Power, bad governance and persistent conflicts in the horn of Africa: a case study of south Sudan.

Abstract

This study seeks to explain how power, bad governance and greed by the political elites in government cause the violent conflicts witnessed in South Sudan. The overarching aim of this research is to establish a connection between authority, poor governance and recurrent conflicts in the Horn of Africa, using the Republic of South Sudan as a case to study. The thesis is driven by the following objectives: to explore the link between power, governance and conflict to scrutinize the relationship of power, governance and conflict in the Republic of South Sudan and, ultimately, to assess objectively the effects of struggle for power and weak governance on stabilization in South Sudan. This thesis will be driven by two hypotheses that: there is an inverse association between influence, poor governance and stability; and instability in South Sudan is primarily the product of power struggles and poor governance. The hypothesis used in this analysis is that the theory of greed vs. sadness developed by Hoeffler and Paul Collier. This research would have been inspired by the theory of greed vs. sorrow. This hypothesis focuses on the micro-level of conflict, which seeks the roots of conflict in terms of human motives to participate in aggression, and the large-scale escalation needed to turn a small problem into a fullscale war. This theory seeks to understand why rebel forces are emerging and why they are engaging in civil wars in order to demonstrate their frustration with the government. This research will integrate qualitative and quantitative approaches into the data collection process. . Primary data will be gathered by organized interviews and questionnaires with government agencies and officials of the South Sudanese Embassy in Nairobi. Major decision makers in intergovernmental organizations such as UN and UNMISS officials, as well as other non - profit organizations and refugees. There are five chapters in this review. Chapter one offers a sneak peek in to the analysis and provides a context to the causal association between thirst for power, poor governance and dispute. It will provide a brief context to the rise of governance as an important debate on state stability. The section will also include a statement of the research problem; the goals of the study; research questions and hypotheses; Justification and importance of the thesis with an emphasis on both theoretical and policy justifications. The section would also set out the theoretical context on which the analysis is based. Chapter two aims to explore the connection between influence, bad governance and recurring violence across the world through case studies of the Arab Spring and other revolutions across Africa. Chapter three explores the relationship between influence, bad governance and violence in the Republic of South Sudan. It assesses how decades of elite lust for influence in Sudan and the subjugation of South Sudan have driven the people to participate in civil wars that lasted more than three decades and only ended with the signing of the CPA. Chapter 4 tries to objectively examine the impact of power struggle and poor governance on South Sudan’s peace. Chapter 5 will conclude the report and identify relevant policy responses based on the results of the analysis. The segment will indicate whether or not the theories have been proved.