Military Aid to Civil Authorities (MACA) in the Context of Pandemic Response: Lessons from West Africa

Abstract

In 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak of COVID-19 as a global pandemic, calling on governments to take immediate steps towards halting its spread. In response to the scale, severity and devastation that characterized the pandemic, many countries initiated measures against the disaster, such as the imposition of quarantine, isolation, as well as the restriction of movements among others. The COVID-19 pandemic was also framed as a security threat at the national and global levels, which necessitated the cooperation between the military and civilians, within the framework of military aid to civil authorities. What constitute military aid to civil authorities? Under what conditions have the military been deployed in aid of civil authorities in West Africa? What key lessons were learnt from the use of the military in aid of civil authorities in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in West Africa? This paper examines the nature of civil-military relations as a vehicle for responding to pandemics in West Africa. It argues that the COVID-19 pandemic presented a major opportunity for cooperation between the military and civilian authorities in their efforts towards responding to the human, national and regional security challenges posed by the pandemic in the West African region. Though, the responses were largely national in design, the contagious effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, was one in which transnational cooperation amongst members of the West African region, under the auspices of the Economic Community of West African States, presented a real case of regional coordination and solidarity for effectiveness and efficiency, which this paper seeks to understand and highlight.