SoC01 New threat: Epicentre of violent extremism shifting to sub-Saharan Africa

Magobe T · 2021-08-30T03:00:00+00:00

Inclusive and sustainable development stipulated in Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want, will be illusory if we don’t effectively mitigate violent extremism which is gaining momentum in sub-Saharan Africa. This new phenomenon is worrying and must to be well-studied, understood and effectively addressed. Working definition Although there is no universally accepted definition of terrorism, since 1994 the United Nations General Assembly has been defining terrorism as ‘criminal acts intended or calculated to provoke a state of terror in the public, a group of persons or particular persons for political purposes and are in any circumstances unjustifiable, whatever the considerations of a political, philosophical, ideological, racial, ethnic, religious or any other nature that may be invoked to justify them’. The Security Council’s Resolution 1566 (2004) referred to ‘criminal acts, including (acts levelled) against civilians, committed with the intent to cause death or serious bodily injury, or taking of hostages, with the purpose to provoke a state of terror in the general public or in a group of persons or particular persons, intimidate a population or compel a government or an international organisation to do or to abstain from doing any act’. In this article, I have adopted this definition. Shifting landscape of terrorism According to UNDP Regional Bureau for Africa Report: Journey to Extremism in Africa: Drivers, Incentives and the Tipping Point for Recruitment 2017 and the Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP)’s Global Terrorism Index (GTI) 2020, the epicentre of violent terrorism has shifted, from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region to sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, while far-right terrorism and political violence is plaguing the West. Seven of the 10 sub-Saharan countries - Burkina Faso, Mozambique, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Mali, Niger, Cameron and Ethiopia - were reported to have experienced the largest surge in violent terrorism in 2019. A growing matter of concern Terrorism was one of the topics presented and discussed at the 12th Mwalimu JK Nyerere Intellectual Festival at the University of Dar es Salaam on July 1-2, 2021 to raise public awareness of its tactical and strategic infiltration into Africa. A paper presenter, Dr John William, said sub-Saharan Africa was facing a new threat to peace and development that needed to be urgently and effectively addressed for it had far-reaching disastrous consequences. His presentation sparked off many questions and a lengthy discussion from participants. What is worrying is that recruits to violent extremist groups are as young as 11 years old. While the majority of those recruited are the youth aged between 17 and 26 years (53 per cent), the biggest age group comprises the youth aged 19-20 years. This was evidenced by former recruits from violent extremist groups interviewed in Cameroon (1 per cent), Niger (1 per cent), Sudan (14 per cent), Kenya (20 per cent), Nigeria (24 per cent) and Somalia (41 per cent) of a representative sample of 718 correspondents. Although some recruits are forced to join extremist groups, others join voluntarily. Those affiliated to Al-Shabaab (52 per cent) and Boko Haram (27 per cent) were the majority of the representative sample and in all cases the number of recruited men outweighed that of women. Again terrorism was mentioned at the 41st Summit of SADC Heads of State and Government in Lilongwe on August 17-18, 2021. President Samia Suluhu Hassan talked about it when delivering her speech and Malawian President, Dr Lazarus McCartthy Chakwera, who is also SADC chairperson. Dr Chakwera said “... the decision made by this Summit to have the United Republic of Tanzania host the Regional Counter Terrorism Centre under the SADC Regional Counter Terrorism Strategy and Action Plan is a step in the right direction.” “That centre will be yet another demonstration of our resolve to give no room to terrorism and radicalism and to keep our community peaceful.” Disastrous consequences of terrorism According to UNDP Regional Bureau for Africa, violent extremism in Africa has caused 33,300 fatalities between 2011 and 2016 and “is also posing a direct and manifest challenge to the gains enjoyed by many countries over recent years, and threatens to stunt development outcomes for generations to come if left unchecked.” Therefore, what we have been hearing about or seeing plaguing other countries and people “out there” and feeling sorry for them, those countries and people will also start hearing about or seeing us being plagued “right here” and they too will feel sorry for us if we let Africa be a fertile breeding ground for violent terrorism. Drivers of recruits to join violent extremist groups Negative early childhood experience perceptions, such as lagging behind in development due to neglect and political marginalisation, lack