ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Policy talk: incentives for rural service among nurses in Ghana

Like many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, Ghana is faced with the simultaneous challenges of increasing its health workforce, retaining them in country and promoting a rational distribution of staff in remote or deprived areas of the country. Recent increases in both public-sector doctor and nurse salaries have contributed to a decline in international out-migration, but problems of geographic mal-distribution remain. As part of a research project on human resources in the Ghanaian health sector, this study was conducted to elicit in-depth views from nursing leaders and practicing nurses in rural and urban Ghana on motivations for urban vs rural practice, job satisfaction and potential rural incentives. In-depth interviews were conducted with 115 nurses selected using a stratified sample of public, private and Christian Health Association of Ghana (CHAG) facilities in three regions of the country (Greater Accra, Brong Ahafo and Upper West), and among 13 nurse managers from across Ghana. Many respondents reported low satisfaction with rural practice. This was influenced by the high workload and difficult working conditions, perception of being ‘forgotten’ in rural areas by the Ministry of Health (MOH), lack of professional advancement and the lack of formal learning or structured mentoring. Older nurses without academic degrees who were posted to remote areas were especially frustrated, citing a lack of opportunities to upgrade their skills. Nursing leaders echoed these themes, emphasizing the need to bring learning and communication technologies to rural areas. Proposed solutions included clearer terms of contract detailing length of stay at a post, and transparent procedures for transfer and promotion; career opportunities for all cadres of nursing; and benefits such as better on-the-job housing, better mentoring and more recognition from leaders. An integrated set of recruitment and retention policies focusing on career development may improve job satisfaction and retention of nurses in rural Ghana.

Source: UCC
Polishing the Pearls of Indigenous African Thoughts: A Critical Examination of Kwame Gyekye’s Moderate Communitarianism

The issue about whether the community is superior to the individual, or vice versa, has been a matter of serious controversy and debate in current academic discourse. Looking at this issue, it is observed that there exists a delicate relationship between the individual and the community. In this regard, Indigenous African Communitarianism (IAC) has maintained that the community ought to be superior over the individual. Kwame Gyekye, a reputable African philosopher, has argued otherwise. Though a communitarian, Gyekye believes that it is radical for IAC to place premium on the community over the individual. Hence, he proposes a new theory called Moderate Communitarianism (MC) where he argues that this theory (MC) would give equal recognition to both the interest of the community and that of the individual. However, through the textual analysis method; where primary and secondary texts were scrutinized, the conclusion reached in this study is that not only was Gyekye unable to give equal balance to the interest of the community and that of the individual but also, contrary to what Gyekye wants us to believe, IAC is not radical. The central contribution of this work is that it has demonstrated that IAC is impartial. This is because IAC recognises both the interest of the community and that of the individual. This study would serve as a reference material to shape ideas about how to improve the relationship that exists between the individual and the community.

Source: UCC
Polite request among the Akyem speech community in Ghana

This paper investigates into various ways by which native speakers of the Akyem Twi dialect of the Akan Language of Ghana make polite request and how social variables such as age, gender and socio-economic status influence their request making. An ethnographic research approach to qualitative design was employed and the research participants of twenty were randomly selected using the purposive sampling technique of which their responses from the interview and the observation to the topic problem were submitted to content analysis. The findings indicate that the strategy for polite request is the indirect strategy. Comparatively, the Akyem speech community equally prefers the conventional indirect strategy as the most polite strategy of request speech act as the other speech communities in Ghana. Also, social variables such as age, gender and socio-economic status influence request making yet equal status contradicts some findings in relation to familiarity. Again, Ghanaians have one condition that warrants request which is not part of the existing one; they believe that the individual granting the request should be trustworthy. Moreover, there were new interesting findings in this study.It was foundout that non-conventional indirect strategy has some natural features which make it different from the conventional strategy and more like the direct strategy, even though they are all indirect strategies

Source: UCC
Politeness And Impoliteness Strategies In The Question And Answer Sessions Of Dr. Zakir Naik’s Islamic Public Lectures

