ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Public confidence in the police: tests of instrumental and expressive models in a developing country city

This paper examines the effect of instrumental and expressive concerns on public confidence in the police in three different residential areas in Sekondi-Takoradi, Ghana’s third largest city. The study was important because of the knowledge vacuum that existed in regard to the empirical validity of the instrumental and expressive theoretical framework within the Ghanaian context. Data for the study was drawn from a baseline survey conducted in three residential areas in the Sekondi-Takoradi metropolis. The findings revealed that instrumental factors played a more significant role in influencing confidence in the police in the Sekondi-Takoradi metropolis compared to expressive factors. More importantly, instrumental factors played a more significant role in influencing confidence in the police at Anaji compared to the other two residential areas used in the study. The paper recommends that there should be more investment in police infrastructure and services to enhance police effectiveness and efficiency. Additionally, the authors also suggest that interventions aimed at improving security at the community level should be guided by periodic safety audits since this will provide a better understanding of the criminogenic problems within these residential settlements.

Source: UG
Public health facility resource availability and provider adherence to first antenatal guidelines in a low resource setting in Accra, Ghana

The Epidemiology Department contributes to the mission of the institute through basic and applied epidemiological research on, but not limited to, malaria and other diseases of public health importance. It is also home to the Social Science Unit of the Institute, including the Health Support Centre for HIV/AIDS and other communicable and noncommunicable health problems.

Source: UG
Public health research using cell phone derived mobility data in sub-Saharan Africa: Ethical issues

The movements of humans have a significant impact on population health. While studies of such movements are as old as public health itself, the COVID-19 pandemic has raised the profile of mobility research using digital technologies to track transmission routes and calculate the effects of health policies, such as lockdowns. In sub-Saharan Africa, the high prevalence of cell phone and smartphone use is a source of potentially valuable mobility data for public health purposes. Researchers can access call data records, passively collected in real time from millions of clients by cell phone companies, and associate these records with other data sets to generate insights, make predictions or draw possible policy implications. The use of mobility data from this source could have a range of significant benefits for society, from better control of infectious diseases, improved city planning, more efficient transportation systems and the optimisation of health resources. We discuss key ethical issues raised by public health studies using mobility data from cell phones in sub-Saharan Africa and identify six key ethical challenge areas: autonomy, including consent and individual or group privacy; bias and representativeness; community awareness, engagement and trust; function creep and accountability; stakeholder relationships and power dynamics; and the translation of mobility analyses into health policy. We emphasise the ethical importance of narrowing knowledge gaps between researchers, policymakers and the general public. Given that individuals do not really provide valid consent for the research use of phone data tracking their movements, community understanding and input will be crucial to the maintenance of public trust.

Source: UG
Public Health Significance of viral contamination of drinking water

Water-borne enteric viruses pose a threat to both human and animal life causing a wide range of illnesses. Groundwater is the commonest transmission route for these viruses. About 50% of groundwater related disease outbreaks are attributable to viruses. Recent studies in developed countries have focused on public water systems, unfortunately, without much attention to private household wells and storage facilities. This paper reviews disease outbreaks attributed to water-borne viruses, the public health significance of enteric viral diseases and problems encountered in the development of diagnostic assays. The objective of this review is to confer the rationale for more research to provide reliable baseline information on the significance of water-borne viruses in the developing world. Since the virological quality of drinking water can no longer be compromised, rapid and sensitive methods for detecting enteric viruses in drinking water, recreational water and their sources is a necessity. As a preventive measure, ground, surface and treated drinking water must be protected from viral contamination. Enforcement of legislative measures for regular viral monitoring of drinking water in the industry will ensure safety of consumers.

Source: UG
Public health significance of viral contamination of drinking water.

Water-borne enteric viruses pose a threat to both human and animal life causing a wide range of illnesses. Groundwater is the commonest transmission route for these viruses. About 50% of groundwater related disease outbreaks are attributable to viruses. Recent studies in developed countries have focused on public water systems, unfortunately, without much attention to private household wells and storage facilities. This paper reviews disease outbreaks attributed to water-borne viruses, the public health significance of enteric viral diseases and problems encountered in the development of diagnostic assays. The objective of this review is to confer the rationale for more research to provide reliable baseline information on the significance of water-borne viruses in the developing world. Since the virological quality of drinking water can no longer be compromised, rapid and sensitive methods for detecting enteric viruses in drinking water, recreational water and their sources is a necessity. As a preventive measure, ground, surface and treated drinking water must be protected from viral contamination. Enforcement of legislative measures for regular viral monitoring of drinking water in the industry will ensure safety of consumers.

