UNAM Open Access Journal University of Namibia
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Towards improving rural water supply and sanitation coverage in Caprivi, North-east Namibia
Get PDFImproving access to clean drinking water has been a major development goal of the Government of Namibia since independence. In particular, efforts were made to ensure that access to clean water for women and children who carry the responsibility of household maintenance and water provision in homesteads is improved. Women and children constitute a major part of the rural population and have traditionally relied on open water sources. By improving the supply of clean quality water, health risks can be reduced. This paper examines the progress done by the Government of Namibia in improving access to rural water supply through a case study of Caprivi region. A mixed methods approach is used. The results show that major improvements in rural water supply have been made, however this has not resulted in reduction of waterborne diseases
Processing methods of Oshikundu, a traditional beverage from sub-tribes within Aawambo culture in the Northern Namibia
Get PDFFermented beverages have a long history in Africa and fermentation is the cheapest, oldest form of food preservation. Indigenous Knowledge (IK) has been at the for-front of the traditional food and beverage processing technology. Oshikundu is a Namibian cereal based fermented beverage brewed with water, brans, pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.) flour locally known as mahangu and malted sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) flour. Oshikundu is brewed in many households among Aawambo and part of Kavango region.It is a perishable beverage with a shelf life under six hours. Oshikundu is brewed for many generations among Aawambo, which the brewing process have adopt and evolved over time. The traditional art of brewing Oshikundu has been passed orally from generation to generation. The knowledge of brewing and interest is declining over time especially among young people. Rural women have taken advantage of the locally available raw materials with their IK for their livelihood by selling Oshikundu. The traditional methods have potential to incorporate the modern biotechnology to control, optimise and standardise the organoleptic quality of Oshikundu
Liberal democracy, education and social justice in Africa
Get PDFIt is a widely accepted view that military and other forms of authoritarian rule were employed in the governance of certain African countries during the early years of postcolonial period from the 1960s to 1980’s as indicated by Bangura (1992), Harber (1997) and Leon (2010). Besides, a few socialist-oriented, independent one-party states existed. The latter years (1990s into the 21st century), saw many independent African countries embracing ‘liberal democracy’ accompanied by market economic models. The introduction of liberal democracy on the African continent has not been without its controversies however, as some African and Carribean social scientists such as Ake (1993 & 1996), Mafeje (2002), Lumumba-Kasongo, (2005), Ngwane (2006) and Sankatsing (2004), have blamed this system for being responsible for much social wretchedness across Africa. The question is: (a) to what extent has liberal democracy delivered social equity on the continent; and (b) in which way do liberal democratic policies promote or impede the aims of education in a democratic society? Arguing from a critical theory perspective, this Article explores the way in which liberal democracy as a system of governance put limitations on education’s capacity to play the transformative role within society. It suggests that liberal democracy advocates equality of opportunities for all at the expense of social justice; and that this prevent education from playing its role as a tool for achieving greater equity within society through promoting human, social and economic development
Inflation and stock market development in Namibia: Evidence from co-integration and error correction modelling
Get PDFThe current study looks at the relationship between infl ation and stock market development in Namibia using modern time series econometric techniques that of co-integration and error correction modelling. The main results in this paper indicate that real gross domestic product promote stock market development in Namibia. More particularly, changes in gross domestic product impacts positively on market capitalization and the value of domestic shares traded. The results also indicate that there is a relationship between infl ation and market capitalization and value of domestic shares traded. However, this relationship is insignifi cant. The foregoing implies that Namibia should place emphasis on the policies that promote gross domestic product, because this is benefi cial for the development of the stock market. Although the relationship between stock market development indicators and infl ation is insignifi cant, there is a need for the country to continue pursuing monetary policy that ensures a low and stable infl ation. This is important because low and stable infl ation encourages stock market activities. In other words, it is important for monetary policy to remain fi rm and conducive in future for the betterment of sound and sustainable development of the stock market and general economic activities
The marginalised in post-independence Zimbabwe in selected stories in Memory Chirere’s short story anthology Somewhere in this country
Get PDFMemory Chirere is one of the contemporary Zimbabwean writers who uses the short story genre as a mode of expression. In his fi rst collection of short stories in English under one book, Somewhere in this Country (2006), Chirere focuses on the marginalised members of society in their day-to-day struggles for survival in post-independence Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe’s masses leading miserable lives, years after independence which was obtained in 1980, refl ects that the black leaders failed to fulfi ll their erstwhile promises of better days to the majority. At the centre of each of the stories selected to be studied in this article, “Suburb”, “An Old Man”, “Maize” and “Sitting Carelessly” is the writer’s touching compassion for the underprivileged members of society such as squatters, street kids, land-hungry peasants and displaced farm workers respectively. However, in “Maize” the black government is applauded for alleviating the situation of peasants by giving them land under the recent land reform programme. Hence, notable in Chirere’s criticism of society and its institutions is his objectivity
A critical evaluation of persuasive communication discourses inspired by celebrity endorsement in the telecommunication sector in Zimbabwe
