Power elites, war and postwar reconstruction in Africa: Continuities, discontinuities and paradoxes

Abstract

This article interrogates the manner in which the composition, character, regeneration, and accumulation strategies of power elites and the organisation of their hegemony is being affected or unaffected by recent developments, most especially, civil wars and their corollary, postwar reconstruction, in Africa. By seeking to understand how conflicts and post-conflict reconstruction alter or transform the character, recruitment and role of power elites, and the operational context (the nature of the state) in Africa, this article draws attention to the prospects of transforming the nature of leadership in Africa. I contend that the capacity for violence and terror by individuals (especially young combatants who were previously marginalised) and armed groups has become a new marker of elitism and a leverage on peace agreements. Moreover, post-Cold War conflicts in Africa have accentuated the emergence of war-making power elites as ‘executors’ and ‘trustees’ of peace treaties, or ‘peace celebrities’ with considerable leverage on the course and outcomes of postwar reconstruction. The instability in post-1989 Liberia is used as a case study to reflect this claim. I also cite examples of members and leaders of armed groups in countries such as Côte d'Ivoire, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of Congo where the capacity for violence translated into political rewards and gains in peace agreements.

Keywords:

• war
• power elites
• youth
• postwar reconstruction
• Africa
• Liberia

Acknowledgements

The author is grateful to CODESRIA for his participation (as Laureate) in the 2003 Governance Institute during which this article was conceived. I am also grateful to the two anonymous reviewers whose constructive comments helped improve the overall quality of the article.

Notes

1. These talks and peace agreements were among more than a dozen peace treaties signed in the run-up to the 1996–7 peace interregnum. For commentaries and details of the various peace talks and treaties see Aboagye (1999) and Oloniskain (2000).