Delayed Peace and Tranquillity in Africa’s ‘Last Colony’: What Next for Western Sahara?

The conflicts in Western Sahara have not been resolved conclusively for 43 years now with some referring to them as ‘frozen’ conflicts in Africa’s last colony. A clear case of decolonisation turned out to be a genesis of displacement and protracted suffering of the Saharawi people from the former coloniser to another handler arguably backed by some invisible external hegemons. This study is a qualitative research using secondary data and thematic analysis to investigate Western Sahara’s unending conflicts and the way forward. Located in the conflict theory, findings indicate that the past failed interventions by the United Nations have been a result of the influence of superpowers wielding levers of power in the United Nations Security Council with vested interests in the country. Morocco the new coloniser is a neighbouring country reluctant to cede power while taping the mineral and water resources which Western Sahara is abundantly endowed with. As the Saharawi people are not obliged to give in, the conflict rages on unabated. The latest United Nations intervention could avert the conflict situation as it appears that those who had vested interests are now recoiling. The situation should not be tolerated any further and the Sahrawis deserve better, peace and tranquillity in their homeland. It is recommended that, in the letter and spirit of multilateralism, the African Union and regional economic communities across Africa should swiftly intervene even though it is now late than never.