The ‘silent pistol’ in Ghana’s local government system: presiding members vs. chief executives

Decentralisation and local governance aim at local economic development, but collaboration among key actors at the local level is essential in realising this objective. However, at district assembly level Ghana exhibits problematic conflicts between district chief executives (DCEs), who head the executive committee, and presiding members (PMs) who convene and preside over assembly deliberations, acting as speaker. This study aims to unpack the main causes of such unsavoury conflicts by using 13 case studies from the Ashanti Region. Both primary and secondary data were collected for the study. Primary data was gathered from a selection of 40 key informants drawn from three main groups including DCEs, PMs, and other stakeholders such as regional coordinating council members, assembly members and chiefs. The main research instrument was one-on-one in-depth interviews with participants. The study found deep-seated conflicts between DCEs and PMs, in some cases even transcending these two actors to involve a greater section of actors within the local government administration. The study noted that professional bureaucrats within the local government service are affected when allegations of affiliation are levelled against them. The study also found that the legal status of DCEs and PMs appears to be the main driver of potential conflict, although other context-specific issues were also prevalent

DEMOCRATIC SUSTAINABILITY AND CONFLICT RESILIENCE IN GHANA’S DEMOCRATIC SYSTEM

Ghana could be described as an island of peace in an ocean of conflicts. This is because most of Ghana’s West African neighbours have experienced (and some are still experiencing) various forms of national civil conflicts which have never occurred in Ghana. In the last three decades, the West Africa sub-region has been plagued with many intra-state conflicts.  In Liberia, Sierra-Leone, Côte d’Ivoire and Mali, conflicts have escalated into full scale war, bringing with it numerous loss of lives, destruction of property and causing social despair for the citizenry. The peace of some countries like Senegal, Nigeria, Niger and recently Burkina Faso also continues to be threatened by different dissident groups and popular uprisings. While most of these countries’ democracies remain fragile due to the conflicts within these states, Ghana remains one of few examples whose current democratic structures have stood the test of time for the last three decades. This study inquired into Ghana’s conflict resistance capacities and its ability to continue to sustain its democracy as a country.  Mixed methods approach was employed to select 132 community residents from 3 purposefully sampled conflict-prone communities in Ghana, and 5 key informants as well as 462 political party delegates for interviewing and data collection for the study.The study found that the very nature of Ghana’s internal conflicts with respect to their geographical limitations, the conflict parties involved as well as the issues at stake contribute to confine these internal conflicts within their areas of occurrence. In addition, some conscious social and institutional measures (put in place) in the Ghanaian democratic system help to promote peace and maintain order. Finally, majority of the respondents (63.6%) were of the opinion that Ghana is unlikely to have a national civil war because its democratic institutions are effective. It was suggested that politicians should avoid interfering in local conflicts and increase coverage for peace education programmes and conflict intervention initiatives in the country, among others

IMPLEMENTING THE USE OF SIX SIGMA FOR QUALITY AND CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT

This thesis investigates the how Six Sigma can be applied to aid to trace the root cause of why the organization under study is not seeing much progress, to find out how to improve the quality of service and also aid in the continuous improvement of the organization. The theoretical framework employed is the Lean Six Sigma (LSS) which deploy the general concept of eliminating waste in any given system or service to promote efficiency through careful usage of the five phases of Six Sigma. The study deploys the use of a qualitative research and data was gathered by submitting questionnaires to the employees of the organization. After a careful analysis of the data by the deployment of the phases of Six Sigma (DMAIC), suggestions and proposals are given for factors that need improvement through management initiative and direction. The overall idea of the thesis was to implement the use of Six Sigma for quality and continuous improvement. The writer hopes that by implementing these proposals of the study, there would be a significant improvement in the quality of services provided and a significant progress would be seen in the organization.fi=Opinnäytetyö kokotekstinä PDF-muodossa.|en=Thesis fulltext in PDF format.|sv=Lärdomsprov tillgängligt som fulltext i PDF-format

RELIGIOSITY/SPIRITUALITY AND EMOTIONAL HOMEOSTATIC DISEQUILIBRIUM AMONG MARRIED CIVIL SERVANTS IN BAYELSA STATE.

This study investigated the relationship between religiosity/spirituality and emotional homeostatic disequilibrium (EHD) among married civil servants in Bayelsa State, Nigeria. One research question and one null hypothesis guided the investigation. The expost facto correlation design was adopted for the study and the population consisted of all married civil servants in the mainstream civil service of Bayelsa State, about 8,449 as at the time of this study. A sample of 780 (10.9%) were selected through purposive sampling procedure. Data collected from 766 subjects with two instruments: The Emotional Homeostatic Disequilibrium Scale (EHDS) and Religiosity/Spirituality Scale (RSS) were analyzed with correlation and regression statistics using SPSS version 23. It was discovered that religiosity/spirituality was significantly related to EHD among married civil servants in Bayelsa State, Nigeria. Following this finding, it was recommended that counselors, psychologists and psychiatrists should consider the religiosity/spirituality factor when married clients present EHD cases for psychotherapeutic intervention in order to achieve optimal results

