Policy Spotlight: SADC Responses to Conflict
Peace and security are the pillars of socioeconomic development of any society across the globe. The process of socioeconomic development of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) has been undermined by lack of peace and security in two of its countries, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Mozambique. Despite an existing protocol on politics, defence and security, SADC is challenged to provide an adequate and appropriate response to the latent ongoing conflicts in the DRC and a recent Islamic insurgency in Mozambique. Part of the problem is mistrust among SADC member States.
The region is not short of policy documents and instruments to provide an adequate response to the unrest in the DRC and Mozambique. Mistrust amongst SADC member states is at the heartbeat of their relationships. SADC countries have little trust amongst them which makes it difficult to cooperate effectively on security. Mistrust emerges as a result of their actions in the past. SADC countries have, in the past, intervened in their neighbours’ countries directly or indirectly for personal reasons. Significantly is the aftermath of the Cold War in Southern Africa.
In fact, the Cold War between the United States (USA), the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies had shaped the political landscape of Southern Africa. In an attempt to expand their influence in the region, both the USA and the USSR provided economic and military supports to government that sided with them.
They could go as far as organising proxy wars or supporting insurgencies in newly independent nations to ensure that governments that sided with them would remain in power or vice versa. Angola is an example. Backed by the USSR and their allies including Cuba, the MPLA government of Angola had to face their opponent UNITA who have been receiving support from the USA and their regional allies including the DRC and South Africa.[1] The Cold War sponsored the civil war in Angola that lasted almost three decades. The aftermath of the Cold War is characterised by suspicion amongst the three countries.
The Apartheid government in South Africa is another example of a source of mistrust amongst countries in the region. The government invaded Angola in an attempt to protect its occupation of Namibia providing direct military support to Unita’s efforts to topple the MPLA government. On the east coast of Africa, the same Apartheid government interfered in Mozambique. The purpose was to stop the success of Frelimo thus stopping the victory of communism in Mozambique.[2] The same can be said about Rhodesia under Adam Smith which intervened for the same reason.
The end of the Cold War and the fall of Apartheid three decades ago reshaped the political landscape of Southern Africa. The context of the Cold War and the geopolitics and regional SADC politics have changed. Suspicion and mistrust can be fixed through permanent regional dialogue as a way of creating assurance amongst member states. SADC has done well to establish protocol on politics, defence and security as instruments of dialogue amongst member states.
The region has the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation established through the Protocol on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation that provide policy prescription and approaches to conflict resolution[3].
The main objective of the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation is to promote peace and security within the SADC region, therefore the custodian of peace and security in the region[4]. In fact, a lot has been achieved since its establishment in June 1996. Through its three main Committees namely the Ministerial Committee of the Organ (MCO), the Interstate Defence and Security Committee (ISDSC) and the Interstate, Politics and Diplomacy Committee (ISPDC), the Organ managed to maintain the SADC region relatively politically stable. As referred to earlier, the last civil wars ended in the early 2000s. There haven’t been any systematic or nation-wide conflicts even though sporadic conflicts have been registered which resulted in fatalities across the SADC region.
Nonetheless, failure in bringing under control the latent ongoing conflicts in the eastern DRC and a recent Islamic insurgency in northern Mozambique has exposed the shortcoming of the Organ strategy in providing an adequate answer to conflict resolution in these particular member states. Amongst its arsenal of policy documents, the SADC protocol on control of firearms and related ammunition stands as a potential policy document to help provide an adequate response to terrorism and criminal activities in the eastern DRC and northern Mozambique. However, its implementation has proved challenging.
SADC is convinced through the protocol that success can be achieved through international cooperation, exchange of information leading to appropriate measures at the national, regional and global levels.
It is evident that the latent ongoing conflicts in the eastern DRC and the recent Islamic insurgency in northern Mozambique are a result of illicit trafficking, possession and use of firearms, ammunition and other related materials and their excessive and destabilising accumulation for economic rather than political purposes of a group of individuals. The perpetrators of these criminal activities never came forward with a political agenda to justify their actions. Therefore shifting the nature of armed conflict from political to economic interests.
