Asymmetrical Warfare and International Humanitarian Law: The Somali Conflict as a Case Study

by | Sep 26, 2019 | ANUL, ANUL 2017 I2

Asymmetrical Warfare and International Humanitarian Law: The Somali Conflict as a Case Study

Authors Dennis M Ndambo

ISSN: 2521-2613
Affiliations: Law Lecturer at the School of Law at the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology
Source: Africa Nazarene University Law Journal, 2017, Issue 2, p. 119 – 140

Abstract

Kenya’s intervention in Somalia challenges the traditional legal bifurcation of international and non-international armed conflict. The situation in Somalia is quite peculiar in that there was a total collapse of state structures and the eruption of several armed groups trying to take over the power vacuum. The involvement of other states in the anarchic conflict challenged the legal justifications for such intervention. Kenya’s incursion into Somalia was compounded by conflicting reasons, contradictory statements by Kenyan and Somali officials, and changing objectives. This type of confused environment contributes to excesses of the military and results in a backlash from the civilian population. Additionally, technology has increasingly been challenging the legal principles regulating armed conflict. In previous wars, the conduct of hostilities was through ‘attrition warfare’—the serial destruction of the enemy’s military. Today, technology has evolved to such an extent that combatants can launch attacks at the enemy from vast distances, with a high degree of accuracy and, at times, without the need for ground troops. However, these developments are not without their dangers. While, principally, it was states that have been using advanced weaponry, nowadays even non-state actors are using them to commit terrorist acts. The great distances at which attacks can be carried out have led to depersonalisation of warfare and the sacrifice of innocent civilian lives with no corresponding remorse. When states are assured that their soldiers will not be killed by the enemy in the battlefield, it lowers the costs and risks of going to war, while increasing the likelihood of going to war, and the over-stepping of the rules of law. This is another contributing factor to extreme radicalization. This article addresses these and other legal issues, arising from Kenya’s armed intervention in Somalia.

Upgrading Customary Land Title Documents in Nigeria

by | Sep 26, 2019 | ANUL, ANUL 2017 I2

Upgrading Customary Land Title Documents in Nigeria

Authors Osose Eidenoje

ISSN: 2521-2613
Affiliations: Assistant Secretary of the Benin Branch of the Nigerian Bar Association
Source: Africa Nazarene University Law Journal, 2017, Issue 2, p. 85 – 118

Abstract

This article contains analysis of the concept of land ownership in Nigeria and espouses the recognition of indigenous or customary land title vis-à-vis ways of proving title, as outlined by the Supreme Court of Nigeria in the celebrated case of Idundun and Others v Okumagba and Others. The status of ‘Oba’s approval’ and kindred documents, under Benin and sister tribes’ customary law, as evidence of customary land title is examined and the extent to which it complies with statutory provisions for conventional title to land is evaluated. The Oba is the paramount ruler or king of a local tribe in Nigeria who is the trustee of all land within his domain, the Oba of Benin being one of the most prominent. The Oba is empowered to effect transactions relating to land on behalf of and for the benefit of all his subjects under customary law, including the transfer or bestowment of beneficial interest in property under his authority. The impact of the Land Use Act of 1978 on customary tenure is also discussed. The author opines that customary title documents ought to be registerable instruments because they are uniquely indigenous creations and registration would afford indigenous people the opportunity of recording their interests in modern formats. Reference is made to the prevailing situation in jurisdictions of other countries, like Ghana, Kenya and Australia, where indigenous titles have been made registerable. The article concludes that there is a need to upgrade customary title documents in line with contemporary trends by providing for their registration in a dual register at the Federal and State Lands Registries, to ensure that the advantages of formalisation of property rights are enjoyed by all Nigerian citizens.

