Assessing the performance of public sector institutions in Zimbabwe: a case study approach

This study investigated the performance of rural local government institutions in Zimbabwe and the Beitbridge Rural District Council (BRDC) in particular, between 1993 and 2002. Specific focus was on the BRDC’s effort to enhance democratic participation and empower local communities; its performance in providing services of a local nature; and the level of performance of its management in its bid to infuse and maintain ethos of institutional excellence in the council. Interviews, questionnaires and documentary search were used as instruments for collecting data of both a qualitative and quantitative nature. Consequently, the study does not draw polarity between quantitative and qualitative dimensions of research because of the need to derive benefits from both methodologies. The analysis of data followed a similar approach. The findings of this study are that there is no sufficient community participation in BRDC affairs. Although there is a platform for community participation in the form of VIDCOs and WADCOs, officials of these committees tend to dominate the planning process and consequently, plans reflect the decisions of a minority rather than a majority. Councilors only report back to communities when they feel like and council staff are not responsive to the communities they serve. Thus, the performance of the BRDC in enhancing community participation is below the expectations of communities and this has created a strained relationship between council and the latter. On service provision, the indications are that services are not adequate to meet the demands of communities particularly in housing, recreational facilities, water and transport. Besides, the provision is not responsive to community needs. Inefficiency and ineffectiveness manifest themselves in the process. Council management is bedeviled with several forms of non-performance due to resource wastage, lack of responsiveness and a general lackadaisical attitude. One would conclude that the manner in which the council is performing indicates a lack of economic and administrative rationality in both councilors and council staff. Consequently, there is need to build the capacity of both incumbents and infuse ethos of excellence in running council affairs. This can be done through training and staff development programmes.Thesis (DAdmin (Public Management and Administration))--University of Pretoria, 2006.School of Public Management and Administration (SPMA)unrestricte

Collision of Three Pandemics: The Coexistence of Cervical Cancer, HIV Infection, and Prior Tuberculosis in the Sub-Saharan Country of Botswana.

Cervical cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related mortality in the developing world, where HIV and Mycobacterium tuberculosis (TB) infection are also endemic. HIV infection is independently associated with increased morbidity and mortality among women with cervical cancer. TB is believed to increase the risk of malignancies and could cause chronic inflammation in the gynecologic tract. However, the relationship between cervical cancer and TB in settings hyperendemic for HIV is unknown. We found that 18 (10%) of a cohort of 180 women with cervical cancer in Botswana had a history of TB disease. Age and HIV infection were also associated with a history of TB disease. Our data show that prior TB disease is highly prevalent among patients with cervical cancer infected with HIV. The coexistence of cervical cancer, HIV infection, and prior TB infection might be higher than expected in the general population. Prospective studies are needed to better determine the impact of the collision of these three world health epidemics

Citizen participation in local government and the process of rural development : the rhetoric and reality in Uganda

Citizen participation is acknowledged in the governance and development discourse, as a mechanism for building capacity in the rural poor in the quest for poverty reduction and good governance. This article synthesizes recent studies on Uganda’s decentralised system of local governance and examines the extent to which participation in local programmes has enhanced the process of rural development. It is argued that, while some participatory framework exists as a result of devolving some powers and functions to local government units, the structures and processes remain feeble and do not support a genuinely participatory system. This is mainly due to the excessive central government whims and the local elite capture. While the central and donor-conceived plans may still be necessary for the rural poor, such strategies should be integrated into the rural schemes to enable freedom of choice, action and decision in order to attain strong local ownership and empowerment. This calls for political will from the central government leaders and the need to strengthen capacity for the local forces and social groups to infiltrate the hierarchies of officialdom associated with the local bureaucracies

Technical regulatory reform in Africa : a condition for a competitive regional economy

Technical regulations are critical for competitive regional and national economies. This stems from the fact that an undirected and uncontrollable world trade regime can be chaotic and irresponsible thereby undermining the quality and safety of products and consequently endanger the lives of the consumer. Various regions have both embarked on technical regulatory reforms to eliminate these problems and to realign their technical regulations with the requirements of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) specifications. These reforms are also expected to assist member countries to have a competitive edge on trade relations and ensure the accrual of gains from trade liberation initiatives. African countries seem to be lagging behind, both as individual states or regional groupings such as the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The current technical regulatory systems in Africa are still fragmented, inefficient and ineffective to position African countries for world trade competitiveness. It is with this in mind that this article is written explore the technical regulatory framework in African countries against the background of reforms in Asia and Europe with a view to provide recommendations for an effective and efficient technical regulatory regime that would expedite investment and economic recovery for the continent

