Civic Education Significantly Associated with Turnout in General Elections in Morogoro Urban Constituency, Tanzania

Elections in Tanzania, like in any other country in the world, has three main functions: first is to create a sentiment of popular consent and participation in public affairs; second is to provide for orderly succession in government by peaceful transfer of authority to new rulers when the time comes for the old rulers to go through elections and third is to elect representatives of the people. However, there is a great proportion of registered voters who do not vote in the elections. This will have negative impact on consolidating democracy and expanding collective decision making through representation, if not taken care of. The underlying causes for this problem are not yet clear. Therefore, the research from which this paper has emanated was conducted in Morogoro urban constituency to analyse the determinants of voting in general elections in Tanzania. Using an index scale, it was found that the overall respondents’ knowledge about elections was low (23 out of 50 points); hence voters’ participation in 2010 general elections was low. Furthermore, the results show that more than one-fifth (22.6%) of all the respondents had spent fifteen minutes to reach the polling stations. Using a chi-square test, the research findings revealed that the relationship between individuals’ levels of civic education and their participation in voting was significant (?2 = 8.648, p = 0.003), which means that those with higher education participated more than those with lower education. It is recommended that such education should be increased through various media in order to increase citizens' participation in voting. Key words:Civic Education, Turnout, Electio

Policy Concerns, Opportunities, Challenges, and Attitude towards One Health Practice in Zambia

One Health in terms of collaboration, particularly between human and animal health sectors to prevent and control zoonoses has been low while the sectors have a lot of things in common. Such common things include aspects of disease causative agents (viruses, bacteria, parasites, etc.) and those of disease occurrence mediator conditions (social, cultural, economic or climatic). Therefore, the research from which this paper is based was done with the objectives to: (a) assess the extent to which human and animal health policies facilitate one health in terms of collaboration; (b) rank opportunities for and challenges to collaboration among medical, and veterinary officers according to the views and experiences of the respondents in the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Agriculture; and (c) determine the attitude of the respondents towards One Health approaches in terms of collaboration in dealing with zoonoses. A cross-sectional research design was used in this study whereby data were collected at a single point in time without repetition. Purposive sampling method was used to make sure that the respondents were only officials who usually participated in policy formulation in the two Ministries. It was found that almost three quarters (73.1%) of the respondents from both ministries agreed that there was no policy which directly facilitated One Health in terms of collaboration. It was also found that 83.6% of the respondents pointed out that human and animal health policy making process was a top-down process. Furthermore, it was found that the main opportunities that could enhance collaboration were sufficient money in budgeting; advocacy for control of neglected zoonotic diseases in human and animal health; and one health policy formulation (71.3%, 68.2% and 65.5% respectively). The overall attitude towards collaboration among respondents was favourable; they scored an average of 62.2 out of 100.0 points on a Likert scale. It is concluded that if opportunities enhancing collaboration were strengthened and challenges to collaboration were overcome, human health and animal health experts could collaborate more in reduction of disease burden in both humans and livestock. Keywords: One health, policy, attitude, opportunities, challenge

Determinants of voting In Morogoro municipality

The study was driven by the fact that there is a great proportion of registered voters who do not vote in the elections. This will have negative impact on consolidating democracy and expanding collective decision making through representation if not taken care of. The main objective of the study was to analyze the determinants of voting in Morogoro Municipality while the specific objectives were to assess the knowledge and attitude of voters towards the elections in the study area, estimate the minutes spent by voters going to and queuing at the polling stations, and determine how political party adherence is related to voting. A cross- sectional study design was employed. Data were collected in October and November 2010 during and immediately after the 2010 general elections through a questionnaire, and a semi-structured interview guide, which were administered to a sample of 200 respondents. Data analysis was done using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) computer software. The study findings showed that the overall respondents’ attitude towards elections was unfavourable in the study area hence voters’ participation in 2010 general elections was low. Using a chi- square test, research findings revealed that the relationship between individuals’ levels of civic education and their participation in voting was significant (χ 2 = 8.648, p = 0.003), which means that those with higher education participated more than those with lower education. In view of the above findings, it is concluded that in order to increase participation in voting some basic democratic requirements have to be met. These include civic education, timely and adequate information about elections, and trust and transparency to electoral processes as well as free and fair elections. On the basis of this conclusion, it is recommended that the electoral commission and election candidates should address these issues to increase citizens’ participation in elections

