In the line of duty: Militarising African epidemics
| Published date | 01 July 2024 |
| Author | Tim Allen,Melissa Parker |
| Date | 01 July 2024 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/1758-5899.13297 |
Global Policy. 2024;15(Sup pl. 4):97–10 8.
|
97
wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/gpol
1 | PUBLIC AUTHORITY AND
EPIDEMIC COMBAT
In October 2022, an article in Ug anda's New Vision news-
paper described how five health workers were exposed
to Ebola ‘in the line of duty’ (Okoth,2022). Television cov-
erage of their discharge from the hospital was revealing.
They were sitting in a line, wearing identical blue overalls,
surrounded by staff wearing green. It looked like they were
being paraded as prisoners of war. The Ugandan Minister of
Health issued them ‘discharge cer tificates’, as if they were
being awarded amnesty documents. President Museveni,
Uganda's head of state, had proclaimed that Ebola ‘is an
enemy we can easily fight’ (Kasibwe,2022a, 2022b), an d
security rhetoric was widespread in th e Ugandan media.
There were references to healthcare workers as ‘Ebola
Fighters’ (Sserugu,2022); to those avoiding monitoring as
‘escapees’, and those who might be infected as ‘suspects’
(Mo nitor, 2022a, 2022b). Privately, staff working for inter-
national agencies expressed concer ns to us about the ap-
proach. However, they should not have been surprised.
The militarization of disease control has esc alated in the
past decade with international suppor t. Using a public au-
thority lens, we discuss how the situatio n has come about
and comment on the implications for t wo African coun-
tries: Uganda and Sierra Leone.
The term ‘public authority’ is use d to refer to any kind of
authority beyond the immediate family that commands a
degree of consent (CPAID,2018). A public authority lens fo -
cuses on the relationship between formal, informal, parallel
and hybrid authorities; and foregrounds socio -political dy-
namics that might otherwise remain hi dden from view (Kirk
& Allen,2021; Parker etal.,2019a). In so doing, it pr ovides
an opportunity to explore how, and why, ostensibly similar
policy measures are implemented, experienced, an d per-
ceived in different ways. The approach proves illuminating
when comparing militarised epid emic control measures in
Uganda and Sierra Leone, and assessing ways in which
their national responses have been linked to global policy
agendas and evaluated by public health analysts.
The two countries have similarities in that they both
share a history of British colonial r ule, have experienced
RESEARCH ARTICLE
In the line of duty: Militarising African epidemics
TimAllen1 | MelissaParker2
Received: 12 Decem ber 2022
|
Revised: 30 Septe mber 2023
|
Accepted: 2 Oct ober 2023
DO I: 10 .1111/17 58- 589 9.13 297
This is an open ac cess article under t he terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium,
provided the original work is properly cited.
© 2023 The Authors . Global Policy published by Durham Universi ty and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
1Firoz Lalji Institu te for Africa, London
School of Economics and Political
Science, Lond on, UK
2London Schoo l of Hygiene & Tropical
Medicine, Lon don, UK
Correspondence
Tim Allen, Firoz La lji Institute for Africa ,
London School of Economics and Political
Science, Lond on, UK.
Email: t.allen@lse.ac.uk
Funding information
Arts and Huma nities Research Counc il,
Grant/Award Numb er: AH/T007524/1;
Economic and So cial Research Counc il,
Grant/Award Numb er: ES/P010873/1
and ES/W00786X /1; H2020 European
Research Coun cil, Grant/Award Number:
101016233; Wellcome Trust, Grant/Award
Number: 212536/Z /18/Z; Trajectories of
displaceme nt - GtR - UKRI ES/P004911/1.
Principal Investigator: Tim Allen.
Abstract
The deployment of soldiers for epidemic c ontrol in Africa has become more ac-
ceptable, even when human rights violations occur. This article outlines how
this situation has arisen, foregrounding overlapping proc esses since the 1990s
and the implications of Securit y Council Resolution 217 7. It then explores effects
with reference to Sierra Leone and Uganda. Drawing on lo ng-term fieldwork, it
discusses militarised epide mic control programmes during Ebola and COVID-19
outbreaks. It points out similarities in the respo nses to epidemics in these two
countries, including the violent enforc ement of regulations, but also striking differ-
ences. In Sierra Leone, a democratic transiti on of governmental power occurred,
whereas militarised epidemic contro l in Uganda helped entrench autocratic pub-
lic authority. To the extent that there is data available, disease control outcomes
in the two countries were not widely divergent, yet the Ugand an response has
been valorised. This highlights a drif t towards less accountable forms of govern-
ance, justified by purported public heal th objectives.
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