Politics | AfSol Journal

Tag: Politics

Are women a missing link in Africa’s peace process? Interrogating women’s involvement in peacebuilding and conflict resolution in precolonial, colonial and postcolonial Africa

Posted by admin | Jun 8, 2026 |

This paper locates peacebuilding within the context of selected African countries with a focus on Zimbabwe; highlighting the intersection between gender and peacebuilding. The central argument in this paper is that gender relations and its relationship to peacebuilding in Africa must be understood within the context of the disruptions brought by European colonialism, struggles for self-determination and independence and post-independence struggles to construct new nation-states. The paper provides a sociohistorical analysis of gender relations in pre-colonial and colonial Africa and attempts to draw parallels with the postcolonial African state. It argues that a complex combination of these processes gave rise to exclusive, androcentric and elite driven peace processes in the postcolonial state. In examining women’s struggles for equality and social justice in the postcolonial state, the paper highlights how civic society and the civic space has come to be synonymous with women and women’s struggles to influence the peace process. Building on indigenous models of conflict resolution, the paper critically engages the concept of Ubuntu and appraises how it can be appropriated to re-insert women’s peace agency in postcolonial Africa. The paper concludes by examining options for increasing women’s involvement in conflict resolution and peacebuilding in postcolonial Africa.

Addressing the Political Impasse in Togo: Response from ECOWAS in Preventing Violent Armed Conflict

Posted by admin | Jul 18, 2025 |

Africa faces a range of complex issues related to maintaining and advancing democratic stability. In this paper, we examine Togo, with a specific focus on the political impasses that could hinder the democratic development of the small West African coastal state in the face of threats such as violent extremism and terrorism. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) tried to address the situation in Togo, primarily by intensifying its diplomatic efforts to prevent the region from becoming a hub for military juntas. As a result, the paper examines the measures involved in implementing prevention measures against the political impasse in Togo. It does so by analysing the sources of Togo’s political impasse and takes into consideration ECOWAS’s attempt to resolve and prevent conflict. The study concludes that diplomatic strategies ought to be employed by ECOWAS to address the identified political challenges effectively. In addition, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) should not only be vibrant but also work to identify gaps in the political situation and encourage people to understand that this does not call for violence. Furthermore, ECOWAS should review its Protocol on Good Governance to effectively address the issue of the third-term syndrome. ECOWAS should condemn coups, implement sanctions to encourage the leader to accept multi-party democracy, be vocal in denouncing poor governance, and engage the current leader to step down. In addition, the CSOs should be given the freedom to speak freely and demonstrate against bad governance in Togo. This means that all actors and stakeholders will be able to reach a peaceful agreement, promote good democratic values and human rights, enable multi-party participation in the country, promote participation in decision making, create an enabling environment for CSOs to operate without fear of intimidation, and build resilient and independent state institutions.