Grounded in the social constructivism tradition, this study examined the role of communication in the glocalization and acculturation of HIV/AIDS by a section of sexually active Ugandans then living in Rakai district during the advent of the epidemic in 1982. Sixty-four women and men participated in ten focus group discussions in Rakai and Kampala districts. Five themes emerged from the data highlighting how individuals and communities made sense of the epidemic, the omnipresence of death, how they understood the HIV/AIDS campaign, and how they are currently coping with its backlash. The study concludes that HIV/AIDS is socially constructed and can be understood better from local perspectives rather than from a globalized view. The study emphasizes the integration of cultural idiosyncrasies in any health communication campaigns to realize behavioral change.

Please read the abstract (Summary) in the section 00front of this document / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Microbiology and Plant Pathology / Unrestricted

This exploratory research examined an information policy formation process for the adoption of open source software (OSS) in Uganda. Grounded in a pragmatist tradition, this theoretical and empirical study pursued a qualitative research approach with a triangulation of theoretical concepts, data collection, and analysis techniques in an iterative and interactive process. The design provided a powerful context to develop and conduct field activities in Kampala with a purposeful sample of 22 participants, 20 in interviews and 5 in a focus group discussion. The research design enhanced consistency in the evidence from the data, increased robustness in the results, and confidence in the findings. The results highlighted a vibrant ICT sector in Uganda, underlined the multiple stakeholders and their competing interests in the policy, revealed a lack of consensus between the government and OSS promoters on the meaning of OSS, and illuminated the benefits in the OSS model over proprietary software. The stakeholders' conflicting perceptions appear to be too far apart to allow meaningful progress and are derailing the policy. Unless their conflicting perceptions are resolved, the OSS policy will continue stagnating. The study fills critical information gaps in Uganda’s policy formation processes, provides timely and relevant information to holistically understand a complex policy formation stage to enable stakeholders to resolve their impasse and enact a law to embrace OSS. It breaks ground in information policy research in framing policy formation processes for new ICTs, such as OSS, as ideologically-oriented. The findings offer ideas to scholars and African countries to draw applicable lessons.

The following thesis examined the coverage of HIV/AIDS in Uganda's top newspapers. Both evidence from previous literature and this study shows that HIV/ AIDS is a dangerous social, health, and demographic problem which has received varied media attention over the years. This study sought to investigate the different frames used in HIV/ AIDS news stories, the major themes associated with HIV/ AIDS, the different risk groups identified in the news stories, and the different preventatives/correctives provided in the HIV/AIDS news stories so as to discover what has been emphasized or de-emphasized in order to help the media become more valuable in HIV/ AIDS prevention. While some findings were consistent with previous literature, some were different. The general coverage of HIV/ AIDS news stories was low, with a fluctuating trend in the four-year period. The thematic frame emerged as the most used frame in both The New Vision and The Monitor. The themes of prevention, treatment, prevalence, awareness, moral issue, and stigma and discrimination appeared more frequently. Among the risk groups that appeared most were children, married couples. and women while some preventatives/correctives that appeared more frequently were diagnosis and antiretroviral therapy. The married couples appeared most in the risk group category for example. This group is a recent addition to the HIV/ AIDS risk group and has quickly become predominant as illustrated by this study hence showing that the concentration of HIV/ AIDS is constantly changing.

Civil society participation in the policy and law making process is necessary in environmental management as it ensures the consideration and inclusion of the views of those affected by decisions made by the state. Despite the recognition of the importance of participation, it is not clear what role Civil society organisations(CSOs) in Uganda have actually played in the formulation of environmental policies and laws. The aim of this research therefore is to analyse the participatory role played by CSOs in these processes. The study is conducted around the conceptual framework of participation in environmental management as a part of the broader notion of participatory governance as a necessary element for the consolidation of democracy. It studies the role of civil society actors working in the area of environmental rights and protection in the formulation of environmental policy and law. The time frame is from the advent of the Constitution and National Environmental Management Act both enacted in 1995 which provide the overall legal framework for environmental policy and law and for participation in its formulation. / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa))--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Law University of Pretoria, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Masters of Law (LLM in Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa). Prepared under the supervision of S Tindifa, Faculty of Law, Makerere University, Kampala Uganda / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/ / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

