Call for new strategies to deal with threats to national security

Fidelis Munyoro, Harare Bureau
KENYAN scholar Professor Patrick Lumumba says sources of conflict and threats to national security are no longer conventional and calls for new strategies to deal with the problem.

Presenting a lecture at the Zimbabwe National Defence College on the new threats to national security yesterday, Prof Lumumba said African governments should find ways of dealing with internal generators of conflict to have stability.

He cited poverty, corruption, social media, trade and unemployment among others as the new threats to national security in many African countries.

“I think our threats have become so unconventional that we have to come up with different strategies,” said Prof Lumumba.

Prof Lumumba who gave examples of Nigeria, Somalia, Sudan, DRC, and Cameroon among a host of other countries grappling with internal insurgence, said this called for military training to be overhauled to deal with the merging sources of conflict.

“The armed and defence forces are traditionally and conventionally not trained to confront such informal insurgence,” he said.

“The training offered in military colleges is that of one army wearing a different uniform invading the country.”

The renowned professor of law, said today Somalia is battling Al-Shabab, Sudan is facing rebellion from its citizens themselves who have become a threat to the leadership in that country.

“Those are threats to national security. Here in Zimbabwe you recently had street riots that caused instability. No country invaded you,” he said asking how authorities were supposed to deal with their own citizens.

“I hold the view, therefore, that it is important to deal with the internal arena. I am of the considered view that as long as we do not deal with internal generators of conflict then we cannot have peace.”

Prof Lumumba said some countries that are relatively enjoying peace like Scandinavia, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland— have improved their societies by providing basic needs for their population as a way of dealing with sources of conflicts.

These countries, he said had since closed most of their prisons because there were no criminals to talk about while African countries were building more prisons.

“The reason why they have reduced the number of prisons is that their societies have developed. There are certain basics that are catered for,” he said.

“The other area that I think we ought to deal with is how to use our resources for the benefit of the population.”

Prof Lumumba said those in public service should conduct themselves in a manner that benefit the people and avoid attracting negative role modelling for young people who then think that when you occupy such office then it’s an opportunity to engage in theft.