Source: UG
Public hearing or 'hearing public'? An evaluation of the participation of local stakeholders in environmental impact assessment of ghana's jubilee oil fields

Abstract: This article investigates the involvement of local stakeholders in the environmental impact assessment (EIA) processes of Ghana's first off-shore oil fields (the Jubilee fields). Adopting key informants interviews and documentary reviews, the article argues that the public hearings and the other stakeholder engagement processes were cosmetic and rhetoric with the view to meeting legal requirements rather than a purposeful interest in eliciting inputs from local stakeholders. It further argues that the operators appear to lack the social legitimacy and social license that will make them acceptable in the project communities. A rigorous community engagement along with a commitment to actively involving local stakeholders in the corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes of the partners may enhance the image of the partners and improve their social legitimacy. Local government agencies should be capacitated to actively engage project organisers; and government must mitigate the impact of the oil projects through well-structured social support programmes. © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media New York.

Source: UG
Public Hearing or ‘Hearing Public’? An evaluation of the participation of local stakeholders in Environmental Impact Assessment of Ghana’s Jubilee Oil Fields

This article investigates the involvement of local stakeholders in the environmental impact assessment (EIA) processes of Ghana’s first off-shore oil fields (the Jubilee fields). Adopting key informants interviews and documentary reviews, the article argues that the public hearings and the other stakeholder engagement processes were cosmetic and rhetoric with the view to meeting legal requirements rather than a purposeful interest in eliciting inputs from local stakeholders. It further argues that the operators appear to lack the social legitimacy and social license that will make them acceptable in the project communities. A rigorous community engagement along with a commitment to actively involving local stakeholders in the corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes of the partners may enhance the image of the partners and improve their social legitimacy. Local government agencies should be capacitated to actively engage project organisers; and government must mitigate the impact of the oil projects through well-structured social support programmes.

Source: UG
Public Interest Litigation: A Critical Ingredient for Effective Human Rights Activism in Africa

For many years, many lawyers have spent their lives working with and for many marginalized persons and communities in Africa; trying to assist them navigate the legal labyrinth that represents law in many African countries. Daily, the disadvantaged are confronted with the law; that is whether they like it or not. They do not ask to be illegally arrested by the police; they do not ask to be illegally dismissed from work; they do not ask for rigid and bureaucratic processes of securing a passport or a divorce; and they do not determine how the pension laws should operate – but all these represent their daily encounters with the law. Having inherited bureaucratic red tape from their colonial masters, many African states have in fact worsened these bureaucracies. Yet, as life must roll on within the bureaucratic state, many persons are denied rights, entitlements and services by the minute. Human rights lawyers spend most of their time trying to study and understand the laws that regulate “the system” and then invoke them in the service of those who are effectively screwed by “the system”. There are thousands of human rights initiatives on the continent, many of them legal services initiatives. In this paper, a summary of an ongoing investigation into legal aid and Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in Africa, I outline the fundamental fault lines on which human rights lawyers in Africa base their work and the problems they thereby run into. I also propose some initial rethinking of the assumptions that characterize their work and point to ways in which PIL could be useful in refining their strategies and scaling up their efforts.

Source: UG
Public opinion, democracy, and market reform in Africa

Based on the Afrobarometer, a survey research project, this examination of public opinion in sub-Saharan Africa reveals what ordinary Africans think about democracy and market reforms, subjects on which almost nothing is otherwise known. The authors reveal that widespread support for democracy in Africa is shallow and that Africans consequently feel trapped between state and market. Although they are learning about reform through knowledge and experience, it is assumed that few countries are likely to attain full-fledged democratic market status anytime soon. © Michael Bratton, Robert Mattes, and E. Gyimah-Boadi 2005 Cambridge University Press 2010.

