Thesis (M.A.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1970. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (doctoral)--Institute of Social Studies, The Hague, Netherlands, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 258-277).

No description available.

An assumption that Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and economic development have an automatic linkage has gained wide acceptance over the last decade. As a result, developing countries are under pressure to apply this prescription as a solution to poverty. With the help of development partners in the developed world and the United Nations, developing countries have embraced this call to increase access to ICTs to bridge the ever-widening gap between the ‘information rich’ and ‘information poor’ (Castells, 2001). One of the strategies has been the establishment of telecentres where the least privileged people might access ICTs for their own development needs. However, this strategy has tended to overlook contextual factors and circumstances in developing countries. ICTs are thus being introduced in an environment of mass poverty, illiteracy and poor infrastructure, exacerbating existing inequalities in some cases. Much attention has been focussed on initiatives aimed at expanding the ICT infrastructure for wider population access without addressing what the users actually do with such access. This study aims to make a contribution in that direction. The study focuses on Nakaseke Community Multi-media Centre(CMC), the first telecentre introduced in Uganda in 1997. Using a combination of quantitative and qualitative research techniques, the study sets out to develop deeper insights into how the Nakaseke community uses, engages with and relates with communication technologies installed at the telecentre. It probes whether these practices advance the dominant view that ICTs are a panacea for rural development. The findings indicate that while access to communication technology has expanded, albeit at a slow pace, the benefits might take very long to have a significant effect as many targeted users do not make use of the facilities because they lack the human skills and financial resources to exploit the technologies. Other problems such as poor electricity supply and sustainability also actively militate against the potential of the project to deliver. Besides, people tend to appropriate technology in ways different from those intended by its promoters. As Burton (2002) explains through the concept of ‘affordances’ and ‘culture’, some users perceive technologies essentially as something that bestows the status of being modern or sophisticated on their community, rather than as a development tool. In conclusion, it is argued that if used for development, ICTs can indeed make a difference in the lives of rural people. However, besides investing in technology, there is need to invest more in empowering the people themselves with skills, particularly literacy, to enable them use ICTs productively.

M.Comm. / For twenty years Uganda suffered the disastrous consequences of a system of rule in which there were no limits to the exercise of power. During this period the country went through no less than seven different regimes, all of which ignored the rule of law and left people without a sense of personal security or power. Many Ugandans were forced into exile and those staying on withdrew from politics, leaving politicians to conduct their business without any accountability. The National Resistance Movement (NRM) Government, led by President Y oweri Museveni, came to power in early 1986. This brought an end to the political instability and economic decline, which had plagued the country hitherto. Under his leadership, the nation embarked on an ambitious economic recovery program, supported by the IMF, the World Bank, and other donors. The key elements of this successful program have been the restoration of fiscal and monetary discipline; the improvement of the incentive structure and investment climate for exports and other production activities; the rehabilitation of the country's social, economic and institutional infrastructure; and the promotion of increased savings and investment. The economic reforms implemented by the present government in Uganda since 1986, coupled with political stability, have contributed to economic growth rates averaging 6% per annum in the last decade. This has made Uganda one of the fastest growing countries in Africa. Inflation is under control and has been maintained below 10% per annum for the last four years. Most economic activities are fully liberalized and open to foreign investment. There are no restrictions to 100% foreign ownership of investments and no barriers to remittance of dividends. Uganda's shilling is fully convertible and has remained stable over the last years. The foreign exchange market is now wholly liberalized following a move by government, effective July 1997 to liberalize capital account transactions. Uganda is now one of about only five countries in the whole of Africa that have no restrictions on capital amount transfers. Within Africa and the emerging markets, Uganda enjoys a high status with donors and lenders. For the future, it is important to ensure that economic policy does not ignore social expenditure or the poverty dimension. In addition, President Museveni himself has repeatedly stressed the importance of attracting more private investment to Uganda in order to replace the foreign aid which can only be regarded as temporary. Other sectors needing attention are industrialization and privatization. As a landlocked country, Uganda needs to look to markets among its immediate neighbours. The new strategy should further include development of more linkages between agriculture and industry. It also needs to respond to people's basic needs and small-scale industries must be developed further. Only thus can industrialization contribute to economic welfare and sustainable development in Uganda. Privatization also needs to be reconsidered. It has contributed to the country's record rate of economic growth of 7-8 per cent, but so far it has not increased employment opportunities at all significantly. Nor has it enlarged the number of Ugandan entrepreneurs. Poverty, too, has not been reduced so far by privatization. There remams substantial room for development in most sectors of the Ugandan economy, creating opportunities for further and increased foreign investment. These sectors include food processmg and packing, construction equipment and electrical power systems, telecommunications equipment and services, travel and tourism services, light manufacturing, household consumer goods, footwear, furniture and textile fabrics, mining, mining industry equipment, non-ferrous metals, marine fisheries products and agriculture, including traditional crops such as coffee, cotton, tea and tobacco, fruit and vegetable processing, edible oil production, staple food crops processing, flowers and livestock. The vehicles for the facilitation of foreign investment are in place, the investment climate is open and friendly towards foreign investors, with an established investment code and incentive regime, offering generous capital recovery terms, particularly for investors whose projects entail significant investment in plant and machinery and whose investments are medium to long term. Uganda offers a predictable environment having achieved macro-economic stability at a time when clouds of uncertainty rock many regions in the world.

