In this episode of Panel 54, public intellectual and scholar Prof. Peter Kagwanja joins Waweru and Nduh for an unflinching conversation on the nature and function of violence in Africa. From colonial brutality to the tactics of modern regimes and resistance movements, Kagwanja explores how violence has become a tool — not just for survival or protest, but for control, manipulation, and power. Is violence always irrational? Or is it calculated — deployed with purpose and often misunderstood? The conversation traces the evolution of violence across history, media, and statecraft, revealing how both local and foreign actors shape its meaning to serve different ends. “Violence is not necessarily irrational. It has logic, it has purpose, it has means, it has ends.” – Prof. Peter Kagwanja This is a sobering look at how violence is framed, normalized, and weaponized — and why decoding its language is essential to understanding power in Africa today.