SADC interventions in the DRC have gone from mediation with a view to facilitate dialogues amongst war belligerent during the civil wars in the Congo in the 1990s through the late 2010s, to military intervention through the Force Interventions Brigade (FIB)[5]. These were SADC troops sent to the DRC as an effort to maintain peace and stability.
SADC has found it challenging to implement its strategy for lasting peace in the DRC because of the nature and structure of the conflicts. The armed conflicts in the eastern DRC involves various stakeholders (national, regional and international) with economic interests. From a historical perspective, conflicts with political interests have been addressed arguably adequately through established SADC mechanisms that promote dialogues through mediation. Conflicts with economic interests, however, present challenges that SADC has not been prepared to face. This is the reason why the armed conflicts in the eastern DRC have not been addressed effectively.
It will require the willingness and efforts from the DRC at the national level and SADC at the regional level to promote international cooperation and exchange of information that would lead to appropriate measures at the national, regional and global levels to address effectively the economic armed conflicts in the eastern DRC.
The Islamic insurgency in northern Mozambique is likened to acts of terrorism. Similarly with the case of conflicts with economic interests in the DRC, SADC appears to be ill prepared to face terrorism in the region. Although the SADC protocol on control of firearms and related ammunition recognises the potential threats of terrorism in the region if firearms are not adequately controlled, no action steps have been established to prevent, combat or eradicate the terrorism threats at national and regional levels.
The suggested approach requiring international cooperation and exchange of information that would lead to appropriate measures at the national, regional and global levels proved out of reach at the moment in Mozambique. Despite the push from South Africa, the hesitation and delay that SADC appears to take in sending military intervention in Mozambique underlines the fact that the regional organisation is not sufficiently and adequately prepared to face and counter the terrorism threats.
Sending troops to Mozambique would require huge financial efforts from contributing member states. Despite the poor financial situation of the majority, SADC has considered a deployment of troops to Mozambique to counter the terrorism threats following its Extraordinary Summit of Heads of State and Government held in Maputo, Mozambique on 23 June, 2021.[6]
Peace and security are the pillars of socioeconomic development. It transpires that the armed conflicts in both the DRC and Mozambique have no political interests or raison d’être from a political point of view. One is economic, the case of the DRC and the other is terrorism in Mozambique. Therefore SADC, through its Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation, must reshape and provide policy guidelines to member states on how to respond effectively and match the level of the threats. This will require, on the one hand, the promotion of trust amongst SADC member states. On the other hand, a robust financial investment in defence forces of individual member state which will ultimately strengthen the SADC military and defence capability. This is the way forward if SADC is to improve its response to conflict.
by Ken Kalala Ndalamba
[1] BBC 2021. The Story of Africa: Southern Africa, on the British Broadcast Corporation Website, viewed on 19 July 2021, from https://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/africa/features/storyofafrica/12chapter9.shtml
[2] BBC 2021.The Story of Africa: Southern Africa, ibid; Metz, S. (1986), The Mozambique National Resistance and South African Foreign Policy, African Affairs, Vol. 85, No. 341, pp. 491-507
[3] SADC 2001a. Protocol on Politics Defence and Security, Southern African Development Community: Gaborone. Available At: https://www.sadc.int/files/3613/5292/8367/Protocol_on_Politics_Defence_and_Security20001.pdf [Last Accessed 17 June 2021].
[4] SADC 2012. Organ on Politics Defence and Security Affairs, on the Southern African Development Community Website, viewed on 17 June 2021, from https://www.sadc.int/sadc-secretariat/directorates/office-executive-secretary/organ-politics-defense-and-security/
[5] SADC 2012. Regional Peacekeeping, on the Southern African Development Community Website, viewed on 17 June 2021, from https://www.sadc.int/themes/politics-defence-security/regional-peacekeeping/
[6] SADC 2021. News, on the Southern African Development Community Website, viewed on 19 July 2021, from https://www.sadc.int/news-events/news/sadc-hold-extraordinary-summit-heads-state-and-government-maputo-mozambique-23-june-2021/