Optimization of integrated water and multiregenerator membrane systems

A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Chemical Engineering), September 2017Water and energy are key resources in the process industry. The water-energy nexus considers the interdependence of water and energy resources and their effect on the environment. The increasing awareness of environmental regulations has heightened the need for process integration techniques that are environmentally benign and economically feasible. Process integration techniques within water network synthesis require a holistic approach for the sustainable use of water through reuse and recycle and regeneration reuse and recycle. Conventional methods for water minimisation through water network synthesis often use the “black-box” approach to represent the performance of the regenerators. The degree of contaminant removal and cost of regeneration are represented by linear functions. This, therefore, leads to suboptimal operating conditions and inaccurate cost representation of the regeneration units. This work proposes a robust water network superstructure optimisation approach for the synthesis of a multi-regenerator network for the simultaneous minimisation of water and energy. Two types of membrane regenerators are considered for this work, namely, electrodialysis and reverse osmosis. Detailed models of the regeneration units are embedded into the water network superstructure optimisation model to simultaneously minimise water, energy, operating and capital costs. The presence of continuous and integer variables, as well as nonlinear constraints renders the problem a mixed integer nonlinear program (MINLP). The developed model is applied to two illustrative examples involving a single contaminant and multiple contaminants and one industrial case study of a power utility plant involving a single contaminant to demonstrate its applicability. The application of the model to the single contaminant illustrative example lead to a 43.7% freshwater reduction, 50.9% decrease in wastewater generation and 46% savings in total water network cost. The multi-contaminant illustrative example showed 11.6% freshwater savings, 15.3% wastewater reduction, 57.3% savings in regeneration and energy cost compared to the water network superstructure with “black-box” regeneration model. The industrial case study showed a savings of up to 18.7% freshwater consumption, 82.4% wastewater reduction and up to 17% savings on total water network cost.XL201

Corporate social responsibility spending of commercial banks: determinants and consequence

The contribution of firms towards society in the form of corporate social responsibility has attracted significant concern for many stakeholders, especially among banks in Ghana. It is perceived that; banks especially do Corporate Social Responsibility just because they are the most profitable sector in Ghana. The study sort to examine the kind of relationship that exists between bank performance and CSR in Ghana. Also, to determine how bank size and profitability and it's listing status and foreign ownership influence CSR spending in Ghana. The study sampled 24 commercial banks over seven years from 2010 to 2016. The study analyzed data using statistical tools such as descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and panel regression analysis. The study found out that engaging in CSR activities increases banks' profitability in Ghana, especially for ROE.  Besides, the study concluded that bigger and larger banks are more profitable than small companies, so they are more involved in CSR activities. The study also investigated whether foreign ownership and the listing status of banks influence CSR spending. On this aspect, the study found out that banks' listing status influences CSR spending, but foreign ownership does not. The result implies that listed banks are more public and faces more social pressure hence they spend more on CSR to legitimize their operations

Repair of the airway epithelium after chlorine-induced injury.

Chlorine is a widely used toxic chemical that is considered a chemical threat agent. Chlorine inhalation injures airway epithelium, and efficient epithelial repair is necessary to restore normal lung structure and function. Regeneration of injured tissues typically proceeds through the proliferation and differentiation of stem or progenitor cells. Knowledge of underlying mechanisms that regulate these processes during airway epithelial repair is lacking. This dissertation characterizes respiratory epithelial repair after chlorine injury to investigate potential signaling pathways that could be manipulated to regulate stem/progenitor cells in airway repair. Repair of the pseudostratified tracheal epithelium after chlorine-induced injury was characterized in C57BL/6 mice by morphometric analysis of tracheal sections following standard histological staining and specific staining for proliferating cells and epithelial cell types. Surviving basal epithelial cells served as progenitor cells for tracheal epithelial regeneration after chlorine injury. In areas where repair was inefficient owing to few remaining basal cells, airway fibrosis was observed. To investigate potential signaling pathways that could be manipulated to facilitate epithelial repair after chlorine-induced injury, the low affinity nerve growth factor receptor (NGFR) and the Wnt/ß-catenin pathway were examined. Pharmacological treatment of isolated tracheal epithelial cells with NGFR ligands did not influence the growth of tracheal basal cells in vitro. Overexpression of nerve growth factor (NGF) in airway epithelium or mutation of NGFR increased the pool of stem cells that formed a differentiated pseudostratified epithelium in vitro. Treatment of chlorine-exposed mice with NGF did not impact epithelial repair in vivo. Minimal effect of NGF overexpression on epithelial repair in transgenic mice was observed. NGFR mutation resulted in increased sensitivity of mice to chlorine-induced airway injury, but unexpectedly protected mice from the development of fibrosis. Stimulation of Wnt/ß-catenin signaling with lithium chloride prevented the formation of pseudostratified epithelium in vitro. Chlorine inhalation in mice activated ß-catenin signaling in the tracheal epithelium. Treatment of mice with lithium chloride or the Wnt/ß-catenin signaling modulator ICG-001 reduced collagen content in the lung after chlorine exposure. This work highlights the potential contribution of NGFR and Wnt/ß-catenin signaling to airway epithelial repair and identifies potential therapeutic targets for inhibiting chlorine-induced airway fibrosis

Psychological and Socio-economic Instigators and Manifestations of Conduct Disorder among Secondary School Students in Ekeremor LGA, Bayelsa State, Nigeria.