of exposure to people of other religions and ethnicities, low level of early childhood happiness, notably lack of parental care and low level of literacy and education, are cited in the UNDP report as giving an impetus for joining violent extremist groups. Conflict is the primary driver of terrorism since 2002 as one of the 10 countries most impacted by terrorism from 2002 to 2019 was involved in an armed conflict and at least one conflict led to 25 or more battle-related deaths. There were also 236,422 deaths from terrorism between 2002 and 2019 and of those deaths, just under 95 per cent (224,582) occurred in countries involved in conflict. Socioeconomic inequality, structural violence and lack of basic human needs are key recruitment drivers. GTI 2020 lists four types of horizontal inequalities (HI): economic horizontal inequalities (income, access to land, job opportunities), social horizontal inequalities (human capital, access to health or housing), political horizontal inequalities (top level political positions) and cultural horizontal inequalities (exclusion of specific cultural traditions by the state). Understanding of an individual’s religion and its significance and actual religious literacy is also cited as a reason for joining violent extremist groups. While 51 per cent of the respondents referred to religion as a reason for joining an extremist group, other respondents (57 per cent) said they knew very little or nothing about their religious texts. Furthermore, perception that an individual’s religion was under threat constituted a compelling reason for joining a violent extremist group. Impoverishment, including unemployment and underemployment, was a major source of frustration among a broad cross-section of respondents who joined extremist groups. There were also disparities in receiving salaries for being a member of a violent extremist group. Some recruits were paid above the local average, while others (35 per cent) received nothing during their recruitment. Lack of trust in the government is also prevalent in regions or countries with the highest incidence of violent extremism. Dissatisfaction with the government was highest among respondents who joined violent extremist groups such as a belief that the government favours a certain class of people or certain regions. Grievances against law enforcers and politicians constituted an average of 78 per cent rating low levels of trust in the police, politicians and military. There was also dissatisfaction with democratic institutions to deliver positive change. Government action, including extrajudicial killing of a family member or friend or arrest of a family member or friend, prompted some people (71 per cent) to join an extremist group. Arbitrary government action is a prominent enabler to recruitment. The speed of recruitment ranges from less than one month of contact with an extremist group (48 per cent) to less than a year (80 per cent of the respondents). While in other regions social networks were instrumental in recruitment, in Africa are not necessarily a significant means of recruitment. Holistic approaches to mitigate terrorism The 2015 United Nations Plan of Action on Preventing Violent Extremism calls on each member state to study the root causes and drivers of violent extremism. It also calls on inclusive national mitigation planning processes that involve government agencies, international and civil society stakeholders to fight against violent extremism. Mitigation approaches require not only state security-focused interventions, but also more effective human rights compliance, rule of law and state accountability. Improved good governance is an effective counter-terrorism and prevents violent extremism more than continued concentration on security-focused interventions. There is an urgent need for renewed state commitment to improving the quality and accountability of institutions in terms of service delivery in vulnerable areas. Improving democratic space beyond the time of elections and having meaningful civic engagement and participation in the national development agenda are key effective responses. The implementation of the Transforming Our World: Sustainable Development Agenda 2030, which includes the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in vulnerable areas, provides sustainable resilience. Responsible utilisation of development assistance and domestic resources to prevent violent extremism is needed to produce positive results. It is possible to prevent violent extremism if the youth are sensitised to see themselves as key contributors to sub-Saharan Africa's positive social change. Showing them how awful violent extremism is to peace and development may refrain them from joining violent extremist groups. So, let us engage them to prevent violent extremism before it is too late.

Thread starter Magobe T
Start date Aug 30, 2021
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SoC01 New threat: Epicentre of violent extremism shifting to sub-Saharan Africa

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