COVID-19 or Existing Volatilities? Implications of COVID-19 on Violence in East Africa

Abstract

Abstract This paper examines the implications of COVID-19 on violence in the traditional East African countries: Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya. The paper asserts that while episodes of violence increased during the pandemic, such episodes cannot be understood in isolation from the local context, which was already volatile before the pandemic. COVID-19 sparked the already existing conflicts and violence in different ways: Firstly, it increased state crimes – as it was exploited by repressive states and governments to legitimize clampdown of political opponents and civilians. Secondly, extremist groups exploited the fears and discontents caused by the pandemic to infuse violent narratives targeting a marginalized population affected by the pandemic, and finally, threats and attacks from extremist groups increased – as governments were preoccupied dealing with socio-economic and health problems caused by the pandemic. Thus, the extent to which the pandemic can cause violence is dependent on the context itself. Violent episodes increased in the East African context since it was already volatile before the pandemic.