Inter Region Economic Network organized its 7th IREN Eastern Africa Media Training from 11th to 14th of March at the Panafric Hotel in Nairobi, Kenya. The theme was “Africa Resources Conflict: Whose Interest Does the Press Serve?” The training brought about participants from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Ghana.

In his opening remarks, James Shikwati, IREN Kenya director said the media has veered off from its role as the people’s watchdog and engrossed itself in serving a particular class of people. He pointed out that the media has not been keen in highlighting resource based conflicts in the continent and urged journalists to challenge themselves and embrace analytical reporting of issues.

While tackling natural resources distribution in Africa, Moses N. Masibo from Mines and Geological Department Ministry of Environment and Mineral Resources stated that Africa’s natural resources include: water, hydroelectric power, geothermal energy, forests resources and mineral resources.

Africa has abundant water resources in the form of large rivers such as: Congo, Nile, Zambezi, Niger, Yala, Tana, Nzoia and Lake Victoria. However, the continent is the world’s second driest continent in the world, after Australia.  Groundwater is increasingly being recognized as an important resource of water that may alleviate the scarcity situation in Africa and its resources in Africa are broadly distributed, of generally good quality and resilient to climate variability.

The continent’s numerous rivers and the abrupt descents of the waterways have led to estimates that Africa has approximately 40 percent of the total world hydroelectric potential. Electric generating capacity in Africa is concentrated in two regions — North and Southern Africa.  Combined, those two regions alone accounted for 82% of total power generating capacity in Africa.

The geothermal energy potential in Africa’s Rift Valley using present-day technology is in the 2.5 to 6.5 GW range.  Despite these extensive geothermal resources in the African Rift region, only Kenya has started exploiting this renewable energy potential, with an installed production capacity of 127 MW.

There are two main types of natural forest in Africa namely: Rain Forest comprising more than 30% canopy cover with the canopy being more than 75% evergreen broadleaf and thorn Forest with more than 30% canopy cover in which the canopy is mainly composed of deciduous trees with thorns and succulent phanerophytes. The forest ecosystems of the Congo basin span across much of Central Africa, from the Atlantic Ocean’s Gulf of Guinea to the mountains of the Albertine Rift in the East.  Kakamega National Reserve which is a 36 km2 reserve, situated at the north end of the Kakamega Forest, in Western Province, Kenya, at an elevation of about 1560 m, along the northeastern edge of the Lake Victoria basin.

Other mineral deposit found in Africa include: Gemstones, Gypsum – Kenya has one of the larges deposits in the world, Limestone, Dimension stone and Heavy mineral sands (with titanium) – Kenya and Mozambique have large deposits.

It is evident that Africa has immense natural resources. The continent possess significant deposits of various minerals and has huge geothermal potential. Although the continent is generally dry, it has a reasonable number of rivers and groundwater that if well managed can alleviate water shortages and enhance food security.

On resource driven Conflicts: Emma Oketch, Lecturer Institute of Diplomacy and International Studies University of Nairobi bean by defining Natural resources as the physical assets of the planet which can be divided into land based (most basic) and sea based resources (fish stocks and those relating to the sea bed). Natural resources are those which are found in their natural form, for example, diamonds and other minerals, forests, oil, pasture, watering points and fisheries. Natural resources are territorially divided between states and legally owned as private or public goods.
On sea based resources she said the major exception to territoriality is the seas.

Traditionally under the principle of the freedom of the seas and the contemporary idea of the common heritage of mankind and the laws of the sea the seas become an exception to this rule. Under the law of the sea territorial waters remain under the jurisdiction of states but beyond that all the resources found in the seas belong to all mankind as a common heritage.
Land based resources do not fall under the common heritage rule as they belong to the territory of the state. Since resources occur naturally they often lead to disparities rather than equalities. Natural resources are also used to define power and capability. This leads to hierarchy and stratification of states according to natural resources.
On Resource Conflicts and Resource Scarcity she said studies of conflict typically find a strong relationship between natural resources and conflict. Violent conflict may arise from competition for limited or inequitably distributed resources. The problem of sharing resources is vast and there are many examples of resource conflicts.
If we take water conflicts we can easily see that conflicts often occur over water sources.