Democratic participation for service delivery in local government in Zimbabwe : humanising structural configurations and legal provisions

This paper explores democratic participation as a fundamental concept for improving service delivery in rural local government in Zimbabwe. The paper argues that it is vital to show commitment to the democratic process through implementable plans that compel councillors in Zimbabwe’s rural district councils (RDCs) to involve communities in the service delivery process. The paper acknowledges that although Zimbabwe has arguably adopted commendable local government policies and has established appropriate structures for democratic participation, the practice does not justify the effort. The article also notes that RDCs tend to minimize or underplay the role of communities in service delivery and this has invariably led to uninformed communities and quasi-compliance. The article further posits that local effort and commitment to ‘humanize’ these policies and structures through mobilizing the ultimate beneficiaries of RDC action to participate in processes of service delivery has led to strategic policy designs, implementation and evaluation. It is also noted that RDCs should sensitize communities on the fundamental values of democratic participation and ensure that all council deliberations are premised on community input. Finally,it is argued in this article that councillors should be compelled to provide intelligible and timely reports to communities to keep the latter informed of council actions

Explaining disparities in oncology health systems delays and stage at diagnosis between men and women in Botswana: A cohort study

Purpose Men in Botswana present with more advanced cancer than women, leading to poorer outcomes. We sought to explain sex-specific differences in time to and stage at treatment initiation. Methods Cancer patients who initiated oncology treatment between October 2010 and June 2017 were recruited at four oncology centers in Botswana. Primary outcomes were time from first visit with cancer symptom to treatment initiation, and advanced cancer (stage III/IV). Sociodemographic and clinical covariates were obtained retrospectively through interviews and medical record review. We used accelerated failure time and logistic models to estimate standardized sex differences in treatment initiation time and risk differences for presentation with advanced stage. Results were stratified by cancer type (breast, cervix, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, anogenital, head and neck, esophageal, other). Results 1886 participants (70% female) were included. After covariate adjustment, men experienced longer excess time from first presentation to treatment initiation (8.4 months) than women (7.0 months) for all cancers combined (1.4 months, 95% CI: 0.30, 2.5). In analysis stratified by cancer type, we only found evidence of a sex disparity (Men: 8.2; Women: 6.8 months) among patients with other, non-common cancers (1.4 months, 95% CI: 0.01, 2.8). Men experienced an increased risk of advanced stage (Men: 67%; Women: 60%; aRD: 6.7%, 95% CI: -1.7%, 15.1%) for all cancers combined, but this disparity was only statistically significant among patients with anogenital cancers (Men: 72%; Women: 50%; aRD: 22.0%, 95% CI: 0.5%, 43.5%). Conclusions Accounting for the types of cancers experienced by men and women strongly attenuated disparities in time to treatment initiation and stage. Higher incidence of rarer cancers among men could explain these disparities

Collision of Three Pandemics: The Coexistence of Cervical Cancer, HIV Infection, and Prior Tuberculosis in the Sub-Saharan Country of Botswana.

Cervical cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related mortality in the developing world, where HIV and Mycobacterium tuberculosis (TB) infection are also endemic. HIV infection is independently associated with increased morbidity and mortality among women with cervical cancer. TB is believed to increase the risk of malignancies and could cause chronic inflammation in the gynecologic tract. However, the relationship between cervical cancer and TB in settings hyperendemic for HIV is unknown. We found that 18 (10%) of a cohort of 180 women with cervical cancer in Botswana had a history of TB disease. Age and HIV infection were also associated with a history of TB disease. Our data show that prior TB disease is highly prevalent among patients with cervical cancer infected with HIV. The coexistence of cervical cancer, HIV infection, and prior TB infection might be higher than expected in the general population. Prospective studies are needed to better determine the impact of the collision of these three world health epidemics