State driven conflict in the Greater Horn of Africa

Abstract

This paper examines the conflicts in the Greater Horn of Africa by looking at the causes or origins of these conflicts, their major characteristics and their impact. The paper also highlights the specific ways in which the states in the region have contributed to the genesis and perpetuation of these conflicts. The paper ends with an examination of the various responses aimed at dealing with these conflicts. The conflicts covered are those that have occurred and or are going on in Rwanda, Burundi, Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan, Zaire and Uganda. Mention is also made of the Tanzania Uganda conflicts of 1979. The paper also discusses the violent conflicts that rocked Kenya in 1991/1992 following the legalization of multiparty politics. Interest in these conflicts is justified on a number of practical grounds. First is that the conflicts are very costly to the governments and the peoples of the region as a whole and the individual countries in which they occur. The costs are in terms of loss of human life and property and the destruction of public infrastructure. Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed in many of the countries in which the conflicts occur. Many others have also suffered and continue to suffer untold psychological trauma associated with conflicts. Second, these conflicts drain the scarce resources available to the affected countries. Once conflicts occur, scarce resources are inevitably diverted to the purchase of military equipment at the expense of socio-economic development. This is not to mention the fact that the conflicts disrupt normal economic activities such as agriculture and trade. Third, the conflicts and violence they generate in any one country creates insecurity and related problems far beyond the countries in which they originate. Conflicts in the region have also caused diplomatic tensions between neighbouring countries in the region. Fifth, most of these conflicts have resulted in large numbers of refugees and displaced persons. Finally the failure of individual governments in the countries