This may be due to scarcity, degradation or activities of upstream states/ upper riparian which cross boundaries. Examples of this are seen in River Nile (often called the one river, nine states). This is also true in other volatile areas like the Middle East and added that deteriorating resource bases coupled with a rapidly growing population can exacerbate the existing tension.
Homer-Dixon distinguishes between three forms of resource scarcity:

1. Demand-induced scarcity which results from population growth. Demand induced scarcity can be seen for example in terms of oil and water. Due to the rising global population there is more demand for oil and for water.
2. Supply-induced scarcity which arises from the depletion or degradation of a resource. This is seen for example in the pastoral areas of North Eastern Kenya where pasture lands have been degraded due to the cyclic drought patterns and overgrazing.
3. Structural scarcity which arises relates to the distribution of a particular resource. This can be seen for example in the distribution and construction of watering points or even distribution of the proceeds from naturally occurring resources.

A fundamental debate in the causes of natural resource based conflict, particularly internal conflict, is the greed versus grievance debate. Another cause of conflict in the economic debate is seen where economic dependence on natural resource may lead to conflict. There has also been debate about how far greed should be considered a root cause of regional conflict.  Some scholars argue that there is a danger in overselling greed as a causal factor in promoting conflict. They claim that it can lead to simplistic and historical analyses that fail to address the complex interaction of political, social and economic factors, particularly at local level.

However over the past decade explanations of greed have become an increasingly popular conceptual tool for understanding conflict in sub-Saharan Africa.  The Great Lakes region provides ample evidence to back up the importance of greed in fuelling and sustaining regional conflict since 1996.  Military operations in the region appear designed to secure control over valuable economic resources. Rather than these resources constituting economic means to political ends, it has been argued that these means have become the end.

At the same time, these armed groups are increasingly able to forge links with international economic actors, operating legally or illegally, so expanding opportunities for rapid accumulation. In such circumstances, it is positively to the advantage of armed groups if the state is weak or in a state of collapse as it allows them to act with impunity.
It also obviates the need to build extensive domestic constituencies of support. Economic analysis on the other hand sees conflict as a manifestation of economic crimes like corruption.

Collier sees economic characteristics related to natural resources determining the risk of and conflict itself. Collier empirically relates the risk of conflict to three major factors:
Firstly, economic characteristics such as dependence on primary commodity exports, secondly, low average income and thirdly, slow growth are significant and powerful predictors of civil war. Whenever natural resources have contributed eventually to violent conflict, the societies have often endured long periods of structural violence where structures in society prevented human beings from achieving their full potential and satisfying basic needs.

Economic, political, legal and cultural structures and their relation to natural resources may give rise to conflicts for instance cultural structures determining pastoral communities livelihood may conflict with agrarian livelihoods. Semi arid areas may be ignored politically leading to scarcity of natural resources and conflict.

Journalists should understand that conflicts are not mono-causal so they should not be over simplified or attributed to one indicator. Underlying causes should be understood plus effects of conflicts on groups should be understood (costs, benefits, bystanders), heck facts (problem of re-invention of history, actors are often biased) Role of media in conflict prevention (reporting for early warning, forming networks). They should play a role in management and peace building (consequences of stories, problem solving, shared history, truth and reconciliation). Problems of reporting on resource based conflicts were highlighted as: Lack of security, Journalists as parties to the conflict, Role in conflict escalation and the Complex nature of conflicts.

James Shikwati, IREN’s director addressed participants on resource driven conflicts said conflicts are artificially created by some silent powers out of Africa. He gave example of DRC conflicts and said there are powers benefiting as Africa plunder in conflict. He gave an example of slave trade whereby a person who introduces it takes it away. He said an Africa channel should be introduced to tackle African issues just like the Arab world has Aljazeera and Britain has BBC. He said the media still doesn’t know how to create a good story. He said most Africans trust foreign media than their own despite the fact that foreign media paint Africa negatively. He called upon journalists to involve themselves in creating cutting edge stories and decipher main issues.

Onyango Oketch, a visual artist on handling Impact of resource driven conflict in Africa on women and children empahasised on social and economic programs in Africa. He argued that the programs have actually been drawn up by outsiders. The governments pretend that they are committed to these programs to get aid but then follow a different agenda. Increasingly the state policies and state structures become an empty shell and the president and his cronies work through systems and networks which by-pass the state structures.

This phenomenon translates to Africa’s lack of confidence in the institutions it inherited from the former imperial rulers – but the failure to come up with alternatives is a lack of confidence in Africa’s own culture, its own ideas, and its own people. This, I suggest, is the worst legacy of colonialism.