At the dawn of independence in Africa, colonial rulers hastily introduced new structures such as national parliaments, local councils, and opposition parties in a bid to channel popular demands into responsive policies. These structures while all laudable were no match for the ethnic identities that had been created during the colonial period. Colonial rulers had drawn ethnic and geographic boundaries arbitrarily perhaps as part of the divide and rule policy which are said to have contributed immensely to the development of ethnic identities. This seems to give credibility to Mngomezulu argument that the concept of ‘ethnicity’ itself was imposed by colonial administrators upon an otherwise undifferentiated group of people. Thus, while it may be true that Africans in the pre-colonial societies were not homogeneous as evidenced by the migration of various groups across the continent, the colonial era played on the divisions making them rigid. / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)) -- University of Pretoria, 2011. / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/ / nf2012 / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

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Leaders and policy makers in Uganda developed a national strategy of placing female administrators in traditionally male-dominated coeducational secondary schools in the belief that their vision would promote equitable education by changing gender regimes that play in schools. Gender regimes are patterns of gender arrangements that could disadvantage the education of boys or girls (Connell, 2002). The purpose of this study was to discover if female administrators perceived and had developed strategies to change gender regimes in their schools. Participants were 13 female administrators of government-supported coeducational mixed/day secondary schools in Kampala and Wakiso urban districts. Participants ranged in age from 37 to 59 years and in school experience from 12 to 32 years. Nine participants held masters' degrees and 4 were currently enrolled in masters' programs. All participants were members of a female organization. The investigator used qualitative methodology to collect and analyze data and to report findings. With each participant, the investigator engaged in an open dialogue and used a semi-structured protocol to conduct an interview that was recorded and transcribed. The investigator examined archival records and collected artifacts from each school. Data were analyzed emically with NVivo software to facilitate the iterative process of identifying and refining themes. Themes had to reach a threshold of 50% to be considered significant. The findings revealed that female administrators perceived gender regimes related to family culture, school culture, sexuality, and power and authority. All female administrators had developed strategies to change the gender regimes that disadvantaged girls' education. These perceptions and strategies indicated that gender regimes were part of the vision of female administrators, but insufficient evidence was collected to determine the degree they were part of their strategic goals. These findings are significant because if these female administrators can change the gender regimes at play in their schools, they will make a significant contribution to providing equitable education to their students. While these findings cannot be generalized, this work may help other educators gain a better understanding of the influence of gender regimes in their schools.

The relative political stability in Uganda resulted In increased Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and growth in several national/multi-national organisations. Furthermore, business leadership in Uganda has experienced change as the older generation hand over the reins to the younger generation of business leaders who are relatively more exposed to the Mrican management philosophy and leadership models which are congruent with African culture and contextual issues. This study investigated within a Ugandan context, leadership attributes that are perceived as contributors to or inhibitors of outstanding leadership. It then determine whether, when analysed by ethnicity (i.e. Bantu speaking versus non-Bantu speaking), the researcher could identify meaningful differences in the culturally endorsed leadership profiles; and link societal cultural attlibutes to preferred leadership attributes. A triangulation method was used to conduct this cross-cultural research, which combined archival data, a quantitative survey and personal interviews. The sample comprised of 163 junior, middle and senior managers from over 15 organisations within Uganda. An adapted version of Project GLOBE questionnaire was used for the quantitative survey, and results showed that out of the nine societal cultural dimensions, only Power Distance and Institutional Collectivism cultural dimensions indicate significant differences between Bantu speaking as compared to non-Bantu speaking managers. Furthermore, out of the six leadership dimensions only Humane Orientation and Charismatic / Value Based leadership dimensions, indicated significant differences between the above mentioned. However, these results contrasted some avers of the personal interviews. The study concludes that societal cultural differences do exist between the Bantu speaking and non-Bantu speaking managers and this may require some marginal differences In the leadership attributes that a leader portrays. Nevertheless, irrespective of ethnicity, the most preferred leaders' attributes in Uganda are Decisiveness, Performance Oriented and Charisma 2: Inspirational; whilst the least preferred leaders' attributes were Face-Saver, Self Centred and Malevolent. / Graduate School of Business Leadership / D. Econ. (Business Leadership)

Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) is the third most important cereal food crop in Uganda. However, the parasitic weed Striga hermonthica severely constraints its production. The use of Striga resistant sorghum varieties may be one of the most feasible ways of managing the Striga problem. A series of studies were carried out with the overall objective to develop new sorghum genotypes that are resistant to Striga and high yielding in Eastern Uganda. Initially, a participatory rural appraisal (PRA) was carried out with the main objectives to study the current constraints faced by farmers in sorghum production and determine their preferences for new sorghum varieties. Secondly, fifty different African sorghum accessions were evaluated to determine phenotypic and genotypic variability for Striga resistance and identify suitable parents to be used in breeding for new Striga resistant and high yielding sorghum genotypes. Thirdly, a genetics study was conducted to determine gene action responsible for Striga resistance and sorghum yield in new sorghum genotypes. Finally, laboratory studies were carried out to identify specific mechanisms of Striga resistance available in new sorghum genotypes and their parents. During the PRA, Striga was identified as the main constraint limiting sorghum production in Eastern Uganda, followed by insect pests. Farmers indicated preference for red gain sorghum with erect and compact heads, a plant height of 1.5m and a maturity period of around three months, as well as Striga resistance and drought tolerance. From farmers’ own assessments, the individual field surveys and soil seed bank analyses that were carried out, the degree of Striga infestation in farmers’ fields was found to be high. Both phenotypic and genotypic factors contributed significantly to the variability observed among the African sorghum accessions with respect to Striga resistance and sorghum crop performance indicating that Striga resistance can be improved through selection. However, techniques that minimise environmental effects need to be employed in order to improve on heritability. The values for genetic coefficient of variation (GCV) and genetic advance (GA) indicated that genetic gain for Striga resistance could be achieved by selection based on area under Striga severity progress curve (AUSVPC), area under Striga number progress curve (AUSNPC) and individual Striga emergence counts. The sorghum accessions SRN39, Brhan, Framida, Gubiye, Wahi, P9407 and N13 were found to be resistant to Striga hermonthica. These accessions consistently showed low AUSNPC, AUSVPC, and individual Striga emergence, Striga vigour and severity indices. These accessions could be used as sources of Striga resistance genes when breeding for Striga resistance in sorghum. In the study to determine gene action responsible for Striga resistance and sorghum yield, significant genetic variation for Striga resistance and sorghum yield parameters was observed among the new sorghum genotypes and their parents. The sorghum parental lines: Brhan, SRN39, Hakika and Sekedo consistently had negative GCA effects for AUSNPC and AUSVPC, while SRN39 and Hakika additionally had negative GCA effects for Striga vigour, indicating that they were effective in transferring Striga resistance into their progeny. The new genotypes: SRS1608, SRS3408, SRS2408, SRS4609, SRS3108, SRS2908, SRS2609, SRS609 and SRS1708 had negative SCA effects for AUSNPC, AUSVPC and Striga vigour meaning that they were resistant to Striga. Sorghum parental lines: Sekedo, Brhan, Framida and Hakika had positive GCA effects for head length, meaning that they increased head length in their crosses. The genotypes: SRS3408, SRS5309, SRS1608 and SRS2908 derived from the above parents had the longest heads compared to other progenies, which were on average, 20% longer than their parents. The genotypes: SRS609, SRS1408, SRS2608 and SRS3408 were the highest grain yielders and yielded 11-51% better than the highest yielding parent (Sekedo) under the non Striga environment. The parental lines; Sekedo, Brhan and Framida had positive GCA effects for grain yield indicating that they could act as sources of genes for grain yield increase. The genotypes; SRS609, SRS4609 and SRS2908 had large positive SCA effects for grain yield. The relative contributions of GCA effects to the observed genotypic variances were 80.5%, 43.3%, 65%, 92.6% and 53.2% for AUSNPC, AUSVPC, Striga vigour, sorghum head length and plant height respectively. This shows that additive gene action was important in controlling Striga resistance, sorghum head length and plant height in the present sorghum populations. Laboratory studies aimed at investigating the specific mechanisms of Striga resistance available in new sorghum genotypes found that two new sorghum genotypes, SRS1608 and SRS1208 expressed both the low germination stimulant character and low haustoria initiation as mechanisms of resistance to S. hermonthica. The sorghum genotypes, SRS2808 and SRS1108, and two fixed lines, Brhan and Hakika expressed only the low germination stimulant character, while the genotypes, SRS608, SRS3408, SRS4109 and SRS2308 expressed only the low haustoria initiation mechanism. The inheritance patterns of the low germination stimulant character in the present sorghum genotypes varied. In some genotypes, it appeared to be controlled by a single gene while in others; it appeared to be controlled by more than one gene. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2011.