OOSSSSRREEAA BBUULLLLEETTIINN A Tri-annual Publication of the

OR GANISATION FOR SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH IN EASTERN AND SOUTHERN AFRICA

Volume XI No. 2 June 2014

IN THIS ISSUE

NEWS  OSSREA Takes Part in the Kenya National Dialogue 2014 1 6  OSSREA co-orgaanises a High Level Policy Research Seminar on Achieving Inclusive Development in Afrrica: Policies, Processes and Political Settlements  OSSREA Accords Farewell to its Former President and Welcome to Its New 10 Resident Vice President

 The OSSREA Zimbabwe Chapter Orgaanises a Policy Dialogue Forum 13  Training on Gender Mainstreaming in the Political and Economic 17 Arenas Organised

 FEATURE ARTICLES  An Analysis of the Challenges Being Faced By Universities in Zimbabwe in Promoting Research Patience Mushuku and Percyslage Chigora 20  Rio+20: Opportunit1es And Challenges For Environmental Science Research In Eastern And Southern Africa MBK Darkoh 28  Zimbabwe: The Challenge of Democraccy from Below, 1980 to 2008 Peter Makaye 35

 NEW PUBLICATIONS 46  Call for Articles (p 49)

Telephone: 251-11-1239484 Fax: 251-11-1223921 P.O. Box 31971 E-mail: [email protected] Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Website: http://www.ossrea.net

OSSREA EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE President Professor Luckson M. Kaino, South Africa Vice President Professor Ruth Otunga, Kenya Vice President Dr. Charity Manyeruke, Zimbabwe

Vice President Professor Baye Yimam, Ethiopia Executive Director Professor Paschal B. Mihyo, Tanzania Member Ms. Thandi Khumalo, Swaziland Member Mr. Mario Cumbe, Mozambique

Member Mr. Bernard Rutikanga, Rwanda

OSSREA Liaison Officers

Dr. Agostinho Cachapa, Universidade Mandume ya Ndemofayo, Dr Kenneth Matengu, University of Rwanda, Rwanda Angola E:mail: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Dr. S. Ngubane-Mokiwa (UNISA) Dr. Motshedisi Sabone, University of Botswana, Botswana E-mail: E-mail: [email protected] Dr. Guday Emire, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia Dr. Kimo A. Adiebo, Juba University, South Sudan E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected]

Mr. Hisham E. A. Bilal, University of Khartoum , Sudan Prof. Peter L. Barasa, University of Eldoret, Kenya E-mail: [email protected] Kenya E-mail: [email protected] Ms. Nokuthula Vilakati, University of Swaziland, Swaziland Prof. T. J. Makatjane, National University of Lesotho, Lesotho E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] Dr. Magdalena Kokubanza Ngaiza, University of Dar es Dr. Zoly Rakotoniera Rakotondravelo, Madagascar Salaam,Tanzania E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected]

Dr. Jublie Tizifa, University of Malawi, Malawi Dr. Florence Akiiki Asiimwe, Makerere University, Uganda E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected]

Mr. Nicolas Ragodoo, University of Mauritius, Mauritius Dr. Chewe Chabatama, University of Zambia, Zambia E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected]

Mr. Mario Cumbe, Eduardo Mondlane, University Dr. Charity Manyeruke, Zimbabwe E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected]

Mrs. Immacuate Sechogele, University of Namibia, Namibia E-mail: [email protected]

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OSSREA Bulletin vol. XI No. 2 (June 2014) Page 1

NEWS

OSSREA Takes Part in the Kenya National Dialogue 2014

INTRODUCTION The research theme was research and Knowledge Dissemination for Policy Formulation for a healthy, peaceful and socio-economic stable Kenya. The workshop involved presentations by researchers and input by members from the policy making process. The result of the sessions will be finalised in the form of policy briefs that will be used to facilitate the engagement between OSSREA and policy makers in the respective chapters. The workshop that was held on 5th and 6th May 2014 took place at the Forestry Building and was opened by the Vice Chancellor -University of Eldoret, Professor Teresa Akenga, and graced by Professor Ruth Otunga, the Vice President of OSSREA but also the Deputy Vice Chancellor Academics and Student Affairs and Dr George Ombakho for the Ministry of Education who also delivered the speech of the Chief Guest Professor Nyokabi Kamau.

PARTICIPATION

Profile of Participation

i. VC UoE ii. DVCs ( A and SA, Finance and Administration) iii. Ministry of Education iv. Ministry of Devolution and Planning v. Ministry of Science and Technology vi. Chair of University Board vii. Professors from Sciences at UoE viii. Centre for Parliamentary Studies ix. CEO Gender Commission x. Professors xi. Members of OSSREA xii. Professionals from Research Institutions

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Participants Engaged in the Workshop

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Cross Section of Institutions

i. AAPM ii. Maasai Mara University iii. Masinde Muliro University iv. Kisii University v. Kabianga University vi. Egerton University vii. Gender Equality Commission viii. Ministry of Education ix. University of Eldoret x. Centre for Parliamentary Studies xi. Moi University xii. Kenyatta University

Listening Attentively

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One of the Presenters at the Workshop

SUB-THEMES /TITLES

The workshop had 9 sub themes and 23 papers. In effect 18 papers were physically presented.  Funding Higher Education in Eastern Africa  Informal/Formal Sector Protection in Systems in Africa  Insights into Gender Equity, Equality and Power Relations in Sub Saharan Africa  State Fragility in Eastern and Southern Africa: Drivers, Nature, Extent and Capacity Building Efforts

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 Language Policy and Governance  Three Decades of Public Sector Reform in sub Saharan Africa  The Nexus between Gender and Energy in sub Saharan Africa  Urban Youth Unemployment  Politics and Governance

POLICY LESSONS

The interventions by the principal discussants and the participants were very lively and some policy issues emerged: i. Private sector has the opportunity to contribute to higher education financing more efficiently such as the Wings to Fly of Equity Bank. From another presentation came out the opportunity of using Private Public Partnership in devising funding for higher education ii. Language Policy that carries elements of inclusion needs to be debated and developed and distinguish clearly the meaning of ‘minority and majority languages” iii. Key issues in higher education financing that need to be addressed are making funds available and properly targeting needy students iv. Climate change needs to be mainstreamed in development plans to effectively protect pastoralists v. Green Water Saving schemes are relatively new compared to Green water resources management initiatives but they are necessary for sustainable development from below vi. This is a time to change the old mindset ‘From study hard to get a job to study hard to create a job’. Business incubations in Universities and training need to be introduced and promoted to address urban youth unemployment. A good example is the STEP (Student Training for Entrepreneurial Promotion) vii. Gender mainstreaming is broader than reference to women only.

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OSSREA co-organises a High Level Policy Research Seminar on Achieving Inclusive Development in Africa: Policies, Processes and Political Settlements

A Policy Research Seminar

This note outlines the two-day seminar held in Addis Ababa on 13-14 May 2014. The meeting had two over-arching objectives:

 an exchange of evidence and ideas from completed research on the economic and political conditions for achieving economic transformation and inclusive development in Africa;  an assessment of how to achieve better research-policy linkages on transformation and inclusion, with particular reference to productive employment and social protection.

Dr David Booth, Dr Abdalla Hamdok and Dr Margriet Kuster Leading a Session

The seminar was co-hosted by three entities: the Developmental Regimes Africa Project led by the Overseas Development Institute with the University of Leiden; the Knowledge Platform on Development Policies sponsored by the Government of the Netherlands with a network of African policy research institutes; and the Knowledge Delivery pillar and Capacity Development Division of the UN Economic Commission for Africa and all three entities worked with OSSREA. The aim was to bring together and stimulate a forward-looking debate among representatives of Africa’s major policy knowledge networks, international agencies based in Africa, distinguished researchers and policy thinkers, and influential business leaders and government advisers in the region.

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The agenda of Day one centred on two issues:

 the meaning and policy implications of economic transformation and inclusive development in Africa today;  the conditions for the emergence and consolidation of developmental political regimes in the contemporary African context.

Invited speakers engaged the seminar participants in a dialogue on these two issues. The seminar concluded with a round-up of ideas and proposals on:

 significant research findings that need to be disseminated in new ways in order to have a greater impact on policy and politics;  policy topics calling for further research.

Some of the Participants of the Seminar

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Agenda for Day Two

Day two built on the conclusions of Day one, with a specific focus on research-policy linkages at country level to support effective policies for economic transformation and inclusive development.

While most African countries have registered high growth in the last decade, this does not yet translate sufficiently in poverty reduction. Productive employment is the key to ensure that vulnerable and poor groups, especially young people and women, benefit from growth. This requires policies for economic transformation and inclusive employment policies. In addition, achieving inclusive development requires interventions to reduce vulnerability and inequality. However, such inclusive policies can only be realized if they are supported by coalitions of strategic actors across the state and society that can overcome resistance to change among the ruling political and commercial elites.

