M.A. / Please refer to full text to view abstract

M.A. (Communication). / Please refer to full text to view abstract

D.Phil. / The overall objective of this study is to evaluate the new local government system in Malawi, and to determine the extent to which decentralised political and administrative structures uphold the principles of good governance. With the requirements of good governance in mind, the issues addressed include the legal and institutional framework, the factors that affect the performance by local institutions, and the broader political and socio-economic factors that complicate the promotion of principles of good governance at the local level. The study is based on an analysis of primary and secondary sources relating to local government in Malawi and selected countries in sub-Saharan Africa. It is supplemented by semi-structured qualitative interviews involving 38 respondents. The respondents included senior government officials, elected representatives and members of the civil society concerned with the promotion of the principles of good governance. The researcher also attended committee meetings in selected local authorities to obtain insights for the assessment of the new local government system. The major findings of this study are grouped into three broad categories. Firstly, although the legal and institutional framework tends to support the promotion of good governance on paper, it does not give any effect in practice. This is due to, among other factors, the legal provisions which are contradictory and entrench centralisation, and the inherent procedural weaknesses which are evident in the glaring omissions relating to procedures governing local authorities’ meetings, revenue collection and discipline. Secondly, a number of factors hamper the effective promotion of good governance by institutions both at the central and local levels. These include the weak institutional and resource constraints, ineffective civic education, high poverty levels, low literacy levels and negative public attitude towards government institutions and politics in general. Lastly, the effective promotion of the principles of good governance is complicated by the broader political and socio-economic factors such as the weak role of political parties, the presence of patrimonial behaviour, the lack of democratic political culture, the ineffective public sector reform, the deterioration of the economy, weak role of civil society organisations and their lack of vibrancy. In view of the study findings, it is recommended that the legal framework should be reviewed to amend contradictory provisions, and to incorporate provisions which enforce good governance at the local level. The major stakeholders in governance should embark on various capacity building measures such as holding public meetings, workshops, and curricula development to empower all sectors, particularly the rural masses in order to enable them to articulate their interests, to hold rulers accountable, and to reinforce desirable democratic values. With economic renewal in mind, the government should develop a coherent policy framework to encourage local investment in small and medium enterprises, and to guide the country towards self-reliance and food sufficiency. The government should also introduce country-wide irrigation schemes and intensify crop production, expand the tourism and the mining sectors, and adopt a fundamental land reform to restructure the unequal land distribution. / Prof. Yolanda Sadie

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Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / This thesis analysed the significance of disputes or conflict in Ghana's industrial realtions since her independence in 1957. It further analysed the causes of industrial conflict and its management or resolution in Ghana in particular. Scholars argue that industrial conflict may not only adversely affect the living standards of both the employers and the employees but may also destabilize the labour market and bring about industrial injustices. The thesis outlines the historical development of Ghana's industrial realtions since independence with special reference to strikes. / South Africa

Masters in Public Administration - MPA / The main objective of this study was to examine how the process of decentralization has affected the rendering of essential services in Namibia, through a case study of the Hardap Region. The main aim of this research was to determine the extent to which the objectives of the decentralization policy have been achieved by the Hardap Regional Council. The main objectives of the decentralization policy of the Namibian Government were to extend, enhance and guarantee participatory democracy and to safeguard rapid sustainable development. / South Africa

Magister Artium - MA / This dissertation was divided into two parts. In the first part questions of representation and textuality in the discipline of history will be explored with the aim of positing the historical play as productive for the writing of history after apartheid. In the second part it was attempted to specify the implications of this critique for the discipline of history through reading a number of historical narratives and plays together. / South Africa

On 27 December, 2007, Kenyan citizens took to the polls for the fourth time since multiparty democracy was introduced in 1992. The sentiment was that democracy was finally coming of age in this East African country. For many, these elections represented a turn in the country’s democratic process that would bring change in the areas of justice, food, shelter, education and employment to all – as these were the main campaign promises. Instead, at the conclusion of the voting and at the beginning of the tallying process, the electorate erupted violently at the suspicion and eventual reporting of the process being rigged. One of the main subjects discussed in this study includes the argument that Kenya is ailing from a lack of responsible political leadership. The breed of Kenyan politicians that have been experienced in the country since it gained its independence from British colonialists in 1963, have plundered its resources – material and human – to the brink of war. It is no longer a valid argument that Africa, just because of a history of governments looting and plundering the vast resources that belong to the world’s poorest of the poor, in particular Kenya produces bad leaders. The second topic of discussion in this study questions the role of ethnic mobilisation during the elections. It is well documented by authors such as Cowen and Kanyinga (in Cowen and Laakso (eds.) 2002: 128-171) that ethnicity in Kenya, under the machinations of irresponsible political leaders, has in the past played a critical part in rallying one political party against another. The 2007 General Election was no different. The contested presidential election results were announced on 30 December, 2007, declaring another term of office for the incumbent president, Mwai Kibaki. Since that announcement, thousands of people were reported dead while hundreds of thousands were considered displaced. The chaos was followed by a long mediation process kicked off with the AU chairman, John Kufuor, president of Ghana, hosting a number of talks between the two parties. However, this did not bear much fruit as the two conflicting parties could not agree on the main issue of the creation of a position of Prime Minister for Raila Odinga to 7 fill. This was then followed by a more successful mediation process hosted by the Elders1 including former United Nations (UN) secretary general, Kofi Annan, Graça Maçhel and Benjamin Mkapa, as indicated by The Daily Nation newspapers throughout the month of January 2008. It is with this background that the study will now turn to the discussion about the context of the research, its objectives, rationale, motivation and the research design

