Countries emerging from violent conflicts or repressive authoritarian rule and seeking to transition into a more peaceful and democratic dispensation, face the inevitable challenge of designing and implementing justice, reconciliation and peacebuilding measures. Despite the complementary and interdependent nature of the pursuit of these measures they do ‘present societies in transition with major policy dilemmas and implementation challenges.’ This Horn of Africa Bulletin (HAB) edition is dedicated to assessing these dilemmas with a focus on the nexus between transitional justice, peacebuilding and reconciliation. Murithi’s article, in this edition, discusses the challenges relating to the limited implementation of the AUTJP and provides many suggestions including the centrality of the agency of state and non-state actors. Nzovu’s and Agonga’s articles discuss the importance of youth and women agency in addressing the gap in the implementation of the Kenya Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC). Dersso’s article critically interrogates how the absence of political agreement among the major political and social forces in Ethiopia, as well as the flaws in the design of the Reconciliation Commission has undermined its implementation. Agwanda’s provides a critique of the lack of progress in the implementation of Chapter 5 of the South Sudan peace agreement, which outlines the transitional justice provisions. Finally, Verjee’s personal reflection questions the utility of the term transitional justice and makes the case for a more transformative form of justice in Sudan.
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