The Knowledge Platform on Development Policies supports research, knowledge sharing and evidence-based policy debates in seven African partner countries in Dutch development co-operation. The Platform has identified three subthemes for its work:

1. Promoting Productive Employment in Sub-Saharan Africa; 2. Strategic Actors for Inclusive Development in Sub-Saharan Africa; and 3. Links between Social Inclusion and Sustainable Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa.

On the first two themes calls for proposals were issued in September 2013. On the theme of Social Inclusion for Inclusive Development, the Platform organised a Scoping Conference to examine how Social Protection measures to include poor and vulnerable groups can contribute to growth and be linked to growth processes.

The objectives of Day 2 were:

 to examine country cases on the three sub-themes on which the Platform has issued calls for proposals, in particular productive employment and social protection;  to explore how the Platform can cooperate with African institutions and think tanks in knowledge sharing and knowledge uptake around the country-specific research projects supported by the Platform..

Questions addressed included:

 What is the state of knowledge/policy debate in specific African countries on productive employment and social protection?  What knowledge flows and products are desired to feed informed and lively policy debates on these issues? How to re-organize these knowledge flows? How to engage different actors: regional institutions, other knowledge networks, governments and donors, businesses and civil society?

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 How can the Platform contribute, beyond the three calls for proposals already issued, through additional activities such as short-term research, knowledge mapping, knowledge sharing through webinars, seminars?

Day two wrapped up with a combined concluding session, drawing together the action implications of the seminar as a whole. This included recommendations to the Knowledge Platform on how to design its knowledge and research activities for effective policy uptake, which were discussed at its meeting on 15 May.

Group Photo of the Seminar Participants

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OSSREA Accords Farewell to its Former President and Welcome to Its New Resident Vice President

The Organisation for Social Science Research in Eastern and Southern Africa (OSSREA) accorded a farewell to its former President, Professor Habtamu Wondimu, and a welcome to the newly elect Resident Vice President (RVP) Professor Baye Yimam on the 8th of April 2014.

Professor Baye Yimam, (left) Professsor Paschal Mihyo (middle) and Professor Habtamu Wondimu (right)

Professor Paschal B. Mihyo, Executive Director of OSSREA, welcomed the new RVP, who was introduced with the staff and management of the OSSREA Secretariat. The RVP, who traced his academic preparation and experience in the Humanities, made a brief remark in which he expressed his readiness to shoulder the new responsibility and the optimism to receive the necessary support and collaboration from the OSSREA Secretariat.

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The OSSREA Management and Labour Union Representatives Presenting a Farewell Gift to Professor Habtamu Wondimu

The Executive Director Professor Mihyo, Finance and Administration Director Mr. Hassan Abeaw, Publications and Dissemination Director Dr Abiye Daniel, and President of the OSSREA Staff Labour Union Mr. Addis Kebede passed votes of thanks to the outgoing President. They unanimously saluted his visionary leadership and significant contributions to OSSREA both in times of adversity and times of relative peace. They also appreciated the sustenance and determination for the cause of OSSREA, as an ordinary member, as Liaison Officer of the OSSREA Ethiopia Chapter, and Resident Vice President (2008–March 2011) and President (March 2011–March 31, 2014) of the Organisation. The Executive Director overwhelmingly acknowledged the President’s accessibility, dedication and friendliness, which, he said, enabled him to have a productive time at OSSREA. All of the speakers wished Professor Habtamu success in his future career and also requested him to continue supporting OSSREA whenever the need arises.

Both the Staff Labour Union and the Management presented him with token gifts in recognition of his outstanding leadership and contribution to OSSREA.

Finally, Professor Habtamu thanked all members of the Management and staff for the collective effort they made for the good of OSSREA. He also said that he owed the Executive Director special thanks and recognition for effectively managing OSSREA’s affairs with intelligence and skill and promised to continue supporting OSSREA. He concluded by wishing all the best for OSSREA and its staff.

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The ceremony was attended by the staff and Management of the Secretariat, the outgoing President and the in-coming RVP.

Group Photo at the Farewell

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The OSSREA Zimbabwe Chapter Organises a Policy Dialogue Forum

The Zimbabwe Chapter organized a Policy Dialogue Forum at which all the researchers who contributed chapters and articles in OSSREA Publications (2011-2014) presented their research findings to fellow researchers, chapter members and policy makers. The forum was opened by Hon. Dr. Oliva Muchena, Minister for Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development. The policy dialogue platform was very lively. The researchers were put to task about their findings and advised that next time they do research they have to approach the appropriate directorates of government. Although on some themes such as youth unemployment government officials were defensive, in the process, real dialogue took place and each group (researchers and policy actors) listened attentively to the other. This was the first direct interaction between OSSREA researchers and Zimbabwe policy actors. The conclusion is that the recommendations in the report on the proceedings (already posted on the intranet) will help OSSREA as it advances to develop its/next strategic plan.

Meeting with African Capacity Building Foundation on the 19th April, 2014 Professor Mihyo, Mr. Hassen and Dr. Donald Chimanikire held a meeting with senior staff of the African Capacity Building Foundation (Dr. Roger Atindehou, Dr. Kobena Hansen and Dr. Barassou Diawara) and discussed two issues: the OSSREA Research School proposal and the unfinished work on the Digest of AU Instruments 1963-2013.

The Proposal on the Research School (RESSESA) The proposal on RESSESA was said to have been put on hold as had been the case with many new requests. It was said that there had been a delay in mobilizing new resources and ACBF had been restructuring itself. This has meant the cancellation of some existing projects; reducing support for existing projects and embarking on new projects that meet the strategic plan of ACBF. It was reported that the RESSESA proposal has prospects for falling within the last category but it has been pipelined and decision on it will take time because it is relevant and its components differ from those of other existing programmes in that category. To improve the proposal may require strengthening its originality; showing how it differs from comparator programmes of e.g. AERC and showing the extent to which the beneficiaries are likely to be employed after graduation. It was agreed that communication on this proposal should continue.

Meeting with Dr.Oliva Muchena, Minister, for Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development – 11th April, 2014 The Minister informed the OSSREA delegation that the Research Council of Zimbabwe was working on a programme aimed at aligning research to sectors of the economy and will organize a workshop to facilitate an exchange of ideas between key economic sectors and the research community. The Minister also wanted to know what role OSSREA could play in the workshop. It was agreed that OSSREA would be invited to develop a concept note on linking industry and the research community. The second issue raised was on what OSSREA could do to support the government on its research programme. The discussion focused on possibilities of OSSREA facilitating staff exchange between Zimbabwean researchers on science and technology and those in other countries; linkages between successful S &T enterprises globally and those in Zimbabwe. It was also agreed that OSSREA would connect the Ministry to the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF), the African Academy of

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Sciences (AAS) and other regional and international S &T organizations. It was finally decided that the OSSREA Executive Director would send a small note on how to operationalize the links.

Meeting with Dr. Rukobo, Director of Research, Zimbabwe Parliament After signing an MoU with the East African Legislative Assembly and the Parliament of Botswana and in preparation for the next OSSREA strategic plan, the Secretariat undertook to enter into more MoUs with several African Parliaments. The Parliament of Zimbabwe had earlier expressed willingness to work with OSSREA.

At this meeting the Director of Research of the Zimbabwe Parliament identified the following needs:  The lack of research capacity;  Lack of awareness on how to strengthen oversight by parliament;  Absence of guidance on how to strengthen collaboration and networking between Parliamentary Committees;  Lack of exposure to policy analysis in the directorate;  Need to train Parliament’s Clerks on various technical issues.

During the discussion it was greed that:-  There is wide scope for cooperation between OSSREA and the Parliament;  The first area could be cooperation on the Journal of Parliamentary Affairs. A conceptual paper has been developed;  Training of committees is another area and it could focus on policy analysis, oversight, gender mainstreaming etc.;  Exposure to international relations and issues of diplomacy;  Seminars for disseminating research results would also be useful for members of Parliament; • We should sign an MoU and then proceed from there. The ED will write an official request for an MoU to the Director.

Meeting with the Zimbabwe Chapter Liaison Committee 10th April 2014 The meeting was organized in order to familiarize the new Liaison Committee with the objectives, structure and procedures of OSSREA. The Executive Director explained the objectives and the 2014 activity plan. He noted that the policy forum that had just ended was part of the activity plan and informed the committee that after June, 2014 new activities will be planned about which they will be informed. The Director of Finance and Administration explained the procedures for handling finances and accounting for expenses. An issue was raised about the chapter account which loses money when no deposits are made from time to time. The Executive Director advised that chapters had capacity to raise money through consultancies and contract research and therefore it was the committee’s duty to mobilize its members to develop proposals and tender for assignments. Funds sent by OSSREA were meant for specific activities and not meant to be kept in chapter accounts.