Language is one of the most powerful tools. The way individuals use language through their accent, choice of words, among others, is the through reflection of their sociocultural background. Religion, as part of culture, has become an integral part of human life. Scholars of many faiths have the responsibility of preaching to impart the message of their own religions. By the use of the Brown and Levinson’s (1987) politeness model and Culpeper’s (1996) impoliteness models as analytical frameworks, the study investigated politeness and impoliteness strategies that were employed by interlocutors in the question and answer (Q&A) sessions of Islamic public lectures by Dr. Zakir Naik, renowned scholar on Islam and comparative religion. Using the descriptive qualitative approach, the study sampled three videos of his lectures and analysed them. The study revealed that all the politeness strategies and impoliteness strategies, as suggested by Brown and Levinson (1987) and Culpeper (1996) respectively, were employed, albeit to various degrees. It was also revealed that the choice of politeness and impoliteness strategies was influenced by the cultural background and the different social power and rank between the interlocutors. The preacher frequently used of Positive politeness and Positive impoliteness strategies, while the questioners profusely used Negative politeness and a few Negative impoliteness strategies. The moderator frequently used of Bald on-record politeness strategies and no impoliteness strategy. This study contributes significantly to the scholarship and understanding of politeness and impoliteness, especially in the Islamic religious discourse.

Source: UCC
Political Corruption In Postcolonial African Literary Works: A Post-Coloniality Study Of Selected Nigerian Plays

The goal of this study is to examine how political corruption is depicted in post-colonial literature, specifically in Altine's Wrath, Midnight Hotel and Harvest of Corruption. African literary artists, and African literary works produced during both colonial and post-colonial eras have been described by many critics as being based on nationalism, protest, and disillusionment. The texts contain the necessary elements of politics such as deception and victimisation. The study aims to close the gap on the devastating effects of political corruption in the post-colony by critically examining and analysing how the playwrights portray politics in the post-colony. The study adopts the qualitative textual analysis approach and post-coloniality theory in order to evaluate how politics is portrayed in the selected plays: Femi Osofisan's Altine's Wrath, (2002), and Midnight Hotel (1986), Ogbeche Frank Ogodo's Harvest of Corruption (2013). This study also aims to examine the devastating effects of political corruption in the post-colony. The findings reveal that forms of political corruption such as graft, nepotism, moral decadence, disillusionment and maladministration of public offices, as portrayed in the selected plays, have a negative influence on the general population. Political corruption affects the citizens who are mostly the less fortunate in society, causing economic loss, inefficiency, poverty, inequality, intimidation, and discomfort. Except for individuals who are a part of the corrupt network, everyone else may experience some sort of negative consequence. The findings also reveal that through satire, the playwrights are able to confront societal realities such as oppression, exploitation and resistance, and expose corrupt characters. They also reveal that post-coloniality theory in the selected plays is used to call for justice. The study concludes that the playwrights disapprove of the social injustice, corruption, and oppression that often puts a nation’s life in peril. The study recommends that there should be a call to action for individuals to speak up against corruption and fight for fairness in society.

Source: UCC
Political Vigilantism and Human Security in Kumasi Metropolis

ABSTRACT The democratic dispensation of Ghana is fraught with spates of violent acts perpetrated by political vigilante groups which pose threats to human security of residents. Consequently, this study uses a qualitative approach to explore political vigilantism and its effects on human security in the Kumasi metropolis of Ghana. The purposive sampling procedure was used in selecting key informants from three sub areas in the metropolis, representatives of the police, District Assembly, the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), media and political party executives from the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC). The snowball sampling approach was further used in selecting ten political vigilantes while 54 residents were similarly sampled using convenience sampling. The study revealed that the quest for jobs and income mainly motivate people to join political vigilante groups. It was also identified that the political vigilante groups are strategically sophisticated. These sophisticated strategies thus has ramifications on the human security of individuals by way of: causing fear and want, deaths, chronic health problems, physical environmental crises, poverty, disrupting economic activities and the sources of income for people, widening inequality, disenfranchising people and disturbing the broader society. The study recommended that Government should make sustainable jobs and livelihood empowerment programmes available for the alarming youthful population. It also recommended that political parties should have the political will to disband such groups and ensure they do not interfere in the discharge of the duties of the national security apparatus when individuals engaged in political vigilante offences and other crimes of similitude are caught.

