Woodstock Report | The Arms Trade in Africa

Father Eugene Goussikindey, a Jesuit from Kenya, delivered three lectures at Georgetown University this past semester as part of a visiting fellowship program sponsored by the Woodstock Theological Center and the university's Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs, with support from the Georgetown Jesuit Community. A theologian and philosopher, Father Goussikindey is founder of the Hekima Institute of Peace Studies and International Relations and is currently a research scholar at the Kroc Institute for International Peace at the University of Notre Dame. Following is an edited version of a paper he delivered on March 2 titled "Small Arms Trafficking and the Culture of Violence in Africa."

By Eugene Goussikindey

According to the Western media, HIV/AIDS is the major threat for Africa that calls for a global response. This particular scourge seems to be a real concern for some governments. Perhaps, having justified the collapse of their old standards of sexual morality in terms of the "sexual revolution," Europe and America face HIV/AIDS as a real threat in a global environment where travel (and sexual tourism) can be an easy breading ground for infection and the spreading of the virus.

In this context, the African response to the killer disease becomes a serious problem not only for Africans who are dying from it, but for the "West" as well. Perhaps too, the pharmaceutical industry anticipates that investment in HIV/AIDS in Africa could simply be a lucrative business in a competitive market economy. Meanwhile, malaria kills more than 70 children under the age of 5 daily in Kenya alone; on the continent as a whole, up to 500 million clinical cases were recorded in 2000 out of a total population of 550 million people. This is "five times more than the combined cases of tuberculosis, AIDS, measles and leprosy," the economist Jeffrey Sachs was recently quoted as saying, but it has not yet become a serious cause of worry.

Here is a thought: The threat caused by the proliferation of light weapons on the African continent is of unprecedented magnitude and gravity, far greater than HIV/AIDS and malaria. The first and disastrous impacts of HIV/AIDS and malaria are demographic, with severe economic and social implications. Basic medical protections combined with a significant change of habit can reduce the long-term effects of HIV/AIDS and malaria. However, because of the proliferation of arms, the fabric of the society itself is rapidly changing, moving toward self-destruction. This can be observed in three different areas:

1) The growing illegal character of the flow of arms in Africa is transforming the bulk of arms transfer from a decent accountable trade to what is better described as trafficking. Alarming is the number of states involved in the network of illegally channeled transfers of light weaponry; this often involves corruption, money laundering, and recycling.

2) The easy use of light weapons is leading to tragic consequences for the combatants but also for civilians, who form the majority of the casualties that include death, physical handicaps, and psychological trauma.

3) The most significant and far-reaching consequence of all this, in addition to the huge economic cost and the social crisis, is the shift of cultural values leading to a culture of violence now prevalent on the continent. The flourishing number of NGOs [non-governmental organizations] involved in the new industry of "humanitarian assistance" is but the most visible symbol of the destruction of the fabric of African societies. The massive presence of NGOs on the continent calls for systematic interdisciplinary research, for it signals the failure of some crucial social and political structures and the helplessness of the people.

Because of the proliferation of arms, the fabric of the society itself is rapidly changing.

Algeria, Senegal (Casamance), Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Chad, Central Africa Republic, D.R. Congo, Republic Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Angola, Uganda, Sudan, Ethiopia, and Eritrea have all been recently involved in armed conflict either internally or in nation-to-nation confrontations. These nations continue to be frequent destinations of arms transactions. The conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (D.R.C.) and its continuing effects on the Great Lakes Region stands as a vivid symbol of the new threat caused by war and arms trafficking on the continent.

Besides the death toll of actual combatants which has yet to be properly established in many of the warring countries, one has to account for deaths directly related to the conflict as the consequence of displacement, and of dangerous and exhausting journeys on roads, through forests, across rivers and lakes. Add the plight of refugees, their litany of suffering, rejection, and humiliation, and one concludes that the millions of refugees in Africa are but people who have been forced to die to their past, their culture, their environment, their extended relations, in order to survive transformed somewhere else. With the status of refugee, one is never fully integrated in a nation. Refugees may well be proud to give the best of themselves as a contribution to a nation but the deep feeling of being a stranger often overshadows this pride.

The millions of refugees in Africa are but people who have been forced to die to their past.

The illicit traffic of arms in Africa has not only generated wars. It has also developed a state of fear in countries where political opposition is quelled by state intimidation and assassination. Political violence is deliberately planned and dealt with in a show of force. The building of a so-called strong national army is not often for national security but for personal security, inducing the mentality of "might makes right." This trafficking in Africa has also been at the origin of the illicit traffic of natural resources like oil, gold, diamonds, timber, and coffee.

For adults and children, the psychological trauma is immeasurable. The lost productivity, which comes with displacement, is significant when refugees are forced to become dependent on humanitarian aid because they have to live in camps. Nations at war often divert their assets and current resources to buying arms. It is not always clear how much of the external debt is due to arms transfer. Some of the World Bank's rhetoric on structural adjustment and the service of debt would benefit from tackling this question. Africa needs more non-military aid than arms transfers and military training because the so-called "aid" is always a loan which has to be returned with or without interest.

The Response of Peace Builders

We often complain about the many conflicts in Africa. Once in a while, not without serious reason, we suspect and blame the "West" for fueling these conflicts in order to preserve their interest through their proxies. Recently, some have been more resolute in taking the initiative to work for peace and reconciliation. The growing number of NGOs devoted to peace and reconciliation is in itself an expression of the will to tackle the problems related to conflicts and wars.

Indeed, it is time to look for ways to bring about more transparency in arms transfers in Africa. The continent is still carrying the burden of the legacy of the cold war with the covert operators turning into dubious businessmen. Resources, which should be destined to health, education, and development projects, are diverted to the suppliers of arms as well as the shipping agents, and to deadly weapons. A restriction of the flow of weapons in Africa would require a revision of "international arms sales code" with practical mechanisms of control and penalty. This calls for a new legal system which is binding on all sides involved in arms trade. Even military cooperation should follow an "accountability act" for greater transparency when arms are delivered from government to government.

The security of African nations does not reside in the accumulation of large stockpiles of weapons. The security of African nations has to come from a comprehensive understanding of our future enshrined in legal agreements where offenses and disagreements are resolved through accepted protocols (dialogue). On the continent, there is a special need for individuals, institutions, trade companies, firms, and governments to abide by treaties and follow laws enacted for the common good.

To curb the present trend in arms trafficking in Africa, there should be significant changes in the criminal and justice system with regard to arms possession, arms trade and trafficking. The import-export laws have to make provisions for explicit declaration of weapons and material directly related to the production of arms. The border controls at airports, roads, and other points of transit have to be better monitored with strict regulations. The changes in laws could be accompanied by a greater coordination of efforts by states, the civil societies and religious groups to reduce the illegal arms flow on the continent. It is time that African governments and African peoples take responsibility for their own future in a way that does not lie in wars and the cultures of violence and illegality that come with them. Peace is indispensable for the development of Africa. In the present context, peace has to be redefined in correlation with arms control, conflict resolution, and peace building.

In addition to co-sponsors of the Berkley-Woodstock lectures, the Mortara Center for International Studies, the Center for Peace and Security Studies, the School of Foreign Service, and the African Studies Program, all at Georgetown, took part in promoting this particular lecture. The complete versions of this talk and others given by Father Gouissikindey are available online at http://woodstock.georgetown.edu/berkleycenter/.