Ethnic conflicts and statehood in South Sudan
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Date
2021-11
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Publisher
Kampala International University, College of Humanities and social Science
Abstract
study examined the impact of ethnic conflicts on the statehood in South Sudan. In doing so, the study set out to realize four objectives: to investigate the causes of ethnic conflicts in South Sudan; to examine the effects of ethnic loyalty on statehood in South Sudan; to evaluate the impacts of ethnic conflicts on statehood in South Sudan, and to determine the strategic remedies to mitigate the ethnic conflict in South Sudan. In addition, the study was guided by two theories namely: Elite Manipulation (EM) Theory and Theory of Protracted Social Conflict (PSC). The study adopted a cross-sectional survey design and a mixed method approach in data collection, whereby both quantitative (survey questionnaire) and qualitative (key informant interview) approaches were used to elicit data from the study. Quantitative approach, however, was the main source of data, whilst qualitative approach served as a supplementary source of data. The sample size consisted of 399 respondents for quantitative data determined through Slovene’s formula and another 15 key informants determined purposively by the researcher. Quantitative data were presented using descriptive statistics (frequency counts and percentages) and inferential statistics, while the hypotheses were tested using correlations and coefficients of determination. Then, qualitative data were analyzed using thematic analysis method, whereby raw data from the field were assigned preliminary codes in order to describe the content, followed by grouping the data based on identified patterns or themes of the codes across the different interviews. On the purpose of the study, which is the impact of ethnic conflicts on the statehood in South Sudan, the study found that ethnic diversity has positive and significant effect on statehood in South Sudan however, the ethnic conflicts make it a real challenge to the statehood. The findings also show evidence of a weak positive linear relationship between ethnic conflicts and statehood in South Sudan. On the first objective, the study found that unfair allocation of political positions, corruption and nepotism within the government system and power struggles among the elites are the main causes of ethnic conflict in South Sudan. On the second objective, the study found that ethnic loyalty which is associated with ethnic bias, sentiment and prejudice has a negative impact on the statehood in South Sudan. On the third objective, the quantitative data reveals that ethnic conflicts do not have any significant or direct impact on the statehood in South Sudan. However, the qualitative data differs as it indicates that ethnic conflicts have a direct adverse impact on the statehood in South Sudan. The fourth and final objective reveal that the remedies to mitigate ethnic conflicts in South Sudan are but not limited to: respect for minority rights and interest, fair allocation of state powers and national resources, restructure of the modalities of coexistence through ethnic dialogue. Other remedial measures include respect for ethnic communities’ boundary, promotion of friendly cooperation among ethnic groups, restructuring of state administrative organs into units that are fairly represented in terms of ethnic affiliations or introduce quota system for disadvantaged groups and spread across the different regions, full implementation of the 2018 revitalized peace agreement, particularly disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration (DDR) among others.
Description
A dissertation submitted to the college of humanities and social sciences, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of doctor of philosophy in conflict resolution and peace building of Kampala International University
Keywords
Ethnic conflicts, Statehood, South Sudan