We're number 2! We're number 2! (for insecurity... yeah!)

Lovely to be back from R&R. I spent 2 weeks in the Europe eating and drinking all the things. I think I visited every H&M on the continent to replace my wardrobe that has slowly eroded into nothing over the last seven months. Have to be well dressed to face Lakes State's recent promotion to second most insecure area!

When I left RBK there were altercations with the police and wildlife services over cut in pay. Without going into details, the event was a lot worse than what the media makes it out to be (*cough* there is absolutely no suppression of the media here). I've returned to something a bit worse.

Currently it is the season for traditional dancing and gatherings. Which on the surface is really cool. There are a lot of cattle keepers in town, there are a lot of flags and singing and dancing and running and drumming etc etc. But there are also a lot of guns. There have been shootings everyday at schools, on the street, late at night. There have also been a number of break ins to businesses, kidnappings and threats to business owners, and systemic attacks against East Africans and South Sudanese that are not from Lakes (Lakes is also just getting over a malaria epidemic and  MASSIVE floods that displaced an estimated 23,000 people in Awerial County in Lakes).

Next week salaries are released again. There is still no money to pay the armed services their full salaries. We've also been informed that the SPLA may not get their full salaries either - which may make them a bit peeved. They were the only government body to be paid, in full (or at all) since the beginning of austerity measures. This place will be one to watch. 

FORTUNATELY, the Sudanese and South Sudanese executives have agreed on enough to start the oil  flowing again and solve some of the citizenship issues. This will still take 6 months for any revenues, but they will both be eligible for loans. There's also a rumour that the Qataries threw a few hundred million dollars into the pot to help float this place (and promptly decrease the already artificially low exchange rate... sigh...). So I hope everything will calm down a bit and everyone can get paid. What the deal did not do is tough the disputed territories on the borded of the North and South. Nor did it discuss how the North is air dropping arms into Jonglei State, or how the South is turning a blind eye to militias operating openly out of Unity State. But foreign enemies are a nice distraction from the internal issues that both countries face. So I guess they may not want to clean these up too quickly?

 

Long story short. South Sudan. One to watch?

Policy Brief on Female Police Staff Associations and Gender Sensitive Police Reform

The North-South Institute has a policy brief out on Female Staff Associations in West Africa and their contributions to Gender Sensitive Police Reform called Freedom Through Association: Realizing the Potential of West Africa's Female Police Staff Associations. 

Liberia's Bike Riders

Motorcycles are everywhere in Monrovia.

During the Liberian civil war combatants and refugees sought refuge in neighbouring Guinea. Inspired by the enterprising young Guineans running their own business, Liberians returned with an idea to fill the transportation gap in their country ravaged by years of war. Former Combatants used the money they received from the DDRR process to purchase inexpensive Chinese motorcycles and lease them to drivers.

The business model exploded.

The work serves as good employment for scores of unemployed young men - an estimated 75% or more are former combatants. It also provides employments for younger members of society, as motorcycles washers. The children use the money to pay excess school fees.

But the model isn’t perfect. This mode of transportation is dangerous. Daily there are several crashes resulting in severe injuries and sometimes death. The bikers do not wear protective gear – neither do their passengers – and outside Monrovia, it’s rare that they have a license. The bike riders have a tenuous relationship with the police and some members of the community who see the bike gangs as unsafe. Altercations with the police have left some police stations up in flames. Police and community members know bike riders can organise quickly and as a result there is unease about the gangs of bike riders.

It’s something the police are going to have to work with. Motorcycle taxis, or “motos” as they are known in some areas are becoming an increasingly common mode of public transportation in West Africa. It is inexpensive, the bikes are easy to maintain, and business is flourishing as a result of limited public transportation options. More importantly, they are fast. They can weave in and out congested traffic on overcrowded streets.

There is work to further professionalize the practice – realising that it provides much needed employment to young men (from what I’ve gathered there aren’t any female bike riders). NGOs, the UN and even the World Bank have worked with the Bike Riders Association – their informal union – to increase licensing, encourage safer practices and facilitate dialogue between the police and the bike riders. These actions have some effect, yet more is likely needed to improve the safety of the community and the riders themselves. Much more needs to be done to build trust between the police and the bike riders.