Questioning the Patrimonial Issue in Rent-Seeking Debates

The contemporary debate in rent-seeking and corruption-related activities in Sub-Saharan Africa has focused so much on the so-called patrimonial question. According to scholars who have advanced this argument, African corruption is characterised by the notion of ‘neopatrimonialism’, which describes a resurgence of ethnic and tribal mutual support ties that work along traditional lines, thus exacerbating corruption. In this paper the author contends that the patrimonial argument is flawed as an explanation of African corruption and it seems to be advanced with the aim of eschewing contributory responsibility of forces in the developed world. A more viable outlook of rent-seeking and corruption should therefore focus on greed as a factor and be more inclusive by focusing on the culpability of all parties and groups

Marker-assisted Screening of Cotton Cultivars for Bacterial Blight Resistance Gene

Bacterial blight or leaf blight is a common disease of cotton in almost all cotton growing countries, including Tanzania. Bacterial blight is caused by infection of plants with the bacteria (Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. malvacearum) and the use of resistant cultivars is the most effective long-term strategy to manage the disease. The strategy starts with identification of resistant individuals, which can be identified either phenotypically by inoculation or by use of molecular markers linked to genes that confer resistance. The B12 gene is known to confer a high level of resistance to all Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. malvacearum races found in USA and Africa. Four Brazilian and three local cultivars were screened for the presence of SSR (CIR246) and SNP NG0207155 markers linked to B12. The SNP marker showed the greatest frequency of resistance-linked alleles in the cultivar UK08 (85.71%) followed by UK91 (75%),UKM08 and Ipê (25%), Araça(8.33%),Aroeira (7.1%) and the least in Cedro (0%). Comparable results were recorded for SSR marker where the cultivar UK08 presented relatively higher frequency of resistance alleles (85.71%) of samples tested followed by UK91 (68.75%), UKM08 (25%), Ipê, Aroeira and Araça (8%) and the last was Cedro (0%). The results suggest the potential utility of Tanzanian germplasm in breeding for resistance to Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. malvacearum race 18 and the need to purify the same germplasm by marker assisted selection.Key words: Bacterial Blight, Cotton, Resistant cultivars, Tanzania

Use of simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers for screening blue disease resistance in cotton germplasm exchange

Blue disease of cotton is an economically important disease of the crop first described from the Central African Republic and spread to other countries. Brazil and other South American countries record crop losses of up to 80% from infection but no cases of the disease have been reported in Tanzania. Resistance to the disease has been found in African germplasm and transferred to crop cultivars worldwide. Molecular markers linked to blue disease resistance genes have been identified presenting useful tools to identify resistant germplasm. All plants of three Tanzanian cotton cultivars (Gossypium hirsutum L.) UK91, UK08 and UKM08 showed resistance alleles for both the simple sequence repeat (SSR) (DC20027-202 bp) and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) (NG0204310-C) markers but some plants of the Brazilian cultivars (G. hirsutum L.); Ipê, Cedro, Aroeira and Araça lacked resistance alleles. The findings suggest the need for caution to be taken during introduction of exotic germplasm and recognize the value of resistance trait to susceptible Brazilian germplasm when  breeding for blue disease resistance.Key words: Cotton blue disease, cotton single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), simple sequence repeat(SSR), resistant alleles in cotton

GSM Network Optimization And Planning For Nelson Mandela African Institute Of Science And Technology

GSM network planning and optimization processes take in consideration a number of network parameters. In order to improve the network Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are used as a guiding points. This paper has taken Nelson Mandela African Institute of Science and Technology as case study for network optimization. Index terms— MS- Mobile Station, TRX- Transmitter Receiver Unit, BTS- Base Transceiver System, BSC-Base Station Controller, KPI- Key Performance Indicators, QoS- Quality of Service, GFA- Ground Floor Wing A, FFA- First Floor Wing A