JICA RI Interviews Ugandan and Tanzanian Governments

Senior Research Fellow Yuichi Sasaoka, a co-researcher for “Prevention of Violent Conflicts in Africa” project, visited Uganda and Tanzania from August 31 to September 9 to interview 15 people from the government, NGOs, and academia. The objective of the interviews was to pair up two countries which have clearly different political systems, political process, and disparities in income, assets, economic opportunities, education and health between groups with different identities, and study how these differences affect social stability.

The key point in researching the two countries is to see whether the groups and areas that had a highly sophisticated autonomous control, one which was protected by constitutions at independence in the 1960s, are blending or opposing after 50 years under a centralized government.

This research revealed that the current situations of autonomy in the two countries show quite a contrast. In Uganda, in addition to the old conflict between northern and southern groups, a new group conflict is taking place in the southwest. The cause of this new conflict appears to be complications in intra-group relationships in the western area, as well as land disputes. On the other hand, Zanzibar in Tanzania, which had limited access to political information, seems to be maintaining its autonomy.

Future field interviews and information-gathering will expand the research further. In addition, JICA-RI plans to present the research outcomes to the donor community. Its political implications, backed by empirical studies, can be used as a policy prescription for building a better political process for development, detecting the signals of conflict, and defining the role of development assistance.