Author: Pios Ncube (Ph.D.), Director
Abstract:
In the last decade, disaster assistance has become a highly political activity. The assistance has largely influenced the socio-economic and political economies of recipient countries and nations. Yet, the principle of impartiality that should underpin aid provision, has suffered casualty right from global to local levels. International and global donors have strongly tied disaster aid to foreign policy advancement and to political and regime changes in recipient countries.
At local levels, disaster assistance has been tied to political objectives. It has been used as a tool to win the hearts and minds of people. Political establishments at the local levels have used disaster aid to buy votes and bribe the electorate; and worse still, disaster aid has also been looted by the most powerful and privileged people of recipient countries.
From the 2019 events that occurred that proceeded the cyclone in Southern Africa that were reported in the media, there was clear politicization of disaster aid by the government and those in power. A combination of politics, deep ideological divisions about the role of the governments and NGOs, corruption and political dysfunction in countries characterized executive responses to every natural disaster. This chapter discusses the plethora of issues involved regarding the politicization of disaster Aid during the response to disasters, particularly cyclones.
The 2019 Cyclones Idai and Kenneth that devastated Southern African countries particularly Mozambique, Malawi, and Zimbabwe reminded humanity of the wretch of nature. Massive flooding triggered a humanitarian crisis in the three countries, killing at least 700 people, leaving hundreds missing and thousands displaced and in need of emergency aid including food, shelter, and health just to name a few. Food aid became a bigger component of the response that the countries were expecting.
Utilizing the theoretical lens that humanitarian aid and assistance is based on the quadruple equation, that is, humanity+impartiality+neutrality+independence, the chapter will try to explore how disaster aid gets politicized in disaster situations, with emphasis on the lessons learned from the recent Cyclone Idai that hi Southern n African countries. This is, bearing in mind that in actual practice, humanitarian aid is political.
Under the realist perspective, governments are required to intervene in a humanitarian crisis aid interventions only when is a threat to their own interests and security and if their expected benefits exceed their expected costs. Governments are not supposed to intervene in aid distribution, and issue that is questionable in Southern Africa. The governments that give the response stakeholders permission to intervene guide humanitarian intervention. However, some governments overstep their boundaries and get involved in the activities of aid distribution thereby politicizing the activities, which are driven by apolitical NGOs, as per their mandates and Code of Conduct.
The study will utilize a qualitative design, underpinned by interpretivist theory; and shall use the case study method in the affected countries. A review of primary and secondary sources will be conducted, including the use of interview guides with key informants in respective countries. Data shall be analyzed using a combination of thematic tables, and Nvivo software for qualitative data analysis.