Source: UG
Public Perception of E-Waste Management and Disposal Practices in Accra Metropolis, Ghana

The electrical/electronic industry is one of the fastest growing sectors in the world today. The increasing demand for newer electrical/electronic equipment and the shorter lifespan of these products leads to the generation of large volumes of e-wastes (electrical and electronic wastes) in the environment. Unlike the developed nations, there is lack of public awareness and proper legislation to effectively manage these wastes in most developing nations, including Ghana. In this study, a survey was carried out on 800 respondents to determine their knowledge of e-waste management practices and the effects on humans and the environment. The results generally revealed a low level of awareness, with most participants showing little or no interest in their environment. The majority of respondents identified reselling and recycling of used electrical and electronic equipment (UEEE) as the most appropriate and safe disposal methods. There was a correlation between level of education and knowledge of: (i) toxic chemicals in e-waste, (ii) human health and environmental impact and (iii) disposal methods for e-waste using a Chi-square test, a fact emphasized by Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Thus, there is the need for programmes to educate and create general awareness for this class of wastes as a potential source of pollutants.

Source: UG
Public Policy Actors and the Knowledge Based Social Order

This chapter analyzes the changing dynamics of the public policy making against the background of the emergence and active participation of new actors defined primarily by epistemology in what is now widely perceived as the knowledge society. It shows that although, existing analyses of the new policy actors in the emerging knowledge society remains fuzzy, the rise of such actors has resulted in a gradual shift from policy making based purely on cost benefit analysis to policy learning and knowledge transfer. Thus, acting as the mediators of learning and knowledge transfer, these actors adopt various strategies to diff use new policy ideas across time and space

Source: UG
Public Private Partnership as an Alternative Source of Financing Highway in Ghana,

This paper assesses the profitability of a private entity going into partnership with the Ghanaian government for the construction and management of highways. The paper derives the conditions under which public private partnership highway financing can be viable in Ghana. A mathematical model that can be used by a businessman or an organization (or a concessionaire) to determine the optimal profit, the optimal number of different vehicle sizes, and the optimal toll rates for a given concessionary period are developed. The model is a very good and useful planning and decision-making tool for any business man or organization interested in venturing into partnership with any government with regard to highway construction and management. Using the model and data from the Ghana Highway Authority, we show that public private partnership financing is applicable on a number of roads through the right mix of two variables, the concession period and the road toll rate. Our findings can be useful to investors interested in partnering with government in highway financing on the type of highway to choose and its accompanying cost. Furthermore, this paper will provide the government with better insight when partnering with the private sector in highway financing

Source: UG
Public Procurement and Public Financial Management in Africa: Dynamics and Influences

How do public procurement practices influence effective public financial management (PFM) in Africa? Notwithstanding the several public procurement reforms to improve PFM in Africa, outcomes have not been sustainable. Prior studies have failed to explain this phenomenon. With a descriptive case study design based on comprehensive datasets, this paper explains this situation with three key factors underlying the public procurement environment in three African countries: Ethiopia, Central African Republic, and Ghana. From the agency theory lenses, these factors affect the agency cost in public administrative systems necessary for addressing the agency problems in public procurement management towards desired PFM outcomes.

Source: UG
Public procurement policies of Nigeria and Ghana: an analysis of the administrative challenges in achieving value for money

Purpose – This study aims to focus on public policy concerning the implementation of public procurement policies in Nigeria and Ghana toward achieving value for money in the procurement of goods, services and works. It specifically analyzes some major administrative challenges Nigeria and Ghana are faced with in the administration/implementation of public procurement policies toward achieving value for money. It looks at the relationship between the state (regulatory authorities) and substate (procurement entities) in the public sectors of Nigeria and Ghana. Design/methodology/approach – A comparative case study approach is adopted, where the two countries are compared in terms of achieving value for money. Data was collected from multiple sources, including in-depth interviews. The use of official documents and direct observations at the procurement regulatory authorities and entities’ premises. Findings – This study found Nigeria often used the four Es – economy, efficiency, effectiveness and equity while Ghana mainly used the traditional five rights (right quantity, right quality, right price, right place and right time) as their criteria for ensuring value for money. The major administrative challenges found include corruption, low capacity of procurement personnel and poor knowledge of the procurement laws. Social implications – It recommends effective collaboration between government and civil society groups in the fight against corruption in procurement-related activities, with the implication that there is a need for periodic training for public procurement officials. Originality/value – It adds to the field of public procurement in terms of value for money in the procurement of goods, services and works in developing countries context.