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Training on Gender Mainstreaming in the Political and Economic Arenas

The Ministry in conjunction with the Organization for Social Science Research in Eastern and Southern Africa (OSSREA) organized a rigorous training on Gender Mainstreaming in the Political and Economic Arenas for Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) from 14th to 18th April 2014 at Liwonde Community Development Training Centre in Machinga district.

The training mainly targeted Programme Officers of the Civil Society Organizations working in Governance and Human Rights, Agriculture, Gender, Health, Education, Local Government, Transport, Trade and Industry, Women and Law or Legal Justice, Development Planning and Budgeting. The CSOs were specifically targeted because they play a key role in advocating for redress in the political and economic arenas and in accelerating gender responsiveness at national and district level.

The training offered opportunity for the CSOs to interact and analyze the gaps in gender mainstreaming in the political and economic arenas and in the national/council budgets and Strategic Documents and was attended by twenty two CSOs.

1. Objectives of the Training

The underlying objective of the Training was to equip Civil Society Organizations with knowledge and skills on how to influence gender mainstreaming in the Malawi’s political and economic arenas including in council/national budgets and strategic documents to ensure that all gender groups are able to participate fully and benefit from the national development process.

Specifically, the Training aimed at:

 Analyzing the historical background to gender relations in Malawi Reviewing the critical gender budgeting issues in the key sectors of the economy in Malawi;  Evaluating gender theories as a background to gender mainstreaming in the political and economic arenas including in national budgets and policies;  Analyzing the intersects between gender and politics in the domestic Arenas;  Analysing how gender influence microeconomics and macroeconomics Examining the advocacy strategies for gender mainstreaming in the political and economic arenas and budgets in Malawi;  Analyzing the national development strategies to ensure equal access to opportunities by all gender groups in Malawi; and

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 Analyzing policy options which will promote equal participation of all gender groups in the national development agenda.

2. Methodology of the Training The Training used a mix of methods to ensure thorough understanding of the issues by the participants. The methods included lecturing, plenary discussions, group work, debate and individual assignments. Lecturing was included as one of the methods after realizing that some of the participants were being trained in gender for the first time hence they needed some basic understanding of the basic concepts and was facilitated by five Experts in Gender Mainstreaming. 3. Lessons Learnt The training was very successful because a number of policy issues were discussed that can propel gender equality in the political and economic arenas in Malawi. The following are the critical lessons learnt from the training: Gender Equality will only be applicable if the education of the girl child is prioritized. For instance, the 50:50 campaign of having equal male/female representation in politics and decision making positions will only be practical if the country has a lot of well educated female population which has the expertise to take up decision making positions. The one million dollar question for the Participants of the training was that ‘Do you just appoint/select somebody to a decision making position because of being a woman’. Further, most of the women are vulnerable because they are either illiterate or have low education status hence they don’t have the power over the use and control of resources for instance land and capital. Gender equality interventions have sometimes failed to yield the desired results due to the feminist approach. Men have felt marginalized in the process hence frustrating the process.

Having more females in positions of top leadership does not necessarily imply that the country will put the gender agenda as a priority. Research has shown that some females do not subscribe to the gender equality initiative.

Donors sometimes have hidden agendas when they are championing for initiatives of having more women in decision making positions. It is these hidden agendas which have sometimes created tension since the citizens feel betrayed.

4. Way Forward

To ensure continued collaboration between the Ministry and the trained CSOs, there will be need to continuously monitor the progress in the implementation of the proposed Action Plans. For this to be possible, the Ministry will require adequate resources so that it conducts quarterly monitoring visits to these organizations. Since there was high demand for the training, there will also be need to organize a similar training for those CSOs which were on the reserve list. About fifty CSOs qualified for the training but due to budget constraints only 22 were sponsored for the training.

Further, there is a need to train Government Leadership Group especially from Chief Officers above so that they can capably institutionalize gender mainstreaming in all key sectors of the political and economic arenas of the country including in strategic planning and budgeting.

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There is a need to train and support the key Malawi’s Public Universities Leaders and Managers especially Heads of Departments, Deans, Head of Research Programmes from the Universities of Malawi, Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources and Mzuzu University so that they can develop Gender Programmes especially Honours Degree in Gender and Development; Postgraduate Diploma in Gender and Development; Master of Science Degree in Gender and Development and PhD in Gender and Development. There is a need for scholarship to support key government officials to study Masters Degrees and PhD in Gender and Development.

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OSSREA Employs Three New Staff

OSSREA welcomes Dr Herman Musahara to the OSSREA Secretariat as the new Director of Research and following is his brief portfolio. Herman Musahara holds an MA in Economics and PhD in Development Studies with a focus on development and poverty reduction. He joins OSSREA from the University of Rwanda where he was an Associate Professor in the College of Business and Economics and Director of Planning and Development since 2010. The latter Directorate was handling research collaborations of more than 45 partners. He was till 2012 the Acting Vice - Rector of Academics including Research of the former National University of Rwanda where he had also served as Dean of Economics and Management in 2005 and Director of the Consultancy Bureau in 2008. He has over 25 years of Prof. Herman Musahara experience in research, consultancy and publications widely on poverty, human development, environment, land and land use, post conflict transitions, SMEs and agricultural development. He has also led projects for the Government of Rwanda, UNDP, UNEP, World Bank, USAID, Nile Basin, ASARECA,FAO to mention but a few. Before his appointment to the OSSREA Secretariat he was one of the Vice Presidents, member of Board of Equity Bank Rwanda, member of Board of Institute of Policy Analysis and Research in Rwanda, member of the Advisory Academic Council of the Global MDP coordinated from Columbia University and Focal Point of the Sustainable Development Solutions Network.

OSSREA welcomes Dr Truphena Mukana to the Secretariat in the position of Research Associate and following is her brief portfolio: Truphena E. Mukuna (PhD) is a graduate of Moi University, Kenya, School of Education, Department of Curriculum, Instructional Technology and Media and holds an M.Ed in Curriculum Studies from Maseno University, Kenya. She has had a teaching career of over 20 years, seven of which were at institutions of Higher Education. Dr Mukana was formerly a Lecturer at Maasai Mara University, in the School of Education and is a multi-disciplinary researcher with the following research interests: Mixed Research Methodology; Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation; Disaster Risk Reduction; Social Dr. Truphena Mukuna Protection; ICT; Teacher Education; Andragogy; Gender Mainstreaming, Analysis and Budgeting; Vulnerable Populations and Policy Analysis for Good Governance.

OSSREA welcomes Mr Siraj Akmel to the Secretariat in the position of Research and Training Assistant and following is his brief portfolio: Mr Siraj Akmel is a graduate of Addis Ababa University with a Masters Degree in Sociology. He has more than 5 years of work experience as project coordinator at different n ational NGOs as well as experience in coordination, monitoring and evaluating different but interrelated development projects in the areas of health, education, rural development and women’s empowerment. Moreover, Mr Akmel has worked as a lecturer at Jima University, Ethiopia for more than a year. Research interests: - Development, land use changes, indigenous knowledge and Mr. Siraj Akmel climate change.

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FEATURE ARTICLES

An Analysis of the Challenges Being Faced by Universities in Zimbabwe in Promoting Research

Patience Mushuku1 and Percyslage Chigora2

Abstract:

Universities in the world have three standard roles which they are expected to fulfil. They are regarded as transmissions of existing knowledge through teaching. In this regard they meet manpower requirements. They also serve the society and community through extension services. Finally universities are expected to expand the frontiers of knowledge through research. Research enables accurate translation of policies into action. Undoubtedly, timely and relevant research, if its results are taken seriously, would enhance chances of success in the development effort. Furthermore, it is through research that the implementation of policies can be monitored and evaluated periodically thereby enabling corrective measures to be effected in time thus research in universities should be promoted considering the fact that it enhances development. In Africa a university is not only a centre of learning, a centre of research and a store house of knowledge but it is considered the main agent for the development of scientific, cultural, economic and social conditions of the people. However, the state of research in Africa when compared to other parts of the world leaves a lot to be desired. African universities have fared badly in terms of research output on a world scale (Ngobeni 2011). In 1999 the World Bank observed that African universities accounted for only 1,4 percent of the world`s scholarly publishing in 2000 (Ibid.). Zimbabwe in particular has had a fair share of its lagging behind in terms of research in comparison to other universities in Africa. It is the purpose of this paper to analyse the challenges being faced by universities in Zimbabwe in promoting research as well as mapping the way forward for addressing these challenges. Methodologically, the research is largely qualitative in nature and relies heavily on participant observation as the researchers are lecturers at a state university. A survey will also be carried out from colleagues to find out what their experiences have been regarding research. The research will also make use of secondary data such as minutes of Research Board meetings etc.