Get PDFPlayers in the telecommunication sector are embroiled in mobile wars which have spilled over onto the broadcast platform. Intermittent power struggles that have rocked the mobile industry ad infinitum have largely been moved by competitors, Econet and NetOne who have been perceived to be waging a ‘political’ contest on a different platform. This paper investigates persuasive communication strategies employed by the gladiators where interestingly on the same radio station, albeit at different times of same time slots and both inspired by celebrity endorsement, the competitors fight for subscribers. Messenger and message vehicles design the stylistic variations evident in the projected persuasive communication strategies. Celebrity endorsement phenomenon which has apparently been embraced by players in competitive sectors including the mobile industry has been conceptualised within the frame work of Aristotelian Rhetorical Tradition. Language skill exhibition which largely informs the persuasive strategy revolves around code switching, slang, hyperbole and humour. Key tenets from Rank’s (1976) model of persuasion, with minor adjustments alongside Appel and Mysken’s (1997) functionalist model, off er a consolidated framework for a critical appreciation of the discourses. There are a number of questions emerging from the study which could not be answered but trigger-off potential research areas. In this vein, a comparative study on communication strategies between local and say ‘Hollywood’ celebrities as well use of indigenous languages in persuasive communication marshalled by celebrities can be investigated
Archives of Anti-Colonial Resistance and the Liberation Struggle (AACRLS): An integrated programme to fill the colonial gaps in the archival record of Namibia
Get PDFNational archives inherited from former colonial regimes suffer from a distorted record that marginalised the colonised people, and ignored or misrepresented their efforts for self-determination. The Archives was further depleted by the removal of vitally important records to the colonizing metropolis. As a result, the value of the archives as the memory of the entire nation is diminished. The article describes the efforts by the National Archives of Namibia to rectify this situation through a programme of repatriating or copying migrated, displaced and shared archives, collecting private records and oral history, and popularizing the history of anti-colonial struggles. It concludes that despite considerable successes, the task at hand is far from accomplished and needs further sustained effort
Theorising the environment in fiction: An ecocritical reading of Jairos Kangira’s The bundle of firewood
Get PDFWestern perceptions of the African continent as a forest or ‘site of death’ can be traced to as far back as Joseph Conrad’s Heart of darkness. Post-colonial readings of this text exude a literary paradigm shift that has seen African writers attempt to valourise the African forest as a possible site of development. This ecological oriented criticism (ecocriticism) has emerged as one of the fresh ways of celebrating the environment as the fi gurative site upon which human regeneration is likely to occur. The environment becomes a response to the urgent mundane socio-economic issues and provokes readers to interrogate them. In discussing Kangira’s The bundle of firewood, this paper will analyse how these texts use the environment as a narratology to deconstruct the rigid divisions that typify girlhood stereotypes; seeing these not as monolithic, but as permeable and interchangeable. Thus, celebrating the environment is a way of shifting the centre; of giving agency to silent issues and silenced subjects. It becomes a powerful metaphor in terms of the self’s constant quest for definition in a society whose social sexual matrix it (the self) transgresses. The paper reflects on the ramifications of such transgressive politics. It argues that ecocriticism plays a significant role in creating and steering ideologies around a renegotiation of relationships. The paper concludes that the environment is metonymic of so many things; in this context, the politics of exclusivism, and the self’s radicalisation and involvement in a limitless re-fashioning
The accounting role of regional councillors in financial management for regional councils in Namibia : The cases of Oshana and Caprivi regional councils
Get PDFAlthough decisions to acquire and expend financial resources in regional councils are a domain of regional councillors, officials appointed by regional councils and those serving the Ministry of Regional Local Government and Rural Development in Namibia view this as quixotic. This paragonistic perception of appointed officials towards councillors gives rise to synthetic practices that continue to override the efficacy of regional councillors in their role as financiers at regional level in Namibia. Like other regional councils in Namibia, Oshana and Caprivi regional councils are grappling with challenges in financial management. Reflecting on the anecdote of experiences of these two regional councils, this paper makes the call for politicians, technocrats at central and regional government levels and academics to abandon, or at least more vigorously challenge the somewhat archaic, paragonistic methodologies that are very often inappropriate to democratic and corporate governance compliant financial management at sub national level. It argues that there is need to grow legislation based, innovative and creative methodological responses to separate the roles of regional councillors and technocrats appointed by regional councils in financial management. Citing the ideological and methodological shifts made in the Decentralisation process in Namibia, it is argued that it is indeed possible to create unique and exciting processes. Processes that move beyond the rhetoric of “the normative separation of the roles of councilors and officials” to one that in very real terms makes regional councillors the focus of financial planning, budgeting and budgetary control and monitoring the financial activities of regional councils
“Confessional spaces and criminality”: Incest in Alice Walker and Yvonne Vera’s works
No full textThe paper explores incest in Alice Walker and Yvonne Vera’s works as site for contestation of larger forces in society. The portrayal of incest comes at a time where certain “truisms” known to be in Black men in the stereotypification lore are overly dramatised and this tend to submerge genuine and well meaning struggles for racial emancipation and self determination to the periphery. That black men are portrayed as people with unrestricted libido is neither fortuitous nor an incidental project in the aforementioned writers’ works, rather, as a matter of priority it is often easy to take the lesser path by further complicating and bashing the generic punch bag of the Caucasian world. Thus, l argue that the said incestuous relationships are meant to vulgarise in a parallel form the ongoing struggles in America and in Colonial Zimbabwe respectively in the manner of Thomas Rice’s staged minstrels in Antebellum America. The emphasis by Walker and Vera is on the defective forms of lifestyles by people who declare alibis from the struggles and many critics have tended to applaud such projections as characterising a quest for inclusivity of the formerly muffled voices. This article contextualises the crime of incest, in its socio-political realm and refutes the overblown criminality of the black men as a political invention. Cases of incest abound in society and may persist in the unforeseeable future but these are not a preserve of black men