The federation of the British West Indian colonies, which was long considered desirable by colonial officials for reasons of economical and efficient administration, was accomplished by an agreement reached on February 23, 1956. The West Indies Federation thus established, consisted of the islands of Antigua, Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Kitts (Christopher)-Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, and Trinidad and Tobago, and had a total area of eight thousand square miles scattered in a wide expanse of ocean. In this federation, Trinidad and Tobago by virtue of its economic development was expected to play an important part. The purpose of this study is to examine the attitude of Trinidad and Tobago to the idea of federation, and its relationship to the federation itself. In the course of preparation for this study, the writer spent three months in Trinidad collecting information at the Library of the Legislative Council, a library operated primarily for the benefit of legislators; the West Indies Reference Library, operated by the Information Service of the federal government; The West Indies Regional Library, a branch of the Trinidad Public Library; and the offices of the Trinidad Guardian. Valuable information was also acquired from the Office of the Premier and from the Trinidad Chamber of Commerce. The writer's visit to Trinidad coincided with a period of intense activity among members of the federal and Trinidad governments as a result of the collapse of the federation. This situation rendered it extremely difficult to secure interviews from persons serving in either of these governments. However, Mr. Albert Gomes, a member of the federal parliament, who while serving as a Trinidad legislator had played an important part in the establishment of the federation, provided the writer with very valuable information in the course of two interviews he very kindly gave. [ ... ] / Arts, Faculty of / History, Department of / Graduate

World-wide expansion of the Soviet system has always been regarded by the Kremlin as a basic condition on which "true" communism can develop towards its final goal: the Marxist Utopia of a "perfect State". Consequently, the first object of sovietization on the path of communist expansion toward the West was Poland. The purpose of the essay is to trace, step by step, the still-progressiong but not yet accomplished process of the sovietization of Poland. It attempts to show how the Soviet system has come to prevail in a country traditionally hostile to Russia and to the communist ideology. The introductory part deals with the development of Soviet-Polish relationships before and during the Second World War. It shows how, after twenty years of peaceful co-existence, the Soviet system, preceded by military aggression, was forced upon the eastern provinces of Poland, and how these territories were incorporated into the Soviet Union and "purged" of elements regarded as dangerous to the "Soviet way of life". Further, the Introduction describes the short period of Soviet-Polish "co-operation" in the war effort, when, in spite of the fact that the Soviet Union was forced to join the camp of the western democracies, far-sighted plans for the sovietization of the post-war Polish State were maturing in Moscow. This part describes, as well, the birth of the communist Underground in Poland, which united with the Union of Polish "patriots" and came out into the open after the severance of diplomatic relations by Moscow with the Polish Government in London. Part Two, "The Struggle for Power", relates how the Committee of National Liberation, supported by the Russian Army, assumed the role of a government in Poland, and gained the recognition of the Western Powers. It describes the destruction of the Home Army, with the extermination of the democratic Underground. It also shows communist methods in the pre-election campaign, the election of a Diet supporting the Government of National Unity, and the suppression of the legalized opposition. Furthermore, it deals with the liquidation of socialist opposition groups within the Government-sponsored "Bloc", of sham political parties, and with the purge of "Polish Titoism" within the United Workers' Party. Part Three, "The Sovietization of Life and Constitution", is an attempt to sketch roughly the immediate post-war sovietization of the Polish economy and the main trends in Polish industry and agriculture during the two National Plans of 1947 and 1950. It also deals with the sovietization of Courts of Justice, the Army, the schools and universities, and the youth organizations. Finally there is a brief analysis of the Constitution of 1952 in the light of its final goal of "putting into effect the great ideals of socialism", of the Soviet type. An effort has been made throughout to set out the facts as they have happened, without bias or emotion. No conclusions of any kind have been drawn. / Arts, Faculty of / Central Eastern Northern European Studies, Department of / Graduate