The political economy of land reform in post conflict Rwanda (1994-2020)

Insecurity over land ownership in Rwanda was a critical part of the tension between communities. Addressing insecurity around land has consequently been one of the foremost priorities of the post-conflict reforms initiated in Rwanda following the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. Rwanda set out to address the issue of land ownership and land-related challenges through passage of several laws and policies. The 2004 National Land Policy which was reviewed in 2019 provides general guidance on a rational and planned use of land while ensuring sound land management and efficient land administration. A wide- ranging program initiated by the Rwandan government between 2008 and 2012 to map and title land parcels for the entire country has played an important role in improving service delivery and reducing corruption risks. The main objective of this research was to explore the political economy of land reform programs in post conflict Rwanda and the specific objectives were arranged according to the variables of the study and they include the following; to assess the political economic land reform programs, to explore the political impacts of land reform programs and to evaluate the economic impacts of land reform programs in Rwanda. Desktop approach with the aid of secondary datasets was used in this research. The secondary datasets consisted of data collected mainly from Government institutions like Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Agriculture, Rwanda Land Management and Use Authority, Rwanda Governance Board, National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda and district offices and the internet mainly journals with documents related to; land distribution, land sharing, land redistribution, legal and institutional framework, Land Tenure Regularization Programme, agricultural reports, Land reform programs, political economy, and post conflicts amongst many others. The findings indicated that; Rwanda set out to address the issue of land ownership and land-related challenges through passage of several laws and policies. The Land Tenure Regularization (LTR) programme was then established to register and administer land ownership in Rwanda. The major impact of the new land administration reforms lay in the more effective processing and transaction handling of land titles. It was concluded a well thoughtful land reform great impacts the political economy of the country and it is obvious that the benefits are enormous as the outcomes of implementing it are being used in various ways that are contributing to the economic development of the country. The impressive economic benefits of the reform serve as a motivation for other African countries to go the Rwandan route. It was recommended that there must be a mechanism to secure landowners’ rights, provide land accessibility mechanisms which is equitable to all and more efforts should also be put into streamlining land services; that is the whole process of legal land registration, transaction, and ownership

La perception directe d’un procès en français et en èwòndò: une étude syntaxique des phrases

Résumé : La valorisation des langues africaines est un impératif de nos jours. Cette volonté exige ainsi un système éducatif qui intègre les langues nationales. C’est une ambition salutaire qui interpelle à juste titre la recherche, car c’est à partir des résultats qu’on obtient les manuels scolaires. Dans ce processus de normalisation, il est question de mettre sur pied une grammaire pour chaque langue, si possible, afin d’en définir les règles d’usage. Chaque langue étant unique en son genre, il se pose le problème des propriétés de fonctionnement. Notre réflexion se penche sur une étude syntaxique des phrases qui expriment une perception de procès en français et en éwòndò, une langue parlée au Cameroun. Notre visée est de définir les propriétés de construction des verbes de perception de cette langue bantoue, comparativement à ceux de la langue française. Les phrases qui constituent le corpus sont des comptes rendus de perception écrits en français (Gide, 1922) et traduits en éwòndò. En nous fondant sur le modèle de description de la grammaire dépendancielle (Tesnière, 1965), il sera démontré que les verbes de perception du français et de l’éwòndò présentent dans ce contexte des rapprochements structurels et des démarcations. En effet, les phrases qu’ils gouvernent ont une structure identique SN0+Verbe de perception+SN1+V ; elles sont soumises aux mêmes contraintes de négation et s’analysent non seulement comme des phrases complexes mais également comme des formes simples. Toutefois, le compte rendu du français se caractérise par plusieurs structures qui résultent de l’instabilité et des possibilités d’omission du SN1. Par contre en éwòndò, il existe une structure unique. Notre objectif est donc d'établir la particularité syntaxique des verbes de perception éwòndò

Long-term quality of life after en-bloc vertebrectomy: 25 patients followed up for 9 years

AbstractObjectiveAssess quality-of-life results in patients who have undergone extensive curative surgery for spinal tumor and compare them to the general population in France.IntroductionLife expectancy is not the only criterion to assess the outcomes after massive tumor resections. Residual quality of life is also crucial. An indication for major surgery for spinal tumor should take the patient's long-term functional status into account, but the literature is limited on this question.Materials and methodsTwenty-five living patients from a group of 120 operated were assessed, all of whom were operated on by the same surgeon between 1984 and 2007. The mean follow-up was 9 years (range, 3–25 years). The mean age at surgery was 49 years. The patients completed different functional and quality-of-life questionnaires: the Oswestry Disability Index version 2 (ODI), the PROLO, the Karnofsky Index of performance status (KI), the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status (ECOG), the Short Form-36 Health Survey (SF-36), and the EuroQol-5 Dimensions (EQ5D). In addition, each patient was clinically and radiographically evaluated. Subgroups were identified considering the number of levels resected and histology. Their results on the SF-36 were compared with the results from the general population in France.ResultsThe mean PCS (physical component summary of the SF-36) was 52.4, the MCS (mental component summary, the psychological component of the SF-36) was 47.7, the ODI was 18.2, the PROLO was 7, the ECOG was 1, and the KI was 80%. The resections at three levels were associated with worse results in terms of quality of life, but overall, the results were similar to the French general population data for all categories of the SF-36.ConclusionAppropriate indications for massive spinal resection give good oncological and functional results. Although the expected life expectancy justifies this aggressive surgery, postoperative quality of life shows that it can also be successful on a functional level.Level of evidenceLevel IV; retrospective clinical study