Legal and Institutional Framework for Combating Trafficking in Persons in Nigeria

by | Sep 26, 2019 | ANUL, ANUL 2017 I2

Legal and Institutional Framework for Combating Trafficking in Persons in Nigeria

Authors Grace Abosede Oladele, Dr Odunola Akinwale Orifowomo

ISSN: 2521-2613
Affiliations: Olabisi Onabanjo University; Obafemi Awolowo University
Source: Africa Nazarene University Law Journal, 2017, Issue 2, p. 49 – 84

Abstract

Traffcking in persons, with Nigeria serving as a country of origin, transit or destination, has persisted despite legal instruments against traffcking in persons in Nigeria and specifc judicial pronouncements. This is not wholly surprising in the face of prevailing poverty, high levels of unemployment and unworkable legal and institutional frameworks against traffcking in persons in Nigeria. The problem is exacerbated by meagre penalties meted out by the court which, produce little or no deterrence. This article posits that until various defciencies in anti-traffcking laws, judicial decisions and activities of institutions established to combat traffcking in persons are addressed and socio-economic problems are tackled, elimination of traffcking in persons in Nigeria will not be possible. The article recommends amongst others, the review of anti-traffcking laws, severe sentences, increased funding and training of offcials in institutions established to combat traffcking in persons, improved social and economic systems and involvement of all stakeholders in eliminating traffcking in persons in Nigeria.

A Critical Analysis of the Gender Dimensions of Internal Displacement in Kenya

by | Sep 26, 2019 | ANUL, ANUL 2017 I2

A Critical Analysis of the Gender Dimensions of Internal Displacement in Kenya

Authors Dr Agnes Meroka

ISSN: 2521-2613
Affiliations: University of Nairobi
Source: Africa Nazarene University Law Journal, 2017, Issue 2, p. 31 – 48

Abstract

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees defines ‘internally displaced persons as persons or groups of persons who have been forced or obliged to flee or to leave their homes or places of habitual residence, in particular as a result of or in order to avoid the effects of armed conflict, situations of generalised violence, violations of human rights or natural or human-made disasters, and who have not crossed an internationally recognized State border.’ Twenty-six million people are displaced globally as a result of conflict and natural disasters and as at 2016, within Kenya, 138 000 people were estimated as being internally displaced as a result of conflict and violence and a further 40 000 as a result of other disasters. This article takes as its focus the effects of internal displacement on women, in particular Kenyan women in rural areas, and evaluates the international legal framework as well as Kenya’s national legal framework for the promotion of human rights of internally displaced women in Kenya. The author provides consideration of the gender dimensions of internal displacement and the role of the state in addressing the problems that women continue face, both as a result of this phenomenon and generally.

Planning the Future Progression of the South Sudan Post-Conflict Fiscal System: Charting the Development of its Fiscal Literacy

by | Sep 26, 2019 | ANUL, ANUL 2017 I2

Planning the Future Progression of the South Sudan Post-Conflict Fiscal System: Charting the Development of its Fiscal Literacy

Authors Attiya Waris

ISSN: 2521-2613
Affiliations: Senior Lecturer at the University of Nairobi, Kenya, School of Law
Source: Africa Nazarene University Law Journal, 2017, Issue 2, p. 1 – 30

Abstract

There are many conflict and post-conflict countries in Africa, including, but not limited to, Chad, Libya, Eritrea, Tunisia, Egypt, Rwanda, the Central African Republic and the Republic of South Sudan, the youngest country in the world at the time of the writing of this article. From a fiscal perspective, post-conflict and conflict states experience similar problems: the maintenance of peace (a substantial drain on resources), heavy dependence on donor aid and a traumatised and impoverished population, largely unaware of their citizenship responsibilities, including tax responsibilities, their primary focus, understandably, being on physical survival. This article focuses on improvements in fiscal literacy and taxpayer literacy, to encourage tax compliance amongst the residents of South Sudan. Schumpeter’s theory of the fiscal state, as developed further by Ormrod and Bonney’s typology of the fiscal state (comprising tribute, domain, tax and fiscal state taxation systems) is used to position the South Sudanese fiscal state in order to develop an understanding of the challenges the country faces in future progression of its development. The Ormrod-Bonney model has, previously, been further developed and applied in Africa (Kenya and Rwanda) and the article extends application of the model to South Sudan.