Determinants of voting In Morogoro municipality

The study was driven by the fact that there is a great proportion of registered voters who do not vote in the elections. This will have negative impact on consolidating democracy and expanding collective decision making through representation if not taken care of. The main objective of the study was to analyze the determinants of voting in Morogoro Municipality while the specific objectives were to assess the knowledge and attitude of voters towards the elections in the study area, estimate the minutes spent by voters going to and queuing at the polling stations, and determine how political party adherence is related to voting. A cross- sectional study design was employed. Data were collected in October and November 2010 during and immediately after the 2010 general elections through a questionnaire, and a semi-structured interview guide, which were administered to a sample of 200 respondents. Data analysis was done using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) computer software. The study findings showed that the overall respondents’ attitude towards elections was unfavourable in the study area hence voters’ participation in 2010 general elections was low. Using a chi- square test, research findings revealed that the relationship between individuals’ levels of civic education and their participation in voting was significant (χ 2 = 8.648, p = 0.003), which means that those with higher education participated more than those with lower education. In view of the above findings, it is concluded that in order to increase participation in voting some basic democratic requirements have to be met. These include civic education, timely and adequate information about elections, and trust and transparency to electoral processes as well as free and fair elections. On the basis of this conclusion, it is recommended that the electoral commission and election candidates should address these issues to increase citizens’ participation in elections

Awareness and attitudes towards anthrax and meat consumption practices among affected communities in Zambia: A mixed methods approach

publishedVersio

Awareness and attitudes towards anthrax and meat consumption practices among affected communities in Zambia: A mixed methods approach

<div><p>Background</p><p>In Zambia, human anthrax cases often occur following cases of animal anthrax. Human behaviour has been implicated in this transmission. The objective of the study was to explore human behavioural patterns that may contribute to outbreaks of anthrax among affected communities.</p><p>Methods</p><p>A mixed methods study was conducted in four districts of Zambia from November 2015 to February 2016. A cross sectional survey involving 1,127 respondents, six focus group discussions and seven key informant interviews with professional staff were conducted. Descriptive statistics on socio-demographic characteristics, awareness of anthrax, attitudes towards cattle vaccination and risk factors for anthrax and vaccination practices were run using STATA 12 for analysis.</p><p>Results</p><p>Overall, 88% of respondents heard about anthrax, 85.1% were aware that anthrax is transmitted by eating infected meat and 64.2% knew that animals and humans can be infected with anthrax. However, qualitative data suggested that awareness of anthrax varied across communities. Qualitative findings also indicated that, in Western and Muchinga provinces, human anthrax was transmitted by eating infected beef and hippo <i>(Hippopotamus amphibious)</i> meat, respectively.</p><p>Although survey data indicated that 62.2% of respondents vaccinated their animals, qualitative interviews and annual vaccination reports indicated low vaccination rates, which were attributed to inadequate veterinary service provision and logistical challenges. While 82% of respondents indicated that they reported animal deaths to veterinary officers, only 13.5% of respondents buried infected carcasses. Majority (78.1%) of respondents either ate, sold or shared meat from dead animals with other community members. Poverty, lack of access to meat protein and economic reasons were cited as drivers for consuming infected meat.</p><p>Conclusions</p><p>Health education campaigns must be intensified to reduce the risk of human exposure. Veterinary extension services should be strengthened and cold chain facilities decentralized in order to improve accessibility to anthrax vaccine. It is also important to involve the affected communities and collaborate with other disciplines in order to effectively tackle poverty, improve veterinary services and address inherent meat consumption practices within the communities.</p></div

Comparison of awareness of anthrax among respondents in 2 provinces, given as numbers (%).

<p>Comparison of awareness of anthrax among respondents in 2 provinces, given as numbers (%).</p

Comparison of socio-demographic characteristics of respondents between Western and Muchinga provinces.

<p>Comparison of socio-demographic characteristics of respondents between Western and Muchinga provinces.</p

Map of Zambia showing study sites.

<p>Green color is Western province with Nalolo, Limulunga and Mongu districts. Purple color is Muchinga province with Chama district.</p