.
In the days following the announcement that Kenyatta had won, opposition supporters attempted to engage in peaceful protests. International and local media reported on clashes between police and residents in Nairobi and Kisumu.
Earlier in the year state security forces were also deployed against opposition supporters agitating for reforms to the country’s election commission.
But media reports often misrepresent the…Read more…
The Afro-liberal pragmatist 