Source: UCC
Political Vigilantism and the Security of Elections in Odododiodio Constituency, Ghana

Elections in Ghana since 1992 have been associated with increasing features of political vigilantism which are driven by structural factors such as mistrust unemployment, and winner-takes-all (WTA) syndrome. This study therefore explores the drivers of political vigilantism, the motivations and the actions of vigilantes and the effects of the actions of vigilante groups on the security of elections in the Odododiodio Constituency of Ghana. Theories of structuration, horizontal inequality and clientelism underpin this study. Guided by the interpretivist philosophy, the study dwells on qualitative approaches, by using purposive and snowball sample techniques to solicit data from 18 respondents. Vigilantes and residents in Odododiodio Constituency, security personnel, officials of the Electoral Commission of Ghana (EC), Ghana Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Gh), a security expert and a politician constitute the stakeholders for this study. The data is analysed using narrative analysis. This study contends that political vigilantism is driven by structural issues coupled with people’sresponse (individual motivation) to these structural factors. The outcomes are that vigilantes strategically adopt intimidation, violence and destruction of electoral materials to ensure they secure power for their political parties which consequently compromise the security of elections in the constituency. The study identified the potential of regulations to effectively curb vigilantism despite uncertainties as to its effectiveness. The study concludes that managing political vigilantism is critical to security, peace and development. Thus, it proposes that concerted efforts in the enforcement of state laws against vigilantism devoid of personal interests and guaranteed prosecution of offenders are necessary for the security of elections.

Source: UCC
Political Vigilantism and the Security of Elections in Odododiodio Constituency, Ghana

Elections in Ghana since 1992 have been associated with increasing features of political vigilantism which are driven by structural factors such as mistrust unemployment, and winner-takes-all (WTA) syndrome. This study therefore explores the drivers of political vigilantism, the motivations and the actions of vigilantes and the effects of the actions of vigilante groups on the security of elections in the Odododiodio Constituency of Ghana. Theories of structuration, horizontal inequality and clientelism underpin this study. Guided by the interpretivist philosophy, the study dwells on qualitative approaches, by using purposive and snowball sample techniques to solicit data from 18 respondents. Vigilantes and residents in Odododiodio Constituency, security personnel, officials of the Electoral Commission of Ghana (EC), Ghana Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Gh), a security expert and a politician constitute the stakeholders for this study. The data is analysed using narrative analysis. This study contends that political vigilantism is driven by structural issues coupled with people’s response (individual motivation) to these structural factors. The outcomes are that vigilantes strategically adopt intimidation, violence and destruction of electoral materials to ensure they secure power for their political parties which consequently compromise the security of elections in the constituency. The study identified the potential of regulations to effectively curb vigilantism despite uncertainties as to its effectiveness. The study concludes that managing political vigilantism is critical to security, peace and development. Thus, it proposes that concerted efforts in the enforcement of state laws against vigilantism devoid of personal interests and guaranteed prosecution of offenders are necessary for the security of elections.

Source: UCC
Politics and Ghana’s pre-tertiary curriculum reform programmes: have these helped the nation?

The study investigated policy factors (since independence) that occasion education reforms in Ghana. Specifically, it focused on pre-tertiary education reforms in Ghana with critical historical reference to literature and the political ramification in an effort to improve education. The paper critically examined whether the politically-motivated reforms have helped address the developmental challenges of Ghana thereby ensuring enhanced quality of life of the people. The paper made use of historical analyses and sought views of some key players in education through interviews as strategies to critically explore the issue. Five (5) education policy implementers in the pre-tertiary system of Ghana were drawn from the Ghana Education Service to shed light on the subject to provide rich comprehensive data on their perspectives relative to the education reforms during the period. In addition, two curriculum experts from the University of Cape Coast were interviewed to ascertain the candid opinions of connoisseurs on the issue. The study recommended that government should organise annual curricula colloquiums to solicit broad stakeholder views on ways of making the curriculum better. The paper’s view is that when this happens, Ghana’s quest for development through education would be a fait accompli.

Source: UCC
Politics in the Rome of Cicero’s day

Cicero is unique among the great men of Rome in antiquity because through him we gain an enormous reflection of the ancient Roman world, more especially the last century of the Roman Republic. The research seeks to assess and discuss salient factors that made Rome of Cicero’s day drift away “from the good old days” (i. e., the early Roman Republic) as well as abandon the ancestral ways, mos maiorum; in exchange for corrupt and violent politics. It also demonstrates how the Rome of Cicero’s day was governed by men who agreed far more than disagreed on the fundamental questions facing the ailing Republic. Inevitably, Cicero was the man who saw what had made his day become so different from the early Republic. In point of fact, an important feature during this turbulent period was the corrupt nature of Rome’s politicians. Political leaders were no more concerned about the safety and welfare of the citizens; rather they were filled with unbridled passion to exploit the Republic given the slightest opportunity open to them. The study ends with a concise discussion of how Cicero stood by the traditional Republican ideals, to defend the Republican government.

