African governments prioritise weapons over vaccines, raising concerns that defence spending is undermining epidemic preparedness and public health security.
In Africa today, weapons are budgeted for, but vaccines are begged for. Defence contracts arrive overnight; epidemic preparedness waits for donors. This fiscal pattern is not just a budgetary anomaly – it is a life-and-death political choice.
Across the continent, public budgets are not neutral ledgers, but the outcome of political bargains that privilege patronage and elite visibility over public welfare.
