Discussions of African responses to Covid-19 have focussed on the state and its international backers. Far less is known about the role of a wider range of public authorities, including chiefs, professional associations, faith-based and civil society organisations, humanitarians, criminal gangs, local security services and armed groups. We begin to fill this gap by investigating how the pandemic provided opportunities for claims to and contests over power in areas of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and South Sudan. Ethnographic research is used to argue that local forms of public authority can be akin to miniature sovereigns, able to interpret dictates, policies, and advice as they see fit. It reveals how alongside coping with existing complex protracted crises, many try to advance their own agendas and secure political, social, and material benefits. However, it also shows how those they seek to govern do not passively accept the new normal, instead often finding room to challenge those in positions of power and influence. We assess which, if any, of these actions and reactions will have lasting effects on local notions of statehood and argue for the utility of a public authorities lens in times of crisis.

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