Africa must regain command of its security architecture

The continent must not stand by as foreign fighters tighten their grip

- ADEOYE O. AKINOLA

ON JUNE 17, the United Nations Working Group on “the use of mercenaries as a means of violating human rights and impeding the exercise of the right of peoples to self-determination” co-hosted a dialogue with the Institute for Pan-African Thought and Conversation (IPATC) at the University of Johannesburg.

The event, titled “Hybridisation in the Use of Violence: Emerging Trends in Mercenaries, Mercenary-Related Actors, and PMSCs”, explored the shifting dynamics of mercenaries and private military and security companies (PMSCs) in Africa, examining their historical evolution, contemporary manifestations, and the complex challenges of regulating their activities, with particular focus on protocol development and the role of civil society in influencing governance frameworks.

Even as many now choose to feign ignorance of the undeniable presence of mercenaries and foreign fighters on African soil, and the havoc they continue to wreak, the revelation of nearly 300 Romanian mercenaries surrendering after being enlisted to fight alongside the national army in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in January this year, has served as a sobering reminder.

This development has reinforced the urgency to confront the alarming trend and nature of the externalisation of Africa's peace and security architecture. Despite the prohibitions enshrined in the 1989 International Convention against the Recruitment, Use, Financing and Training of Mercenaries and the 1977 OAU/AU Convention for the Elimination of Mercenarism in Africa, PMSCs continue to penetrate and entrench themselves within the security apparatus of states, notably in Mozambique and across the Sahel region.