Until Africa regains its self confidence and develops some institutions it actually believes in, it will remain weak and it will fail. This is the African Renaissance.  To elaborate on the impact of conflict on women and children in Africa, he gave an illustration of David Shukman – BBC, 6 May, 2000 “The Sound ofCrutches”
“I watched their bare feet shuffling through the dust of the street in front of me. Except that the sound I was hearing wasn’t just that of a shuffle. There was a « clump-click»  as well – the sound of crutches hitting the dirt of the road. One after another, the victims of Angola’s landmines were struggling by – each of them missing a leg – a young woman in a bright-yellow dress chatting to the friend beside her, an old soldier in a filthy uniform, scowling and battered, a harassed-looking mother with a baby strapped to her back and a vast load of firewood balanced on her head. So many victims were passing by that I looked at my watch and started counting – and during the next 10 minutes I saw no fewer than nine disabled people. Nearly one a minute, on an ordinary street on a typical weekday morning. No wonder the total number of landmine victims in Angola is unknown – it’s beyond counting. ‘

On the Bottom line versus News, Chaacha Mwita of Media Focus on Africa Foundation distinguished between the public/community media versus the private corporate media. Corporate media capitalizes on profit. It was noted that Africa as a whole doesn’t have community media. In every media house, there is perpetual divide between corporate side and journalism side. Corporate media insists on making profits while the journalism side insists on good journalism which often goes against the business interests.
Whereas journalism should be independent, pure, unpolluted on impurities of money and power, corporate side ticks on money.
Journalists who want to stay longer in the profession have therefore internalized how to strike a balance between corporate interests and the call of journalism where possible, where this balance is impossible to reach; there is no doubt that profit considerations override journalism dictates.

The fact that profits are supreme is manifested in many other ways, including crucially, how journalists are paid in comparison to others working for media houses. Let’s face it. If journalists would be equally or better paid than sales people and marketers, for example, as it is, sales people always wonder why journalists work so hard and look so miserable. On TV and radio, talking heads earn so much more than the foot soldiers who bring in the fodder that the talking heads feed on. Few of the talking heads have set foot inside a journalism class, few of them can tell the smell of teargas; few even know the ethical issues around journalism. Community or plural journalism should be adopted in that they are liberal and pluralistic.

Karen Rothmyer a consultant editor with the Nairobi Star tackled “calls from above” (political interference versus patriotism) said the government of business elites restricts journalists. She urged journalists to retain sense of what matters like environmental degradation and mineral extraction, there is need to understand the world in terms of global needs. Journalism should be focused on issues affecting citizenry. Journalists should promote patriotism instead of sowing seeds of discord, we need to stop dwelling on negatives which breeds uncertainties. It is true journalists get several hate mails and phone calls if they say the truth.

While addressing “Who Should Regulate the Media? Defining and Safeguarding the Public Interest”, Dr. George Lugalambi, Head of Mass Communications Department of Makerere University asserted that Media and communication are at the heart of good governance. Good governance is: “…the state’s responsiveness to its citizens’ aspirations and needs, accountability for its actions, and its capability to perform key functions.Media form should be democratic i.e. open, participatory, diverse, plural, independent, ethical, professional and the content should be information that enables media consumers to function as citizens. Because media & communication are public goods i.e. Government can’t be responsive without means & motivation to listen to & engage with citizens and can’t be accountable without transparency in public systems & if citizens have no means of monitoring those in power. Insights on “fostering responsible media” from the 2005 African Governance Report of the Economic Commission for Africa: Striving for Good Governance in Africa recommended actions “to build a credible, vibrant and responsible media” in Africa. As implied in the “public interest” and “responsible media” principles, media regulation should be founded on society-sanctioned values and expectations as opposed to state-inspired control impulses and motives.

Ernesto Yeboah, Ghanaian based journalist while tackling professionalism and work ethics stressed that journalism is a calling. He urged African journalists to fast in picking news and redefine continents’ outlook. He urged journalists to move beyond traditional confines of the professional arrangement and confront challenges facing the continent. Journalists should adopt revolutionary morality and offer solutions, there is need for journalists to rise up from little corners and become continental players. It is time journalists positioned themselves by exercising self confidence and open their horizons.

In conclusion, it was pointed out that press should play a greater role in peace building and avoid sensationalism. The press should avoid glorifying people fueling violence and should move from the mindset that politics of the day is what makes news. The media should reports solutions by going to the root causes and embracing analysis. African journalists should establish regional networks and embrace positive reporting about the continent. Above all, professional ethics should not be thrown out of the window. If the journalists become more engaged in covering issues pertinent to Africa, then it will in deed serve Africa’s interest but more work needs to be done.

Akinyi Janet and Josephat Juma – The African Executive