This study investigated psychological and socio-economic instigators of conduct disorder among secondary school students in Ekeremor Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, Nigeria. The ex post facto research design was used for the study. Two hundred students identified to have conduct disorder constituted the study sample. The instrument for data collection was an 18-item questionnaire entitled Students Conduct Disorder Scale (SCDS) which had a reliability coefficient of .72. Data were analyzed using frequencies of occurrence, which were converted to percentages. The results indicated that frustration and jealousy were the most outstanding among psychological instigators. For social instigators, home background, especially domestic violence, instigated conduct disorder most. Poverty and the inability to meet personal needs were the most prominent economic instigators. Based on these results, counselling techniques were suggested for timely intervention to curb the problem.This study investigated psychological and socio-economic instigators of conduct disorder among secondary school students in Ekeremor Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, Nigeria. The ex post facto research design was used for the study. Two hundred students identified to have conduct disorder constituted the study sample. The instrument for data collection was an 18-item questionnaire entitled Students Conduct Disorder Scale (SCDS) which had a reliability coefficient of .72. Data were analyzed using frequencies of occurrence, which were converted to percentages. The results indicated that frustration and jealousy were the most outstanding among psychological instigators. For social instigators, home background, especially domestic violence, instigated conduct disorder most. Poverty and the inability to meet personal needs were the most prominent economic instigators. Based on these results, counselling techniques were suggested for timely intervention to curb the problem

Psychological and Socio-economic Instigators and Manifestations of Conduct Disorder among Secondary School Students in Ekeremor LGA, Bayelsa State, Nigeria.

This study investigated psychological and socio-economic instigators of conduct disorder among secondary school students in Ekeremor Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, Nigeria. The ex post facto research design was used for the study. Two hundred students identified to have conduct disorder constituted the study sample. The instrument for data collection was an 18-item questionnaire entitled Students Conduct Disorder Scale (SCDS) which had a reliability coefficient of .72. Data were analyzed using frequencies of occurrence, which were converted to percentages. The results indicated that frustration and jealousy were the most outstanding among psychological instigators. For social instigators, home background, especially domestic violence, instigated conduct disorder most. Poverty and the inability to meet personal needs were the most prominent economic instigators. Based on these results, counselling techniques were suggested for timely intervention to curb the problem.This study investigated psychological and socio-economic instigators of conduct disorder among secondary school students in Ekeremor Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, Nigeria. The ex post facto research design was used for the study. Two hundred students identified to have conduct disorder constituted the study sample. The instrument for data collection was an 18-item questionnaire entitled Students Conduct Disorder Scale (SCDS) which had a reliability coefficient of .72. Data were analyzed using frequencies of occurrence, which were converted to percentages. The results indicated that frustration and jealousy were the most outstanding among psychological instigators. For social instigators, home background, especially domestic violence, instigated conduct disorder most. Poverty and the inability to meet personal needs were the most prominent economic instigators. Based on these results, counselling techniques were suggested for timely intervention to curb the problem

It is not all about Reproductive Labour: Excluded Traditional Ventures and Rural Livelihoods among Women in Northern Ghana

In the era of rapid corporatisation and obsession with market-led growth, not much attention has been paid to people who have not been able to fully tap into the new paradigm. Rural women face additional difficulties owing to societal constructs that further limit their participation in the mainstream economy. They also face real dangers that the traditional economic ventures, they have historically relied on, are on the verge of extinction. Rural women in Dagbon[i] are now caught in a web: on the one hand, they have not migrated fully into the mainstream capitalist or what is often termed the “modern” economy; and, on the other hand, they are also losing a grip on their traditional economic strategies, which have historically formed the bedrock of community welfare.  In this paper, I explore some selected traditional economic ventures undertaken by women in rural Dagbon. I examine the appropriateness of these local economic ventures in enhancing welfare among rural households in Dagbon, and the relevance of these activities in responding to a variety of community needs, including cultural and religious purposes. It concludes with a call to pay more attention to understanding the deeper and underlying socio-cultural contexts in which women pursue livelihood activities in rural and traditional communities. Key words: Rural women; Dagbon, Traditional Economics, Livelihoods   [i] Dagbon refers to the area inhabited by the Dagomba ethnic group of Northern Ghan