1 Lecturer in the Department of Media and Society Studies, Midlands State University, Zimbabwe 2 Lecturer in the Department of Politics and Public Management, Midlands State University, Zimbabwe

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BACKGROUND TO THE STATE OF RESEARCH IN UNIVERSITIES IN ZIMBABWE

There are around fifteen established universities in Zimbabwe and these are listed as follows: University of Zimbabwe (UZ); National University of Science and Technology (NUST); Africa University (AU); Solusi University; Bindura University of Science and Technology (BUSE); Midlands State University (MSU); Zimbabwe Open University (ZOU); Chinhoyi University of Technology (CUT); Harare Institute of Technology (HIT); Great Zimbabwe University (GZU); Catholic University in Zimbabwe (CUZ); Reformed Church University (RCU); Women’s University in Africa (WUA); Lupane State University in addition to the recently mooted Manicaland College of Applied Sciences. With the exception of Africa University, Solusi, Catholic University in Zimbabwe (CUZ), Women’s University in Africa (WUA) and Reformed Church University (RCU); the rest of the universities in existence in Zimbabwe are state-owned in line with the government’s desire to increase access to higher education which should see each of the ten provinces in Zimbabwe being home to at least one state university. State universities mainly benefit from funding from government grants, students fees and donations. SARUA (2009) makes reference to a Ministerial Report from the Ministers of Education, Sports and Culture and Higher and Tertiary Education (2004) who cited the challenges bedevilling the tertiary education sector as infrastructure development; equipment as well as motivating and remunerating staff in the midst of an economic crisis thereby leading to a mass exodus of skilled staff to other countries. Most of the universities in the country are relatively newly established, are yet to establish proper infrastructure and so have been relying on staff development programmes in order to build up a mass of critical staff in the wake of the ‘brain drain’ experienced during the economic crisis. SARUA found government funding to be increasingly inadequate to cover the core activities of research and learning in a number of universities. Accordingly, state universities have responded by increasing enrolment and Gurira (n.d) of the Zimbabwe Council for Higher Education (ZIMCHE) estimates the current enrolment in the higher education sector to be in excess of 55,000. Gurira points out public higher education institutions are heavily dependent on the fiscus for current and recurrent expenditure, “On average, it is estimated 80% of budgetary support is from the fiscus, 15% fees and 5% from other sources” which is not sustainable, he says. The challenges of funding, according to Gurira, have been exacerbated by the socio-political and economic crisis that was the aftermath of the Land Reform program that the country experienced between 2000 and 2010, which coincidentally was the period when most of these universities were established. On a more positive note, however, Gurira notes that the situation has indeed improved in higher education institutions following the signing of the Global Political Agreement (GPA) with an improvement in enrolments and full semesters. Furthermore, hyperinflation is no longer a factor given the use of the United States Dollar and the South African Rand within the Zimbabwean economy. The tendency has thus become towards massification in state universities in order to capitalise on the US Dollar with institutions enrolling as many students as they can find, thereby arguably affecting quality of output on many levels. Gurira’s presentation suggests a number of funding strategies that universities in Zimbabwe can adopt in order to survive. These include Public-Private-Partnerships (PPPs) in which private players can deliver certain administrative services in return for a pre-determined fee. These partnerships can also take the form of BOOT (Build, Own, Operate and Transfer) Technopark establishments, income generation and Small Business Units (SARUA 2009:24). Gurira also suggests joint ventures with willing partners in the establishment of printing presses and publishing houses or commercial agriculture as in the case of Chinhoyi University of Technology and a Chinese firm. Other funding strategies, according to Gurira, could be short courses, collaborative research/consultancies, centres of excellence, industrial doctorates and incubation centres as well as fundraising initiatives.

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SARUA (2009) provides statistics that show very little evidence of research taking place in the surveyed universities, despite the presence of a clearly defined research policy and the presence of Research Boards in the universities. Statistics provided indicate that at Chinhoyi University of Technology in the year 2008 there were 14 publications emanating from the Faculty of Science, Engineering and Technology and three from Humanities and Social Science and nothing from the other faculties (SARUA 2009, 22). Two “Other Research Activities” for the field of Science, Engineering and Technology are also indicated and none for all the other faculties. Statistics for Bindura University of Science Education indicate 38 publications in internationally acclaimed journals across all faculties between 2004 and 2007. It should be noted that the bulk of these were from the Faculty of Science, Engineering and Technology whilst Business, Management & Law and the Faculty of Humanities and Social Science had one each whilst there were two from the Faculty of Health Sciences (SARUA 2009,15-16). During the same period, there were 26 publications in locally accredited journals, with the bulk once again, coming out of the Faculty of Science, Engineering and Technology, though this might be understandable, given the fact that the university’s main focus is on science education and was indicating critical staff shortages across a range of disciplines. Two (2) publications in internationally accredited journals from the Science, Engineering and Technology field as well as five papers presented at international conferences are indicated for Harare Institute of Technology. Seven papers are indicated to have been presented at the Eighth Symposium of the Research Council of Zimbabwe (RCZ) and published in the proceedings whilst various papers were said to be under review and awaiting publication in refereed journals (SARUA 2009:28) The report indicates five (5) publications in internationally accredited journals for Lupane State University and three (3) publications in locally accredited journals in the two faculties that were in existence by then. For Midlands State University, the SARUA report indicates five (5) publications in internationally accredited journals for the Science, Engineering and Technology fields as well as nine (9) publications in locally accredited journals. It indicates three (3) publications in the field of Business, Management & Law fields via internationally accredited journals and none in locally accredited journals (SARUA 2009, 42). During the same period, from the field of Humanities and Social Sciences at Midlands State University, there were ten (10) publications in internationally accredited journals and six (6) publications in locally accredited journals as well as nine (9) books published. “Other research activities” are indicated for the period in question as nine (9) for the field of Science, Engineering and Technology; five (5) for Business, Management and Law; and fifty-five (55) for Humanities and Social Sciences. No research output statistics are indicated for the National University of Science and Technology (NUST). Substantive data regarding research for the University of Zimbabwe (UZ) was not readily available as SARUA indicate that they only received a partially completed questionnaire and had to retrieve most of the material they used from the institution’s website. UZ as the most established and largest of all tertiary institutions has a number of research stations and offers higher degrees by research. Zimbabwe Open University (ZOU) a distance learning institution indicates no publications in internationally accredited journals during the period 2007/2008 for the fields of Science, Engineering and Technology as well as the field of Business, Management and Law. However, seven publications in internationally accredited journals are recorded for the field of Humanities and Social Sciences (SARUA, 2009, 58). There were five (5) publications in locally accredited journals from the field of Science, Engineering and Technology; two (2) publications from the fields of Business, Management and Law; six (6) publications in locally accredited journals from the field of Humanities and Social Science as well as two (2) from the field of Health Sciences. Four books were published during the period under consideration, all of them emanating from the field of Humanities and Social Sciences. Some fifty-eight (58) ‘Other research activities’ are also indicated with eight (8) being for Science, Engineering and Technology; twelve (12) being for Business, Management and Law; twenty-six (26) for Humanities and Social Sciences and twelve for Health Sciences.

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According to SARUA (2009:22), Chinhoyi University of Technology (CUT) has a clearly defined research policy, a research board and research assistants in each school to coordinate research activities. SARUA observes that CUT points out that the level of funding it receives is inadequate for it to function properly with 52% of the government grant going towards salaries which leaves the core activities of research and learning grossly underfunded, bearing in mind that government supplies all the research funding (p.23). The university faces the challenges of inadequate research funding, inadequate infrastructure and capital equipment to aid research, bureaucratic procurement, insufficient government grants, skills flight which debilitates income generation projects and commercialization of research outputs which the university tries to address through collaborative research. These are more or less the same challenges that the other state institutions also face. Most institutions report limited infrastructural capacity to facilitate regional research collaboration except NUST which though collaboration with business and industry exists in several instances. The university are cognisant of the benefits to be accrued from regional collaboration, which Lupane State University (LSU) summarised as increase in research output, exposure to different research techniques, donor assistance in improving research facilities, improving study programmes using research outputs as well as student and staff exchanges (SARUA 2009, 37). LSU highlights its challenges to achieving regional collaboration as foreign currency related/ funding issues which they circumvent through sending posters or papers rather than attending actual conferences or seminars. They are also facing challenges in identifying suitable mentors as well as appropriate collaborative research topics. They also cite limited involvement by researchers in action/practical research in their own environment; limited resources generally, limited ICT infrastructure, laboratory equipment and specialists (p.38). Ebewo (2010,30) argues on the urgent need for establishment of university presses in order to publish research output but points out that the idea has not been taken on board by the universities themselves partly due to lack of capacity. Ebewo cites the fact that there were five universities in Zimbabwe namely UZ, NUST, Africa University, Solusi and ZOU but none of them had a printing press. Following on Hamrell and Nordberg (1997) he also notes that publication of scholarly books and journals on African subjects is largely the preserve of foreign publishers, such that there is need to ‘localise’ or ‘Africanise’ publishing (p.32). Chigora and Guzura (2010,35) giving the example of funding for research and for attending conferences and workshops, argue that resources that should be enjoyed equally by all staff end up being reserved for a well-connected few. They also make reference to the ‘economy of affection’ which affects the peer review system and thus enables plagiarism and the publication of weak papers and cite instances where Professors and Lecturers go to the extent of taking students’ work and appropriating it as their own. Guzura and Chigora (2012, 27) also highlight the fact that female academics are torn between family and career responsibilities. Lengha and Epah (2010,7) point out that “Research is one of the secrets to the understanding and enhancing of development...For...research to be... meaningful it has to be scientific...it has to demonstrate a critical thinking process and a problem-solving approach in the search of truth for the advancement of humankind” Ebewo (2010,31) states that publication is indeed a ‘rite of passage’ for tenure academics and is integral to the accreditation and positioning of universities in the academic league. Ebewo (2010, 32) also notes that, “Since the early 1980s the active involvement of the Dag Hammarskjold Foundation (Germany) in indigenous publishing in Africa has been based on the firm conviction that a thriving autonomous publishing industry is essential to the intellectual and cultural health of a society and therefore to its development generally”

