Africa's shadow enforcers
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Across the continent, governments have long relied on police and soldiers to maintain control. Increasingly, they are outsourcing that role to actors who work in the shadows. In Kenya, they are known as goons: young men who disrupt rallies and intimidate protesters for cash. In Togo, they are les miliciens: civilians accused of working alongside security forces during political crises.
In Egypt, the baltagiya break up demonstrations and influence elections. Their names differ, but they all allow the powerful to use intimidation and violence while maintaining plausible deniability. Our cover story, examines how these forces are recruited, financed and deployed. Alongside reporting from Kenya, Togo, and Egypt, contributors from Zimbabwe, South Africa, Nigeria, and Uganda trace parallel systems of outsourced political coercion across the continent today.
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