Source: UCC
The politics of citation: An analysis of doctoral theses across disciplines

Citation is used as a measure to rank academics and institutions on the assumption that the more one is cited, the greater the impact of one’s research. For this reason, citations in high impact journals that appear on highly regarded scientific indices are favoured as sites for publishing one’s work. There can be no doubt that citation in the academy is a politicized practice. In acquiring advanced academic literacy, students have to master the art of positioning themselves in relation to the work of others, so that they develop their own ‘scholarly identity’. Drawing on insights from sociology of knowledge, information science, and critical discourse analysis, in this paper, we examine the reference lists of ten doctoral theses, from three disciplines – Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences, Literature, and Sociology – in a leading South African university. Four parameters: (1) authorship (2) type of source (3) place of publication and (4) date of publication are used as means of understanding differences in relation to knowledge construction across the different disciplines. The analysis of the reference lists shows that they are a highly politicized discursive site marked by particular values, alliances, allegiances, and dominant forms that are privileged. The findings from this study have important implications for advanced academic literacy, disciplinary discourse studies at doctoral level, and postgraduate supervision

Source: UCC
The politics of curriculum design in instructional communication in Ghana

This paper presents findings from a two-year ethnographic study that explored how institutional politics shaped the curriculum of a graduate program in instructional communication in a Ghanaian public university. Using Porter et al.’s (2000) idea of institutional critique, the research showed that the design of the program was not value-free. The analysis indicated that the curriculum as a textual material promotes preferred literacies that reflect ideologies and core values of its designers. The study found that the instructional communication curriculum is anchored on competencies in applied linguistics and educational psychology. The research advocates the opening of a space crucial for including "new" seminars such as instructional communication, composition studies, and critical theory to the curriculum. The paper makes the case that these new seminars are important for training communication educators to be abreast of the exigencies of the twenty-first century educational enterprise

Source: UCC
The politics of theorising in historical reconstruction: An examination of the views of the protagonists and antagonists

The significance of theory in research has made the formulation and use of theories a common practice in most fields of study, particularly in the natural sciences and in some social sciences. In history, however, there is a lack of unanimity regarding the formulation and application of theories in the reconstruction of the past. Thus, whereas some historians accept and employ theoretical formulations in their studies, others reject and avoid them altogether in their works. Interestingly, both camps have raised strong arguments in support of their positions. To understand the opposing camps, therefore, necessitates a thorough appraisal of their views. Accordingly, this paper, employing the multi-disciplinary approach, first distinguishes between the ‘pro-theorists’ and the ‘anti-theorists’ in historical studies. It then examines in detail two of the important arguments the two schools of thought have advanced in relation to formulating and applying theories in the study and reconstruction of the past. Finally, the paper attempts to contribute towards resolving this somewhat controversial issue in the historical theatre by way of permitting itself the luxury of stating its own views on the matter. It concludes that to help make historical studies more scientific and easily intelligible, theories should be applied, with utmost caution, in historical research

Source: UCC
Pollination ecology of shea (vitellaria paradoxa c.f. Gaertn.) In the guinea savanna zone of Ghana

Vitellaria paradoxa (shea) is an economic tree endemic to Sub-Saharan Africa. Shea fruit contributes to food security, while the edible fat from shea kernel is used industrially in cosmetic, pharmaceutical and confectionary products. However, optimum fruit yield is limited by inadequate pollination services. This study investigated floral phenology and explored managed bee (Apis mellifera) for enhanced pollination in shea parklands of six sites in three regions (Upper West, Upper East and North East) from August 2020 to December 2021. The study specifically sought to establish the relationship between climatic conditions and floral phenology, and the effect of apiary on shea flower visitors and fruit yield at four distances (100, 500, 1000 and 4000m) from the apiary. Alternative floral resources visited by shea pollinators (bees) were also surveyed monthly for one year. Shea flowering was significantly associated with soil moisture and temperature but the onset of flowering and morphometric traits of floral parts varied significantly between regions. Tree proximity to apiary had a positive effect on fruit set but not fruit weight and size. Presence of apiary did not have any effect on diversity and flower visitation frequency of other bees. Similarly, weather conditions had a minimal effect on flower visitor composition. Alternative forage survey identified 32 woody plants, 75% of which were visited by shea primary pollinators. The study concluded that beekeeping in shea parklands had some positive effects on pollination and fruit set. However, further studies are required to determine the optimal hive density per acreage of shea parkland and the long-term effects of beekeeping on other florivorous insects.

Source: UCC