MILITARY INTERVENTION CONFLICTS IN THE HORN OF AFRICA;CASE STUDY OF MT.ELEGON

Abstract

Military interventions by both national and international (Third party intervention) forces in internal conflicts has been in existence for a long time. The practice has increased significantly following the end of the cold war with conflict moving from interstate to intrastate. Conflicts have resulted in humanitarian catastrophe which has necessitated military intervention in the internal conflicts to ameliorate the suffering of the citizens. However, despite these interventions in internal conflicts militaries world over have been accused of use of excessive force and human rights violations. The hypothesis for this study was to establish whether a military intervention has any relation to stopping internal conflicts. The main objective of this study was to investigate the dynamics of military intervention in internal conflicts with a focus on KDF’s intervention in Mt Elgon in 2008. This study concluded that Military intervention in Mt Elgon restored positive peace which had been elusive for over 10 years in the area and dismantled the SLDF militia. Therefore, the research established that there is a direct relationship between military intervention in internal conflict and the eradication the negative effects of such conflicts to the civil population affected by the war.