Standard practice dictates that mobile telephone service providers remain accurately aligned with the dynamic expectations structure of the target mobile telephone service users they serve. To comply with this requirement, literature sources assert that service providers need to adopt a candid marketing research orientation to understand what the users expect and in-build it in their service designs. Theory further contends that if such a business stance is diligently applied, any service provider is bound to gain a competitive edge in the market place. Notwithstanding the aforementioned, service providers continue design services without sufficient understanding of what users expect. This mindset has led to disparities in both the designed and the recieved service. Despite the pioneering works of earlier reserachers on the Gaps model, evidence shows that no research had been carried out to measure users' and providers' service quality perceptions in the mobile telephone branch of industry in Uganda. Much remains unknown as regards users' perceptions of expected and actual service quality and any potential disparity thereof. In the same spirit, much remains unknown as regards providers' perceptions of users' expectations and users' real expectations and potential disparity thereof. In order to measure the aforementioned disparities, the Gaps model was used in which Gaps 1 and 5 were measured for providers and users of mobile telephone services in the branch industry in Uganda.

While many African governments have made legislative changes to the formal economic institution of land law in order to strengthen land tenure security, very few have seen these changes take hold (Bruce & Knox, 2009). This thesis demonstrates that Uganda is no exception. In exploring the interactions between the formal, informal, political, economic and social institutions which influence land tenure behaviour in Uganda, and how decentralization impacts this institutional structure, this thesis offers a first step in understanding how state-led land reforms can be undercut at the local level, causing unintended outcomes. From reinforcing the legitimacy of informal customary tenure systems to fostering inter-ethnic competition, the District of Kayunga demonstrates how Uganda’s 1998 Land Reform has created unexpected impacts that continue to impede its implementation. It also offers ideas on how failed institutional adaptations may impact local perceptions of land tenure security. This thesis also investigates and pushes the boundaries of New Institutional Economic (NIE) theory. It explores how decentralization within a formal economic institution can influence informal social and political institutions to create complex and ever evolving incentive structures. It also examines the role of organizations and individuals in an effort to understand the intersection between these two categories of actors and the institutional structure. Fluid interactions whereby organizations and individuals are incentivized by institutions, but also resist and adapt to institutional change, demonstrate the added complexity of organization-institution interdependency within the NIE framework.

No description available.

Community service as an alternative to imprisonment at its inception was taken up very strongly by the judiciary as part of the reform of the criminal justice system in Uganda. The successful enactment of the Community Service Act, Act no: 5/2000, was an achievement towards the implementation of the programme in the country. However, its implementation as an alternative sentence is currently proceeding at a slow pace. The Ugandan law still allows courts to exercise their discretionary powers with regard to either using prison sentences or community service. Courts still seem to prefer to use imprisonment irrespective of the nature of the offence, thus leading to unwarranted government expenditure and prison overcrowding. An additional problem is that some offenders come out of prison having been negatively affected by their interaction with even more serious offenders. This study was undertaken to establish whether community service as an alternative to imprisonment can be effective with regard to reducing recidivism and to accelerating reconciliation and reintegration of minor offenders back into their communities.

Decentralization of health services in Uganda, driven by the structural adjustment programme of the World Bank, was embraced by government as a means to change the health institutional structure and process delivery of health services in the country. Arising from the decentralization process, the transfer of power concerning functions from the top administrative hierachy in health service provision to lower levels, constitutes a major shift in management, philosophy, infrastructure development, communication as well as other functional roles by actors at various levels of health care. This study focused its investigation on ways and levels to which the process of decentralization of health service delivery has attained efficient and effective provision of health services. The study also examined the extent to which the shift of health service provision has influenced the role of local jurisdictions and communities. Challenges faced by local government leaders in planning and raising funds in response to decentralized health serdelivery were examined.