Combating Civil Wars in Africa Exploring the Church’s Role in Bringing Sanity in Africa’s Chaotic Shores

Abstract

The Twentieth and twenty first centuries have been described as the age of anxiety. This is largely due to the many civil wars and conflicts that have been prevalent in our contemporary world, and especially with special reference to Africa which is the worst hit. In particular, armed conflicts been witnessed in Angola, Ethiopia Mozambique, Rwanda, Somalia and Sudan among others. Equally, civil wars have been witnessed in Angola, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Somalia and Sudan. Sadly, some of these States are at the verge of collapse due to the effect of these unfortunate civil wars and conflicts. Other countries that were affected by civil or ethnic conflicts, albeit at lower levels include: Burundi, Cameroon, Kenya, Nigeria, Togo, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Chad, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Malawi, Senegal, and South Africa. The latter has witnessed xenophobic attacks, especially in May 2008. Terrorism activities have also Increased, as it continues to create tensions among nations, religions, tribes and so on. To this end, this article seeks to explore the causes of civil wars and conflicts in Africa, that bleeds poverty on a mass scale. How can the church participate in curbing these wars and conflicts, and eventually usher-in sanity in these troubled waters? In its methodology, this article strives to redefine war and discusses the characteristics of modern warfare. Through an extensive review of relevant literature, the article has also attempted to explore the place of individual persons, the nation-states and the international network systems in combating civil wars; and lastly, it has endeavored to show the contribution of the church in wrestling out all forms of conflicts in the Sub-Saharan Africa.