Matthew Wate
Kampala was rocked by two separate bomb attacks targeted at football fans watching the final of the FIFA World Cup. As many as 74 people have been killed with many more injured in the attacks. It was posited that the attacks may have been a response to Uganda’s contribution of peacekeepers to Somalia; the Shebab Militia (an Al-Qaeda linked group) has issued threats to Uganda and Burundi; both contributed troops to the AU mission in Somalia. The US Embassy in Kampala has confirmed that one of the dead was an American Citizen and US President Barack Obama has condemned the attack as “deplorable and cowardly”. With the upcoming AU summit scheduled to be hosted in Kampala, the attack raises questions about the continental body’s ability to effectively tackle peace-keeping missions on the continent. The African Union Commission (AUC) has confirmed that the Summit will go ahead as planned after assurances from the Ugandan Government regarding security for visiting heads of state.
Somalia’s long term instability and infiltration by Islamist terrorist groups has been of concern to security observers for some time, with many analysts arguing that much of the next generation of terrorists are likely to come from the troubled country. Dr Sylvester Maphosa of the Africa Institute of South Africa’s Peace and Security Unit points out that the role of proxy actors has exacerbated the situation in Somalia and created an ideal situation for the establishment of rebel and terrorist training bases. He argues: “we cannot doubt the presence of international actors in Somalia” and also states that the situation is further amplified by the presence of “criminality” in the Horn of Africa generally. Influences from Al-Qaeda and others have led to an up-surge in Islamist groups in the region and the breakdown of traditional governance structures has provided these groups with near freedom of movement throughout the region.
The possibility that the attack was a response to an AU mission raises questions over the future of the continental organisations ability to field peace-keeping missions. Dr Maphosa argues that support from AU member states for future missions is unlikely to be damaged because AU missions have faced attacks before. “The 2000 convention on peace and security indicated Africa’s will to control its own peace and security initiatives and to work towards a continental agenda on peace-building” Dr Maphosa points out, supporting the view that AU members will not be intimidated away from facing Africa’s most challenging conflicts. Dr Maphosa however argues that the attack in Kampala does raise some important lessons for the AU as it engages in future missions; “peace-keeping missions need an integrated approach in order to be successful, the ongoing actions in the middle east are clearly having an increased impact in the Horn of Africa, thus collaboration with international actors will be important for the AU to succeed”.
The AU has long been criticised for failing to live up to the mandate of the Peace and Security Convention of 2000, there is ample evidence that more AU missions have ended in failure than success, however Dr Maphosa sees the coming years as very important in ensuring future successes. “The AU needs to tackle its weaknesses, a lack of funding and need to collaborate more effectively being primary examples”. The AU-UN hybrid force in Sudan was an example of successful collaboration between the AU and its external partners and served to highlight the possibility of good working relations between the two sets of actors. The bombings in Kampala represent a lesson in Africa, previously overlooked hotspots and breeding grounds for terrorism are going to become increasingly important in African politics and peace-keeping and building will be made ever more difficult unless Africa rises to tackle the issues of radicalisation and terrorism. The question that remains is how Africa should tackle these challenges, it has become apparent that the Bush Doctrine is far from perfect when facing terrorists and has possible led to an increased number of radical young people taking up terrorist colours but there is yet to emerge an effective alternative to the hard power policy pursued by the United States and its allies. Perhaps Africa can plot a new method of engaging with such people and showcase a peaceful and effective method of reducing terrorist numbers and nullifying radical threats.
Home
