Browsing by Author "Kaddu, Ronald"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2

Analysis of the AU–EU Relations Under the AfCFTA Framework in a Neoliberal Context
(Springer, 2024-05) Kanyamurwa, John Mary; Kaddu, Ronald; Karemire, Robert
This chapter contributes to the plethora of neoliberal evidence that addresses itself to the fundamental regional integration political and economic anxieties, specifically focusing on AfCFTA processes. Employing a political economy approach to qualitatively analyze the AU–EU relations, the chapter analyzes these exchange processes in the context of rampant capitalism effectively ushered in Africa from the late 1980s. We demonstrate that the AfCFTA takeoff in 2021 might not quickly bring easy continental trade leap forward mainly due to uneven returns’ distribution dynamics, structural and logistical AfCFTA challenges and the inevitable neoliberal paradoxes set to adversely shape the agreement’s functionality. We, thus, argue that the integration forces within the AfCFTA parties continue to shape the emerging AU–EU relations, nevertheless, with overall progressive indicators to Africa’s industrial revolution. However, these promises are dependent on appropriate policy options undertaken particularly in the next AfCFTA rounds of negotiations. For AfCFTA to become an effective mechanism for promoting productive AU–EU relations, the analysis recommends profound reconstruction of the agreement provisions in the next rounds of trade discourses to ensure a universally profitable trade regime for all partners.
Elections and domestic peace in Africa: assessing peace opportunities in Uganda’s 2021 presidential election
(Springer International Publishing, 2022-11) Kanyamurwa, John Mary; Kakuba, Juma Sultan; Kaddu, Ronald; Babalanda, Stanely
Substantial narratives have in recent years been woven around the role of electoral democracy, widely welcoming it as a symbol of Africa’s advancement towards nonviolent power transfer and political stability. Yet, such analyses have often overlooked the unswerving electoral effects on critical peace perspectives in individual African countries. Contributing to the broader discourse on electoral democracy and peaceful democratic upshots, this chapter uses Uganda’s 2021 presidential election, held under COVID-19 pandemic regulations, to assess the domestic peace prospects attendant to electoral democracy as per current studies. Accordingly, adopting exploratory qualitative methods, the paper makes several arguments. First, the introduction of major constitutional reforms which centrally provided for competitive electoral democracy starting from the early 1980s, on which the January 2021 presidential election was based, paved the foundations for domestic peace in the country. Secondly, in line with the study results, we maintain that the 2021 presidential election processes fundamentally undermined domestic peace opportunities. This perspective was particularly reinforced by the experiences of violence leading to unfortunate civilian deaths, abductions and citizen incarcerations following the short-lived arrest of one of the presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in late 2020. Third, the results underscored a perspective on how key electoral and state security institutions detrimentally shaped the 2021 presidential election, inauspiciously contributing to events that further progressively eroded domestic peace. For more enduring and even-handed domestic peace in the country, the paper recommends profound constitutional reforms focusing on checks and balances, more inclusive electoral laws and security reforms aimed at boosting domestic peace in the context of electoral democracy.