Source: UG
Public Relations as a Strategic Management Function in Selected Organizations in Accra, Ghana

It is often advocated that, in order to realize its full potential, public relations should be an integral part of strategic management decision making in organizations. Some experts have backed this advocacy with the argument that public relations (PR) professionals’ skills of interpretation and counseling place them in a position to make a significant contribution to strategy in organizations. The goal of this research was to investigate whether PR practitioners play a strategic management role in selected organizations and to find out how practitioners contribute to organizational objectives, goals, strategies and policies. It also investigated the challenges militating against the effective practice of PR as a management function in selected organizations, as well as the perceptions top managers have about the role PR plays in the overall success of organizations. The study used the qualitative descriptive approach. In all, eight PR practitioners and three top-level managers from insurance, manufacturing, construction and a public institution were interviewed. Data was later transcribed and thematically analyzed. The results showed that PR was instituted as a top-management function in one organization but as a middle-level management function in the three other organizations. However, all PR practitioners participated in organizational decision-making. The study also found that the barriers that prevented the effective institution of PR as a stand-alone department and as a top-management function in the organizations studied were: misconceptions about PR, the size of the organization, the mission of the organization as a barrier and the personal capabilities of the PR practitioner. Top managers interviewed exhibited an understanding of the PR function and considered it as key to organizational success. Practitioners could, thus, ride on this to gain the attention and the positions they want in their organizations. The study recommends that there be constant evaluation of PR activities to provide evidence for the value PR brings to organizations.

Source: UG
Public sector leadership‐subordinate ethical diffusion conundrum: perspectives from developing African countries

The interaction between organizational superiors and their subordinates has a practical implication on the entire organizational life cycle in terms of ethical conduct. This study explores how ethics among public leadership could trickle down on the conduct of public employees by using two empirical cases from developing African countries context. Using the attraction–selection–attrition and social learning models, the study assesses how superiors influence street level bureaucrats' interaction with clients or customers. Drawing from existing cases and other secondary data, we propose a leadership-ethical diffusion model that argues that subordinates' perception and experience of superiors' behavior tend to create a kind of organizational ‘ethical groupthink’, which spans the rank and file of the organization.

Source: UG
Public Sector Records Systems in Ghana: Some Lessons in Development Management

The origins of the decline and the revitalisation of the National Archives of Ghana go a long way back. Its near collapse to a large extent was self- inflicted. The result was a progressive deterioration in the management of recorded information, key to the efficiency and effectiveness of government. This article argues that the Ghana Records Management Improvement Programme subsequently introduced as part of the initiative to strengthen the civil service marked a paradigm shift in the development management strategies of Ghana. Restructuring the records management systems of government was crucial for improving the efficiency of development management interventions. The strengthened National Archives has been transformed into a department exercising a wider remit. New systems and procedures have been put in place to provide a sound records management programme. Unable, however, to address the management of financial records alongside records of other sectors, public financial management has remained weak due to the unstructured and poor state of the existing financial records systems. This remains so despite the several policy measures introduced to strengthen financial management

Source: UG
Public Service Motivation Scholarship in Africa: A Systematic Review and Research Agenda

Although several literature reviews have been published on public service motivation (PSM), none of them focused solely on Africa. Adopting a systematic review of the literature, we analyse articles on PSM scholarship in Africa published between 2005 and 2017. We found that authors in African PSM is consistently increasing with their research published in highly ranked peer-reviewed journals. The antecedents and consequences of African PSM are similar to those of Western countries. Finally, respondents of African PSM scholarship are skewed towards “managerist” and students’ perspective. We proposed agenda for African PSM research with four key interest areas.

Source: UG
Public Spending and Economic Growth: Evidence from Ghana (1970-2004)

Governments undertake expenditures to pursue a variety of objectives, one of which is economic growth. This paper examines aggregated and disaggregated expenditure on economic growth in Ghana over the period 1970-2004. Expenditure on education and health represents human capital development, while expenditure on roads and waterways captures infrastructure development. The study reveals that the aggregated government expenditure retarded economic growth. The study's findings show that expenditures on health and infrastructure promote economic growth, while those on education had no significant impact in the short run. In addition, the political economy variables-namely the nature of governance (democracy) and political instability (years of changes in government and military dictatorship)-proved significant in explaining Ghana's economic growth over the study period.

Source: UG