How elections weaponise East and Southern Africa's informal settlements
Urban informal settlements are increasingly targeted during election cycles as centres of political mobilisation or violence.
Date: 2026-06-03
Time: 09:00 to 10:30
Venue: Online via Zoom
East and Southern Africa’s urban crisis is habitually miscast as a shortage of houses or pipes. The real issue is power struggles that weaponise access to land, housing and amenities and treat inhabitants of informal urban settlements, especially the youth, as a means to mobilise political support.
This webinar will examine how informal urban settlements develop their own political economy, in which governments provide the bare minimum of basic services, making residents an ideal social group to mobilise for votes and violence during elections.
This event is co-hosted by the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) and Good Governance Africa (GGA).
Moderator: Stephen Buchanan-Clarke, Program Head, Peace and Security Program, Good Governance Africa (GGA)
Panelists:
- Dr Mmabatho Mongoe, Head, Governance Insights and Analytics, GGA
- Wellington Muzengeza, Independent Political Risk Analyst and Urban Strategist
- Dr Willis Okumu, Senior Researcher, Transnational Threats and Organised Crime, ISS Nairobi