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Empirical and worthwhile research requires funding. Funding can be secured from government departments, non-governmental organisations (NGO’s), philanthropists, among others. As noted above, for state universities in Zimbabwe, research funding largely comes from an embattled government. There is need for funding to go and carry out the actual research in the field and there is need for funding to disseminate the output of that research by way of attending conferences. Furthermore, in some instances there is need to pay for ‘page fees’ for publication in journals that demand such fees up-front. Failure to pay may result in the article not being published, despite its quality. There is also need for funding to subscribe to journals and books for institutions to access new titles whether by way of hard-copy or electronically, and resources may not always permit this in an economy that is still coming out of a recession. The rise of Open-Source platforms has thus served as a panacea for this problem of access.

CHALLENGES FACED BY ZIMBABWEAN UNIVERSITIES IN PROMOTING RESEARCH The challenges that confront universities in promoting research operate at different levels, ranging from the personal level to the institutional level and finally at global level. At a personal level, there can be a lack of interest on the part of academic staff to carry out research; lecturers may not have the necessary motivation to do research. Another challenge that individuals face is that of a systemic overload of responsibilities in Zimbabwean universities where individuals are expected to teach large classes of conventional students, parallel classes and visiting school classes such that most of their free time is dedicated to marking heaps of assignments, leaving very little time for research and social life. As noted by Guzura and Chigora (2012) this research also found female academics to be severely compromised between family responsibilities and research activities, particularly in a patriarchal society. The lack of mentorship for young academics is also a challenge to promoting research, for as long as well-established academics are not keen to take younger colleagues on board. The younger academics themselves are also partly to blame in as far as some of them are too arrogant to do ‘menial tasks’ that a would-be mentor allocates to them. This research found one of the biggest stumbling blocks to promoting collaborative research in universities to be the existence of big egos. Most of the people that enter into the academic field would have been top of their classes from wherever they would have come from and it is not always easy to shake off the zeal to outshine others. Other challenges associated with collaborative research include different work ethics among would-be collaborators where academics simply fail to organise themselves to pursue the same task at the same time, thereby frustrating the more motivated ones into going it alone. Identifying suitable research areas was also noted as a hurdle particularly by younger academics that tend to be on the lookout for grand researches which they may not easily carry out thus leaving more obvious researches to the more seasoned academics. Some individuals normally get ideas for researches from call for papers for conferences and for themed journals and books and that pursuit of writing articles for publication may blind them to other researches that may be available to them. In cases where papers are written tailor-made to tally with conference themes but where the organisers do not go on to publish the researches, they may be relevant for the conference but still fail to find takers willing to publish them due to the lack of context for that particular research as editors may not feel the research is of any significance. Furthermore, newer academics in Zimbabwean universities argue that Research Boards seem to be biased in their conduct and tend to treat their applications less favourably than they do for applications of their own cronies such that invariably a few people tend to benefit from Research Board funding and the money ear-marked for research gets returned to Treasury at the end of the year.

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Most young academics cited their biggest challenge in research as getting published. If one is not yet an established author, the tendency is for their work to be looked upon with a lot of scepticism as if they are incapable of establishing the truth, by virtue of their being relatively unknown. One respondent pointed out that whatever he writes regarding a situation that he experienced first-hand like the economic crisis in Zimbabwe in 2008 and other events at the time tends to be rebutted by journals in favour of what reviewers domiciled outside Zimbabwe believe to be the truth. Most academics also cited being disheartened by the peer review system which tends to attack the merit of one’s research, albeit without offering suggestions of how to improve the paper. This same challenge was also cited as the reason why individuals tend to shy away from local conferences and local research seminar series because they feel that discussants that are personally known to them tend to ‘attack’ their work unduly, they would rather attend a foreign conference where the discussant does not know them and they are more inclined to believe the person who criticises them fairly. Seminar series that are organised at university level tend to sometimes result in a clash of disciplines such that one’s work is sometimes reviewed by people without an appreciation of what the researcher had in mind and they will dissect the work, accordingly. Some discussants and peer reviewers are not professional enough and tend to go around the small university community dismissing a colleague’s work as ‘rubbish, which is why I turned it down, I am surprised anyone would publish it’; ‘so-and-so is just good at descriptive research, no analysis whatsoever’; ‘I am reviewing your paper, even though its blind peer review, I could tell from the issues and tone that it’s you’ and so forth, which does not go down well with most researchers. Other negative comments that have been known to be passed regarding colleagues’ research papers at some Zimbabwean universities include the following:  This was more of a performance than an actual research, more of fiction than an empirical study;  A feeble attempt at essay-writing, this doesn’t qualify to be regarded as a research paper but perhaps an O-level essay;  The English is sub-standard and leaves a lot to be desired and it becomes very difficult to convince anyone that it was written by a Masters’ degree-holder;  The methodology is scant and hardly speaks to the findings;  There was just a mere narration of findings and the paper lacks any analysis whatsoever; and  I found the paper to be an overdose of theories and very little else. Up-coming researchers found such comments to be very disheartening and intimidating to even consider presenting their research to such negative scrutiny and ridicule. They felt that at times, the peer review process is reduced to mere copy-editing whereby reviewers and discussants justify their relevance by concentrating on pointing out grammatical and spelling errors. These marginalised researchers were also adamant in their belief that local platforms for peer review at times are reduced to platforms for settling personal scores and vendettas. At institutional level there are challenges in terms of funding, Zimbabwean universities largely rely on government funding for research with the UZ benefitting from funding from other sources such as United Nations bodies which does go a long way in assisting them to carry out commissioned but worthwhile research. However, the newer universities do not always benefit from such funding by virtue of being peripheral and not yet well-established enough. As such, due to the lack of diversified sources of funding for research, funding is limited and Research Boards inevitably lay down regulations which may limit the number of external travel grants that

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members are entitled to. Some universities peg these travels to once or twice per year and some once in two years, some limit these travels to merely within the continent and most have thresholds that they cannot exceed to say, they will only give airfares up to a certain amount, beyond which a member should meet the difference from their own pocket and so forth. Another challenge can be cited as the fact that universities hardly orient new staff members into research, very little is done to familiarise novices with the workings of the Research Board and to teach them how best to apply for funding. Some Research Board committees, in order to gate-keep funding, may come up with regulations to the effect that one cannot access funding for travel if they have never applied for a research grant. The research grants are rather difficult to access because an application can spend up to a year toying between the applicant and the Research Board with the Research Board insisting on ‘trivialities’ at times before they can grant funding. Most applicants usually give up after four attempts or so of being told their research is not viable, their methodology not suitable, their budgets inadequate or that they do not have the necessary expertise to carry out the research. In what may be regarded as a controversial move, in some universities, the Research Board may draw up a list of black-listed publications which they deem as not suitable enough for publication thereby discrediting some researchers’ publications. Publication incentives are hardly worthwhile, some universities do not pay anything, others pay as little as $20 per article whilst South African universities pay around R20 000 for an article which motivates staff members to go keep on researching. At a global level, journals publish research in line with certain ideologies. For instance, most journals in the West would rather publish articles that have an anti-status quo slant, so if one submits an article that is perceived to be in support of Robert Mugabe, that article will not likely see the light of day, no matter how rigorous the methodology. Zimbabwean scholars report receiving responses like “Thank you for your interest in publishing with our journal. However, we regret to inform you that we will not be publishing your article. As you are aware, there are several considerations that inform this decision including the presence of a similar article under consideration, lack of space, among others. We hope we have informed you well ahead of time in order to give you a chance to submit to other journals”. Some journals simply do not respond at all whilst some hide behind the slow peer review system and never bother to inform you of the fate of your publication to enable you to send it elsewhere. The accreditation system of journals is also done in line with certain ideologies in an obscure manner and which indigenous scholars may have no part and which some suspect may be discriminatory in nature. Furthermore, it is widely accepted that the more credible journals are the ones that do not accept page fees for publication and yet those are the journals in which emerging scholars find it difficult to publish in. They then thus opt for the ones that bother to publish them and pay page fees, which largely come out of their pockets given the fact that their University Research Boards and Publication Committees may prove reluctant to fork out page fees for them. The challenge is further exacerbated by the fact that Zimbabwean university lecturers earn substantially less than what other lecturers in the region earn and so may not always be in a position to afford all the page fees demanded by publishers. Another challenge for Zimbabwean lecturers comes in the form of the Zimbabwe Council for Higher Education (ZIMCHE), the quality assurance body which has pegged the number of publications required for tenure and promotion beyond the regional standards. For instance, up from one publication in a refereed journal prior to 2012, tenure now requires five (5) publications within a space of three years; senior lectureship now requires five to ten publications plus a PhD, up from three publications. Full professorship requires an astronomical thirty-five (35) publications plus a PhD. ZIMCHE has also made it mandatory for teaching staff to acquire PhDs within a specified period within a resource constrained environment where state universities are unable to offer scholarships to their staff. Lecturers thus tend to pursue PhD studies on a part time basis and coupled with the high teaching load following massification of higher education, this also tends to affect research.

