Pliny The Elder is quoted as saying:
Ex Africa semper aliquid novi - (There is always something new in Africa)
This is of course nonsense other than to those who have little knowledge and/or understanding of Africa.
Much is predictable in Africa as elsewhere expect to those who attempt to transplant principles and approaches from Europe or North America directly without thought.
Training the police is as fruaght with difficulties as training the militaries.
Kenyans five times more likely to be shot dead by police than by criminals
and then:British aid focused on reforming Kenya's security services fails to slow deaths at the hands of police force considered among the world's most corrupt
Now here is the crunch:Providing training and advice to reform the country's security sector and its police is part of the £125 million that the Department for International Development gives Kenya in aid each year.
The sad truth is that the Brits are achieving absolutely nothing in Africa, and probably neither are the French... so what chance have the Americans or for that matter the Chinese?Significant chunks of Britain's aid for police reform was directed to establishing the Independent Police Oversight Authority, which despite a staff of 80 has so far failed to complete any investigations more than two years after it was formed.
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