ABSTRACT
Unrepresentative and autocratic regimes in many postcolonial states of Africa gave rise to insurrections during the second half of the twentieth century. The white people’s apartheid regimes collapsed in the face of indigenous black insurgencies and an unfavourable international climate. Christopher Clapham categorises the insurgencies which post-1945 Africa is witnessing into four categories: liberation insurgencies, separatist insurgencies, reform insurgencies and warlord insurgencies. Liberia’s physical geography aids operation of the guerrilla forces. The insurgency led by the Revolutionary United Front of Sierra Leone (RUF) started in March 1991 and the insurgents captured Freetown on 25 May 1997 amidst anarchy, mayhem and widespread looting. The small Hutu elite of Rwanda was the product of the Catholic Church during the closing days of colonialism. Sudan is a country with 25 million people speaking 100 different languages. The Bashir government then relied on the tribal militias to crush these insurgencies.