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CONCLUSION The researchers recommend that Zimbabwean universities diversify sources of funding for research in the same manner that other universities do elsewhere. There is need to engage civic society and various foundations internationally to take an interest in research in local universities. For that to happen there is need for an aggressive marketing effort on the part of local universities as centres of excellence in research and the Research and Intellectual Expo (RIE) is a step in the right direction. In this effort, linkage between institutions besides promoting teaching collaborations should go further in promoting linkages to include research collaboration. In addition there is need to increase the incentives for research in order to motivate the researchers and at least get a reward for the work that they would have done. There is need for conscientising senior academics to become responsible academics that are geared towards improvement in research rather than killing research. Improving the situation also calls for committed and experienced research organisations and administrators that understand diversity in research from hard scientific experimental and field level, to social scientists dealing with complex human behaviour to literary critics whose field work involves the literature available in their library be it electronic or otherwise.

REFERENCES

Chigora, P. and T. Guzura. 2010. The patterns of corruption in institutions of higher learning: A general overview from state universities. Global South – Sephis e-magazine; Vol. 6(2). Chigora, P. 2013. University administration in the 21st century: The politics of resource mobilization at Midlands State University 2000 – 2010; OSSREA Bulletin; Vol X No.2 Ebewo, P.J. 2010: The university press and scholarly publishing in South Africa in Ngobeni, S (ed) Scholarly Publishing in Africa: Opportunities and Impediments. Pretoria: Africa Institute of South Africa. Fourie, E. and M. Terre Blanche. 2010. The role of students in the scholarly publishing process in Ngobeni, S (ed) Scholarly Publishing in Africa: Opportunities and Impediments. Pretoria: Africa Institute of South Africa. Guzura, T. and P. Chigora. 2012. Gender equality in institutions of higher learning in Zimbabwe: A case of Midlands State University’s experience with female advancement, 2004-2007. Global South – Sephis e-magazine; Volume 8 No 2. Lengha, N.T and G.F. Epah. 2010. Policy research and scholarly publication in Cameroon in Ngobeni, S (ed) Scholarly publishing in Africa: Opportunities and impediments. Pretoria: Africa Institute of South Africa. Ngobeni, S (ed). 2010. Scholarly publishing in Africa: Opportunities and impediments. Pretoria: Africa Institute of South Africa. SARUA. 2009. Zimbabwe: Review of public higher education in ‘Towards a common future’ Higher Education and SADC Regional Development; Southern African Regional Universities Association.

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Rio+20: Opportunit1es and Challenges for Environmental Science Research in Eastern and Southern Africa

MBK Darkoh* Abstract This keynote paper examines the opportunities and challenges for environmental science research in the Eastern and Southern Africa region in the context of RIO +20. The central argument is that RIO+20 does provide a good basis for an assessment of how environmental scientists in this region are fulfilling the core purpose of a university, which is the generation of knowledge that will not only improve our understanding of a phenomenon but also offer solutions to the issues facing society, which in our case is the sustainable development issues facing Eastern and Southern Africa. If environmental science is to remain relevant in Eastern and Southern Africa, it must help shape “the future we want” by addressing at least five key issues that can be built on from Rio+20: pursuing a research agenda that is relevant to local, national and regional sustainable development priorities, dedicated scholarship, using research tools such as GIS to address policy and planning needs, dissemination of findings and strengthening research capacity. While it is contended that RIO +20 does offer opportunities for environmental scientists to design and execute research that may be translated into public policy towards creating the future we want, it is important to highlight that in a period of extraordinary interest in both the articulation and solution of the problems that face our contemporary world,our environmental scientists in Eastern and Southern Africa have not been doing enough, especially by way of corporate action to help achieve human and environmental sustainability in this region.

INTRODUCTION

Rio+20 and the Eastern and Southern Africa region provide a good basis for us to reflect on how we are fulfilling the core purpose of a University, which is to provide higher education,undertake research and disseminate knowledge.

GLOBAL SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT MEETINGS AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE RESEARCH

There have been several global meetings that have shaped the course of human history by articulating a path to pursue in development and environmental matters. For us involved in environment and development research, the most spectacular was the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) commonly referred to as the Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992,which led to conventions on climate change, biodiversity and desertification.The10th anniversary saw the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), informally referred to as Rio+10, held in Johannesburg in 2002 which primarily focused on how to build a green economy and how to improve international coordination for sustainable development. The theme of your Open Day reflects the most recent global meeting, the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD) or Rio+20, which was

* Michael Bernard Kwesi Darkoh is Professor of Environmental Science at the University of Botswana

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the third international conference on sustainable development aimed at reconciling the economic and environmental goals of the global community. There were very high expectations of this meeting that an agreed upon framework would emerge to shape the “future we want” by securing global commitments to expand access to the essentials of life such as water, food and energy. The fundamental question to be addressed would be: will Rio+20 be remembered as a turning point or a lost opportunity? Answering this question is important if we are to remain locally relevant in environmental science research in Eastern and Southern Africa while we try to think globally with respect to the “future we want”. While the outcome of the Earth Summit of 1992 was greeted with joy and celebration, a review of reports and reactions of participants of Rio+20 shows mixed feelings, and in some quarters, there are some narratives which state that the meeting was a failure in global governance because governments could not transcend their national interests in favour of reaching an agreement on commitments to realize “the future we want” (Steer 2012).The Heads of State and government and high level representatives issued a declaration, renewing their commitment to sustainable development, and ensuring the promotion of economically, socially and environmentally sustainable future for the planet and for present and future generations (RioDeclaration 2012). While the declaration reiterates key global environmental issues such as poverty, climate change and inequalities, it does not have any binding commitments and it remains a clueless document (Steer 2012), unlike the climate change convention that emerged from the Earth Summit, which has led to serious engagement and protracted negotiations on emission targets. While governments did not deliver, there were intriguing developments at Rio+20 that may be of interest to us as environmental scientists as well as to policy makers and practitioners. The three key ones are (Steer 2012):

 First, the role of alternative organisational mechanisms, representing some form of creative governance, as evident and reflected in: the Natural Capital Declaration signed by 60 countries, which involves a C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group Commitment; a $513 billion Voluntary Rio Commitment and a $175 billion commitment for sustainable transport by multilateral development banks;  Second, the importance of real-time information to the politicians, planners and the public for decision-making; and  Third, the demonstration that sustainable development is possible. Whereas there are still gaps, some progress has been noted in access to water and poverty reduction. In summary, It can be said that Rio+20 does present both opportunities and challenges for environmental science research globally in general and the Eastern and Southern Africa region in particular. In addition to intriguing concepts or issues such as the green economy and bringing back the social to sustainable development, there are key issues related to context and region relevant research, dissemination of research findings and research capacity.

Building on Rio+20 There are five key issues that we can build on from Rio+20. The first is summarized in the question: Is our research generating knowledge that is supportive of the sustainable development priorities for Eastern and Southern Africa? There are many priorities but a good summary of the top priorities for Africa was presented as a part of the preparations for Rio+20 and included: agricultural production and food security, industrial development, water, hazardous wastes, climate change, energy, sustainable tourism, gender equality, education, health, and ecological degradation (Africa Renewal 2012).Let me use this part to provide details on climate change and the desertification issues facing Eastern and Southern Africa, to which we can make a contribution through environmental science research.