Variables influencing customers' buying behaviour in the South African clothing retail industry

It is important for business managers to understand customers’ buying behaviours, as customers are the cornerstone of the business’ marketing strategy and the main providers of businesses’ profits. Previous research have identified numerous factors that influence customers’ buying behaviour, factors such as prices, promotions, brand image, brand reputation, customer experience and socio-cultural aspects. Despite the attention given to variables influencing buying behaviour, there was still a gap to be filled in this field of study in the clothing retail industry, especially in the South African clothing retail industry. Thus, the primary objective of this study was to investigate how the understanding of customers’ brand perceptions, customer experience and social considerations can be used by clothing retailers to initiate a purchase. A literature overview was conducted on the global retail industry, the global clothing retail, as well as on the South African retail and, more specifically, the South African clothing retail. In addition, a literature overview on variables influencing buying behaviour was provided, with a special accent on the selected variables for this study, namely brand perceptions, customer experience and social considerations. From the literature overview conducted on variables, seven independent variables were selected to be investigated with the dependent variable, buying behaviour. The independent variables, namely brand perceptions (as measured by brand quality, brand reputation and brand image), customer experience (as measured by store physical environment and staff service), and lastly social considerations (as measured by reference groups and culture/subculture) and the dependent variable (buying behaviour) were then presented in a hypothesised model. An empirical investigation was undertaken to establish the influence of the independent variables on the dependent variable. The measuring instrument used for the investigation was a self-administered questionnaire using seven-point Likert type of scale. The items were constructed based on previous research instruments found in secondary literature sources. The non-probability convenience sampling was implemented in this study to identify respondents. 207 usable questionnaires were collected and were examined through statistical analyses. The validity and the reliability of the measuring instruments were confirmed by exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and the calculation of Cronbach’s alpha coefficients. Descriptive statistics were undertaken to summarise respondents’ demographic information, while Pearson’s Product Moment Correlations were calculated to determine the correlations among variables. Furthermore, the relationships between the variables were assessed through multiple regression analysis, while a t-test and ANOVA tests were conducted to determine the influence of demographic variables on independent variables that showed significant positive relationships with the dependent variable. In addition, post-hoc Scheffe tests were undertaken to elaborate on the significant differences resulting from the t-test and ANOVA tests. Significant positive relationships were found between Brand Image/Reputation and Buying Behaviour, between Store Physical Environment and Buying Behaviour and between Cultural Clothing and Buying Behaviour. The empirical results also showed that there was a significant relationship between Age and Cultural Clothing. In the same way, there was a significant relationship between Population Group and the variables Brand Image/Reputation and Cultural Clothing. This study has contributed to the body of literature on buying behaviour, especially in the field of clothing retail, by extending the factors to consider when aiming at improving buying behaviour. In addition, the development of the hypothesised model significantly contributed towards having a better understanding of customers’ perceptions of the selected variables, and ultimately how these variables could trigger their purchase decisions. As a result, this study enumerated some recommendations and suggestions that should enable retailers to create a positive image and reputation in customers’ minds, assist retailers in arranging the stores in a more attractive way for customers and reach more culture-conscious customers

Géomorphologie structurale et risque naturel dans une portion de zone mobile du complexe du Nyong au SW Cameroun : cas de la région Lolodorf-Mvengue

Au cours des trente dernières années, les risques et les catastrophes naturels ont été identifiés et étudiés principalement dans la zone volcano-sédimentaire tertiaire à actuelle. Une analyse de la géomorphologique la région de Lolodorf-Mvengué qui est une portion de la zone mobile éburnéenne appartenant au complexe du Nyong d’âge paléo-protérozoïque au Cameroun montre qu’elle présente aussi bien des risques potentiels pour les populations riveraines et leur bien.Mots-clés: géomorphologie structurale, risques naturels, Lolodorf-Mvengué, complexe du Nyong, SW Cameroun. Structural geomorphology and natural hazard of a portion of mobile belt in the nyong complex, sw cameroon: case of the lolodorf region Natural hazard and disaster identified and studied these last thirty years principally in the regions of tertiary to actual volcano-sedimentary formations. A geomorphological study of Lolodorf-Mvengué region which is a portion of the movable area Eburnean owned by the Nyong comlex of Paleoproterozoic age in Cameroon showing that it equally presents potential risks for the population living near rivers and equally for their goods.Keywords: structural geomorphology, natural hazard, Lolodorf-Mvengué, Nyong complex, SW Cameroon