Conflicts and Causes of Conflicts in Africa

Conflicts and Causes of Conflicts in Africa

INTRODUCTION

Conflict can be defined as a clash or disagreement often violent between opposing groups or individuals. It can also be said to be an incompatibility, as of two things that cannot be simultaneously fulfilled.
The word conflict is as old as mankind. This is because the word has been in existence in all areas of man life since the inception of the world. The word conflict is derived from the Latin word configure, meaning to strike together. Conflict also means contradiction arising from differences in interest, ideas, ideologies, orientations, beliefs perceptions and tendencies.

Conflicts usually occur primarily as a result of a clash of interests in the relationship between parties groups and states, either because they are pursuing opposing or incompatible goals.

CAUSES OF CONFLICT IN AFRICA

Conflict arising from the militarization of the society: an abundance of weaponry and trained soldiers and untrained volunteers available to any would-be warlord with resources and determination.

1. Poor economic performance: a more basic and long term cause of conflict has been the catastrophic economic performance of many African countries. Coupled with the debt problem. Poor flows of private capital into some African countries and foreign and programs are often inefficient as Neil. Economic discomfort can bail out into conflict. The deepest causes of the conflict; economic despair, social injustice, and political oppression. Amid poverty, African ruling classes or the elite group who happen to hold power at a particular time, have enriched themselves and become the targets of envy or rivalry by other elite groups.

2. Political/Domestic: Power struggles hostile groups overpopulation economic or religious disparities oppression and demand for democracy communal or ethnic violence related to economic social religious-cultural or ethnic issues.

3. Political/International: These takes the form of ideological or political campaigns territorial claims and religious expansionism against other states regional rivalries terrorism, coercion or discrimination respecting the trade or economy of other states

4. Ethnicity: a major cause of Africa conflicts has been ethnicity and it has continued to be so, the creation of independence was accompanied by urgent calls for nation-building by the new African leaders who were well aware of the difficulty in transcending Africa ethnic and regional loyalties. There have been several separatist movements causing attempts of secession such as Katanga in Zaire, Biafra in Nigeria and others in Sudan Ethiopia and Somalia

5. Military: Interstate aggression annexation intervention or hostility for example support for the rebels of other states or separatist movement

6. Inter-state borders: Common to many conflicts is the unsatisfactory nature of interstate borders. Nearly all the borders were inherited from colonial times and were the product of negotiations and treaties between the colonial power decided in Europe with the aid of poor maps and with scant attention to Africa peoples, the African government shied away from making adjustments and in any case, these were difficult as they did not all reach independence at the same time.

7. Persecution: It connotes violation of human rights mass movements of refugees poverty or instability caused by the mismanagement or ineptitude of the government including evident and perceived levels of corruption by the government beyond an acceptable limit of traditional toleration.

8. Conflict over psychological needs: Conflicts over psychological needs of group and individuals are conflicts that cannot be seen but affect the psyche of the individual and groups self-actualization need for individual and group respect attempt to protect on the group to be better than the others.

9. Conflicting involving values: Contradicting value systems such as religious belief and ideological position and general worldview is another factor responsible for social conflict among the interacting parties.

10. Conflict over resources: These kinds of conflicts are usually easy to identify because they can be seen and a more potentially easy to resolve. This conflict occurs when two or more people are competing for inadequate (or perceived to be inadequate) resources over some time. The competition may assume a negative or destructive dimension when the available resources are not evenly and judiciously distributed.

Teen Conflict Resolution Mechanism by the United Nations

The United Nations primary mission is symbolized by the opening words of the charter. They dedicate the united nation to saving “succeeding generations from the scourge of war which has brought untold sorrows to mankind and the maintenance of international peace and security. The united nation through diplomatic intervention has a direct role in assisting and encouraging countries to settle their disputes peace and security contribute to world peace and security in this regard the United Nations performs the following function.

1. Inquiry: fact-finding by neutral investigation, they find fact by neutral investigation they investigate about things they also inquire about things that happen in the nation.

2. Good Offices: encouraging parties to negotiate. The United Nations encourages parties to negotiate they prefer other parties to relate with each other to do things in common

3. Mediation: making suggestions about possible solutions acting as an intermediary between two parties to suggest a possible solution. They also serve as middlemen between two different parties to help them suggest possible solutions.

4. Arbitration: Using a special panel to find a solution that all parties agree to in advance to accept they find a solution to all parties.

5. Adjudication submitting disputes to international courts such as the United Nations international court of justice (I.C.J)

6. Enforcement of sanction: peace maintenance involves three distinct but interrelated activities.

7. Peacekeeping: It involves coordinated efforts to ensure stability and relative chaotic situation. Peacekeeping has no express constitutional legislation in the UN carter it’s a pragmatic response to the program.

8. United Nations extended goal is to create conditions conducive to establishing lasting political settlement they help to create a conducive environment for the last longing political settlement.

9. United Nations resolves conflict in Africa by using mediation conducted by the use of goodwill eminent personalities mandated by the assembly of the head of states and government. They help to develop tools that were quite effective in the mediation of interstate conflict.

10. Another mechanism was the mounted operations by the United Nations the Africa union and other organizations such as the commonwealth ECOWAS ranging from political missions and election monitoring missions to military and civil policy observer groups, or peacekeeping and peace enforcement missions.