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Currently, climate change and desertification are the twin interlocking and most severe environmental problems hindering progress towards sustainable development in the region. Climate change is contributing to reduced and unreliable rainfall, hotter temperatures and the spreading of diseases such as malaria, diarrhoea, cholera, dengue and meningitis, which cause death and suffering for thousands of people. It is estimated that Africa presently produces about 5% of the world’s green house gases. The SADC region at present generates 126 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions (about 1.8% of the world total) of which South Africa is the biggest contributor, accounting for about 89% (112 million metric tons) (SADC 2005). While in global terms, the Eastern and Southern Africa region as a whole contributes relatively little to greenhouse gases, the region’s low adaptive capacity makes it more vulnerable to climate change impacts. Climate change operates in tandem with desertification to severely affect environmental and human sustainability in the region. Desertification in land degradation drylands is caused by various factors including human activities and climate variability. Since the turn of the century many countries in the region had drawn blue prints and embarked on implementing the conventions to combat desertification (CCD). Concurrently, many have developed and are busy developing national climate change response strategies and action plans to address the growing problem of climate change. Investment in research into the changing physical environment and human condition caused by climate change and desertification and the transmission of its results, and translation of their implications into policy recommendations are crucial for human and environmental sustainability in this rapidly changing region. Although a lot of research has been done on these two phenomena, there are still niches to be explored (Parry 1993): Firstly, we still require more specific and user–oriented information in our region regarding the potential future of climate change and desertification (their likelihoods, magnitudes, rates, onsets, etc.). Such information needs to be expressed in forms more readily applicable to the user. Secondly, a much more detailed study of the indirect effects of climate change and desertification (for example, via changes in soil chemistry, changes in frequency of outbreaks of agricultural pests and diseases, etc.) is needed. Thirdly, we need to specify with greater precision the interaction, for example, between, climate and other resources in the primary sector, by modeling crop-climate, forest-climate and fisheries-climate relationships. Finally, we need to focus on the human side of the climate/desertification–human equation, for example constraints and strategies to cope with climate change and desertification, especially at the local level (Parry ibid). The climate change and desertification issues I have been highlighting above are only two examples of the manifold priority issues and environmental scientists who share the concern for action by way of research can select and make their debut. And, as I have already pointed out, there are, of course, other interesting priority areas of research. At the risk of repeating myself, I would like to reiterate the following interesting priority areas of research in the region: water, agriculture and food security, green economy, poverty reduction, energy, industrial development, waste disposal, transportation, health, sustainable tourism and gender equity. In all these areas, a premium will be placed on scientists who are able to integrate information from a number of traditionally separate disciplines.This is the task for which environmental science and geography are custom built.If our discipline is to be relevant and make any desired impact on society, we should be prepared as practitioners to go into research that can advance the aims of sustainable development and human and societal well being.Research is a mandatory issue if any progress is to be made at any level in combating environmental problems in our region.

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The second issue is: Have we been doing enough as environmental scientists? As professional environmental scientists whose major concerns are with studying the interrelations and interactions of man and environment, patterns of human activities, and patterns of human–environment impacts, can we ask ourselves what has so far been our contribution to societal development in this part of our world? Can we really and readily claim or say we have been able to dedicate ourselves to programmes of study, education and actions designed to influence more directly the aspirations and sustainable development aimsof our society? Are we doing enough research that is relevant to the well-being of our local communities? While there are plentiful natural resources in our region on the one hand, and on the other, so much endemic poverty around us and our environment is becoming less and less sustainable, what are we doing as scientists to help break this syndrome? What are we doing to help alleviate poverty and improve livelihoods? What are we doing to help ensure human and environmental sustainability in our region? In pondering over these somewhat soul-searching and reflective questions, it seems that some of our scientists today appear to have given up on serious academic or policy research and writing. In many of our departments of environmental sciences, research on the problems that affect society and environment seems to have been relegated to a secondary position, its place in certain instances having been taken over by consultancies. Although consultancies can provide highly useful data for planning, they are mainly catered to serve or suit the needs of those who commissioned them. Several of such studies in the context of either academic or policy decisions tend to have only negligible relevance. Some of us in Eastern and Southern Africa, I am sorry to say, seem to have accepted the world very much as we found it. As Gilbert White has put it, some of us act as though we are more comfortable in talking to our peers, to future generations of graduate seminars than in trying to influence the course of events (White 1972). Let it not be said that environmental scientists in Eastern and Southern Africa have been used to so much to talking about their world that they are reluctant or afraid to make themselves a vital instrument for changing it. This position is untenable for research and teaching. It can survive only at the peril of the society which allows its comfortable and encapsulated existence (White 1972). It becomes difficult for us to try and define the future we want if we have not comprehensively examined the present we have. The third issue is how well we use our excellent research techniques and tools to serve sustainable development policy and planning needs. While GIS has been criticized for its possible misuse, I think it can be effectively put at the service of local communities to generate information for development planning in the Eastern and Southern Africa region. I have managed to get a project that illustrates this point. It is a study that started as a PhD project and has now become an on-going hands-on project that is utilizing participatory Geographic Information System to anchor the creation and construction of knowledge in support of rural community development in Tshane village in Botswana. This project is being carried out by a GIS colleague in my department in collaboration with a Professor from Australia’s Curtin University of Spatial Sciences (Mulalu 2011, Mulalu and Veenendaal 2012). The project involves participatory mapping, using anchored instruction and experiential and constructivist learning approaches. This project utilizes expert and local people’s knowledge structures to bridge the gap between the local community and modern technology and empower people for decision making in community development. The process of community enabling, which started in 2007, involved training a core group of 14 local participants and five members of the Village Development Committee (VDC) in the use of the Computer and GIS software for building a community data base. This core group subsequently was involved in the training of 16 more village participants. Apart from basic data compilation, the training involved social survey, development of participatory GIS to support plot applications, improved people’s concept of housing, business planning and best business practices, and the designing and undertaking of

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development projects related to their focus training. The project has so far achieved three significant outcomes (Veenendaal 2012):  First, a range of development projects involving goat husbandry, brick molding, poultry incubation, home building, gardening, building construction joint venture, and a water pipeline;  Second, a change in culture over five years by those involved in the project; and  Third, a village knowledge centre (Mashego a Lobu Knowledge centre) whose basic configuration is a wireless internet-based network with the VDC as the focal point and the ward-based nodes as the other components of the network hub. The Centre aims to provide skills and knowledge to current and potential leaders so that they can effectively empower the local community in planning and decision making. The fourth issue is dissemination of our research findings, especially providing real time information to policy makers. If our discipline is to fulfil its role in society, environmental research must endeavour to utilise its sophisticated analytical as well as traditional tools to provide data for planning. We should be prepared even to go beyond data provision to translate the results of our research into action plans to help the communities in which we live. I am aware that there are several studies going on in environmental sciences departments of the universities in our region and I have prepared a comprehensive review of literature or annotated bibliography on sustainable development in Eastern and Southern Africa. I am still looking around but I am getting concerned that we seem not to have devoted our research efforts to synthesize and make readily available the research we have been conducting. Few of our departments or research centres in the region seems to have an up-to-date directorate of environmental scientists working on sustainable development. Perhaps the University of Venda may want to lead the way to fill this void. In addition to producing knowledge and disseminating information through journal papers, book chapters and conference proceedings, we need to explore the creation of a sustainable development observatory in one of our universities or government departments that can provide real-time information on the state of the environment and development for use by politicians, policy makers and the general public. The fifth issue I would like to stress is strengthening and positioning our research capacity to respond to both academic research and policy-making needs. If we were to review the present status of environmental science in the region, we would find how woefully deficient we are in terms of practitioners, both in quantity and quality and proper institutional arrangements for research. Can we claim that we are recognised for the quality, relevance and excellence of the training we are giving to our students and for our service to our local communities and nations? In line with what is happening in a number of developed countries where the public is demanding to see greater impacts beyond the mere production of knowledge and graduates from departments and schools of universities it supports, what is the situation in our region with regard to this? On how many occasions have Schools and Departments of Environmental Science in our region or countries associated themselves closely with the communities where they are? In a period of extraordinary interest in both the articulation and solution of the problems that face our contemporary world, it would seem to me that our environmental scientists have not been doing enough, especially by way of corporate action to help achieve human and environmental sustainability in this part of our world.

