When your boss decides to mess you up: The two decades experience in public service in Ghana

This study examined both the objective and subjective dimensions of leadership qualities of public service in Ghana. It also unraveled and compared the contours, dynamics and patterns of management blocks. The paper offered innovative works that discussed basic and applied public service activities, emphasizing inter-and multi-disciplinary approaches to various domains of leadership qualities. The study further examined other factors such as frontal attack, transfer techniques, special assignments, nitty gritty tactics, layering, delays, evasion, shouting regimes and double bind techniques. Besides observation, the study relied on literature review (Desk Study) Thus, it appealed to a variety of fields in humanities, social sciences and other professional disciplines

The search for academic excellence: The hard facts and bitter truths

Globalization, with its attendant competitiveness in almost all human endeavours, has brought in its wake a renewed surge for quality in higher education. The searchlights have been thrown on, not only on the traditional areas such as the quality of lecture rooms, Lecturers, Libraries and performance of students, but on such other things like the quality of academic leadership as the driving force that greases the clogged wheels of higher educational institutions towards attaining the visions and missions of most institutions.  The picture gradually emerging is one where the quality of academic leadership largely determines what will come on the academic agenda for pursuing relevance, access, affordability, equity, efficiency and economy in the 21st Century.  This work seeks to explore the management dimensions of pursuing excellence as a strategic objective through building partnerships with major stakeholders rather than the use of high – handedness. Besides observations, the study relied on literature review. The era of the visionary and motivational leadership appears to be the key for higher educational institutions which seek to stand up to competition in the global arena. The social and political ends of higher education call for not just exemplary leadership, but also human-centred results-oriented approaches to sustainable tertiary institutions of excellence

The Impact of FM Radio Broadcast in Local Dialect on Rural Community Development in Ghana

AbstractThe paper set out a platform to investigate the impact of FM radio broadcast in local dialects on rural community development in the Tamale Metropolis of Northern Ghana. The study adopts survey design and also employs probability proportional techniques to select communities for the study. The main thrust of this paper is on the impact of local dialect on rural community development, preferences of development programmes and the community’s participation in the production of radio programmes. Out of 400 questionnaires distributed, 392 was retrieved and analysed. From the results, it is established that local dialect broadcast on radio have an impact on development of rural communities. Also, it improves awareness and knowledge of solutions to community’s development problems in education, agriculture, environment, culture, politics and religion. The paper compare target audience’s preference for local dialect radio programmes to other similar content programmes that were not broadcast in local dialect. It concludes that radio broadcast in local dialect plays a pivotal role in bridging the communication gap between government and rural communities. It proved to be one of the effective mode of communication at the grass-root level. The study shows a positive role played by the indigenous dialect’s radio programmes and recommends that rural development programmes on radio should be packaged in local language. Thus, enhances listenership, interest and positive desired behavioural change.Key Words: Impact, FM Radio Broadcast, Local Dialect, Rural Development, Ghana.

ACADEMIC FREEDOM AND AUTONOMY IN THE UNIVERSITIES: PAST AND PRESENT

Academic freedom and autonomy have since mediaeval times been considered the hubs around which critical and independent thinking revolved. Men like Socrates, Copernicus, Galileo and Bertrand Russell suffered many indignities in defence of these ideals. Hiring and firing Vice-Chancellors always raise the issue of academic freedom in universities to choose their teachers and operate within their ivory towers without any interference. Besides observations, the work relied on literature review. The paper defines academic freedom and autonomy, carefully details how university councils, academic boards and other committees have resisted outside intrusions into these cherished ideals. Unsuccessful onslaughts at the freedom and autonomy of universities have only called for more consultations and collaboration between governments and university leaderships. This ideal relationship is to harmonise scholastic pursuits with national goals and aspirations. While one cannot expect the government, as financiers of public universities, to look on unconcerned about what happens inside its universities. An appreciation of each other’s expectations and roles can harness national development without any players feeling traumatized and befuddled. Increased participation of academics in partisan politics and scrupulous regard for merit and committee work in universities will not only improve government understanding of universities, but also create peaceful industrial atmospheres in universities to render both interference and censure unnecessary. 

Audience listenership of FM radio: A case study of rural development in Northern Ghana

AbstractThe quest for effective strategies for rural development continues to be a challenge for policymakers in sub-Saharan Africa and their development partners. Communication development strategies executed using FM stations have emerged as a promising tool as a result of the medium being the most popular source of information among rural dwellers in the region. Thus, this research explores the efficacy of FM radio in rural development by examining the listening patterns of residents and the benefits of such listenership to the lives of inhabitants of the Tamale metropolitan area. This is achieved via a quantitative analysis of surveys of about 400 residents of the Tamale metropolis. The study rejects the perception that FM radio programs in Ghana are mostly entertainment driven and are purveyors of light news. By putting searchlight on the motivations of radio listeners, the study finds that FM radio is the most reliable and trusted source of development information because of the ease, convenience and low cost of listening for listeners, and because programming is mostly in local languages. The study establishes that FM radio is the main source of information on agriculture, education and health in rural communities thereby contributing to rural development. Listeners’ participations in radio phone-in programs were highly rated for fostering audience motivation and agency. However, some challenges emerged. Listenership of FM stations was disproportionately male; there were complaints that radio programs were too “urban”; programming lacked innovation; and the timing of programs was poor. Based on these findings, the study recommends that FM radio stations should employ media professionals to conduct effective audience analysis to gain a grounded understanding of audience radio use if they are to develop the right programming timing to reach a greater audience of rural residents