By Bola Akinterinwa
AFRICOM is the acronym for Africa Command, and also a short form for United States Africa Command, which was created within the framework of the reorganisation of the US Military Command structure in February 2007, under the George W. Bush administration. As explained by the first Commander of the AFRICOM, General William ‘KIP’ Ward, the rationale for establishing the AFRICOM was to enable good governance in Africa without undermining the national sovereignty of any country. What is good governance in this case?
President Bush explained the mission statement of the AFRICOM thus: ‘this new Command will strengthen our security cooperation with Africa and help to create new opportunities to bolster the capabilities of our partners in Africa. Africa Command will enhance our efforts to help bring peace and security to the people of Africa and promote our common goals of development, health, education, democracy, and economic growth in Africa.’ In fact, as Pre