EFFECTS OF ARMED ETHNIC CONFLICTS ON SECURITY MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES IN MALAKAL TOWN, UPPER NILE STATE, SOUTH SUDAN

Abstract

This study explores how armed ethnic wars affect the development and security management in Malakal Town in the Upper Nile State in South Sudan where inter-ethnic violence has been constant as far back as independence in 2011. It is based on the desire to fill the gaps in the local conflict research, which aims to establish the cause of conflicts, their consequences, and possible security measures. The study takes an explanatory research design guided by the relative deprivation and social control theories. The surveys were done with 105 household heads chosen through stratified random sampling in Dinka, Shilluk, and Nuer communities with a response rate of 74.3. The analysis of in-depth interviews and questionnaires was conducted using SPSS where descriptive and inferential statistics were used. Results have shown ethnic rivalries (38.2%), political wrangles (30.3%), and a land conflict (19.7%) to be the major reasons which resulted because of poverty (94.8%), poor governance (92.3%), arms proliferation (96.1%), and unequal distribution of resources (97.5%). These have resulted in loss of farmlands (93.6%), food insecurity (100%), loss of income (97.5%), loss of livelihood (94.9%), and flight of investors (98.7%). Such security efforts as community policing and emergency responses have a partial success (74.4% approval) but are limited by the destruction of infrastructure and resource drainage. The study summarizes that the instability in the region is perpetuated by poor governance and ethnicism at the expense of development. It suggests the inter-ethnic dialogue, reform of the security sector, disarmament initiatives and equal-resource policies as the means of ensuring sustainable peace and socio-economic recovery.