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CONCLUSION In conclusion, it is my contention that environmental scientists in Eastern and Southern Africa have some useful contribution to make to ways of alleviating and mitigating the contemporarily social and environmental problems that our region faces. It would seem to me that our basic contribution as environmental scientists lies in the recognition that environment is very much relevant to the individual’s or society’s life chances; different peoples occupy different environments, and different environments attract or repel different sources of human well- being or ill-being (Smith 1977). It is in giving substance to this proposition and its implications for societal well-being or capacity to survive in a peaceful and sustainable world that environmental science has a distinctive contribution to make. If we wish to direct environmental science’s modest contribution to the structuring of new social processes and spatial organisation, we can act by committing ourselves, our teaching and our research to helping solve social and environmental problems. Before winding up, I would like to point out two useful instruments that are at our disposal as environmental scientists, which can be used effectively to help shape the future we want for our society and local communities. The first is environmental management, and the second is information and communication technologies (ICTs). Environmental management underlies the wise and sustainable use of resources for development and it provides the surest way nations can break away from underdevelopment, poverty, and the environmental implications of poverty (Obeng 1980). It is a well-meaning and wise companion for decision makers, planners, implementers of development projects and governments who have the primary responsibility to assure the effective use of the nation’s resources for the benefit and better life of its people It behoves our universities departments, and schools of environmental sciences to train and produce graduates with requisite skills in environmental management. Effective and efficient management of resources poses a variety of challenges. To meet the challenges, planners require reliable, pertinent and timely information on the resources, their location, amount, current demand, supply and use, etc. Data on the infrastructure, especially service utilities (i.e. water, gas, electricity, telephone lines, sewerage, etc.) need to be collected, recorded and manipulated in map form. With more than half of the population of Southern Africa, for example, presently living in urban areas, many cities in the region face the challenges of transportation, housing, waste disposal, sanitation, safety, health and high-crime risks. All these examples are areas that require research and the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in research. ICTs can help cities become safer, cleaner, and more sustainable places to live in. Through partnerships between local governments, businesses, and the public, ICTs can be effective tools at collecting and disseminating information and can provide a venue for concerned community members to discuss urban needs and problems. Can the expertise in research in our departments and schools of environmental sciences in the region come to the rescue on the issues I have just been outlining? From observing some of the research that has been accomplished and on-going in the School of Environmental Sciences of UNIVEN, and the keenness of stakeholders who are gathered here, I can unequivocally say: Yes, we can. We can act by committing ourselves to designing and executing such research and translating our findings into changed public policy towards creating the future we want and which we can create locally, nationally and even regionally.

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References

Africa Renewal. 2012. Africa’s priorities for sustainable development. AfricaRenewal, 28, 12-14. Mulalu, M. 2010. Participatory geographic information systems to anchor the creation and construction of knowledge to support rural community development. A case study of Tshane village, Botswana. PhD Thesis. Faculty of Science and Engineering, Department of Spatial Sciences, Curtin University, Bentley Campus, Perth, Western Australia. Obeng, L.E. 1980. Environmental management and the responsibility of the privilege. Accra: Academy of Arts and Sciences. Parry, M.1993. Geographers and the impact of climate change. In Johnston R.J. ed. The challenge for Geography. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers. The RIO Declaration (2012), RIO+ 20 The Future We Want, United Nations. SADC (2005) Country Analysis Briefs. Available at: http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs.sadc.html (accessed on7June 2007) Smith, D.M. 1977. Human geography: A welfare approach. London: London. Steer,A.D.2012. Building alliances for great environmental and development actions after Rio + 20: Keynote address presented at the eighth International Sustainable Transport Congress, Mexico City, Mexico 1-4 October 2012 Tafirenyika, M. 2012. To RIO and beyond: Africa seeks sustainable solutions. Africa Renewal, 28, 10-11. Veenendaal, B. 2012. Making community development work: Driving the process through knowledge enabling of leaders. Paper presented at a seminar in the Department of Environmental Science, University of Botswana, Gaborone, 2nd November. White, G.F. 1972. Geography and public policy. Professional Geographer, 24 (2), 01- 104.

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Zimbabwe: The Challenge of Democracy from Below, 1980 to 2008

Peter Makaye* Abstract The post - colonial state in Zimbabwe satisfied itself with delivering democracy in a piecemeal fashion but as soon as undercurrents grew stronger and surfaced to demand more democratic reforms and faster speed at democratization the regime became not just worried but also increasingly authoritarian. As long as the post - colonial state in Zimbabwe regarded itself as the benefactor of the democratization project there was a modicum of satisfaction on their part. The paper takes stock of the Mugabe regime's response to the democratization project from below. Drawing on empirical evidence and document analysis the paper essentially argues that the regime’s “we brought you democracy” rhetoric has been at the centre of its intransigence to give in to popular demands for further democratization from broad-based social movements. The regime has been adamant to open up more democratic space hence its authoritarianism. This was especially so since the birth of a formidable opposition which has seriously challenged the ruling party’s monopoly of state power. The opposition party has been branded a stooge for western imperialism to justify its destruction. It is argued here that the land reform programme and wider issues of nationalism were manipulated in order to justify the crushing of voices of dissent to ZANU-PF’s rule. The paper ends by suggesting the way forward in the face of intolerance/intransigence by those who wield state power.

Key Words: Democracy, democracy from below, social movements, authoritarianism

INTRODUCTION

The political economy of Zimbabwe has been the subject of several studies. Many of these studies cover three broad time frames, the 1980 to 1989 period, the 1990s and the post 2000 period. In the earlier period Mandaza’s Zimbabwe: The Political Economy of Transition,1980 to 1986 was a landmark study in so far a s it clearly articulated the teething problems the post- colonial government grappled with in various sectors of the economy (Mandaza 1987). Andre Astrow’s Zimbabwe: A Revolution that Lost Its Way was also remarkable in so far as it gave an incisive critique of the country’s flirtation with the socialist experiment (Astrow 1983). The 1990s were dominated by studies that concentrated on the ravaging effects of the Economic Structural Adjustment Programme (ESAP) as well as limitations that afflicted attempts at equitable distribution of land. Academics were also seized with the struggles of the working class to keep itself afloat in the face of the debilitating SAP. Studies by Mlambo (1997), Moyo (1995) and, Raftopoulos and Sachikonye (2001) can be placed in the second category. It is the last period which can be said to have attracted so much attention, although viewpoints are radically different. The last period has witnessed studies that are concerned with explaining Zimbabwe’s plunge (Bond and Manyanya 2003) and also how the regime has survived the regime change politics internally and externally. Studies in the last category have been seized

* The writer is a postgraduate student in Development Studies at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University. He can be contacted on: [email protected] or [email protected].

OSSREA Bulletin vol. XI No. 2 (June 2014) Page 35 with illustrating how the regime played the land trump card to survive the electoral challenge coming from the formidable Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). These studies inform the current study in a number of ways. They assist in the identification of a gap for analysis and some of them help by providing evidence of authoritarianism on the part of the post –colonial state.

This study cuts across the periodisation outlined above because it traces the intransigence of the Mugabe regime to popular calls for democracy from the 1980 right up to the 21st century. The study starts by providing the context in which the regime’s heavy handedness took place. It moves further to describe and analyse the popular calls for democratization. When did these calls become that loud and louder, and how do we explain the gaining of currency of the popular calls for democracy? In the face of such calls the state became increasingly autocratic. How did this authoritarianism manifest itself and why did the state become uneasy with opening up more democratic space? These are the critical issues this study grapples with especially at this point in history when Africans are seized with the search for a suitable and working democracy for their countries and the continent at large. This article takes stock of the various activities/policies by the post-colonial state that show its uneasiness with democracy and ends by suggesting the way forward in the democratization project. METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH The study combines a number of research methods. It makes use of document analysis, drawing on primary materials especially in the form of newspaper articles and extracts of speeches by the major participants, as well as secondary sources scattered across several libraries in Zimbabwe and South Africa. The primary records cover the period from the mid-eighties to roughly 2008. The study also makes use of personal interviews with a wide variety of people who have knowledge or experience with the matter under scrutiny. Given the sensitive nature of the subject under discussion and also for ethical considerations their names cannot be disclosed. To gather a balanced view the accounts of both perceived perpetrators of violence and the views of the victims were also solicited. Additionally the writer also attended a number of workshops organized by civil society organizations such as the Zimbabwe Civic Education Trust (Zimcet), Public Information and Rights Forum (PIRF), Zimbabwe Elections Support Network ((ZESN) and the Crisis Coalition in Zimbabwe (CCZ). These workshops were attended in the run up to the hotly contested 2008 elections and in the period after those elections. The writer was thus able to gain firsthand information from participants in the democratization process in Zimbabwe. The organizations listed above tend to be critical of the democratization process in the country and so to counterbalance their views those of officialdom were also gathered, for instance from interest groups such as the war veterans, official mouthpieces as well as members from the former ruling (ZANU-PF) party. CONCEPTUAL AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK The concept of democracy is a hotly contested one. Various authors have attached different meanings and institutional frameworks to it. Dahl (1989, 5) cited by Bratton and Van de Walle (1997,10) defines it as, “… a distinctive set of political institutions and practices, a particular body of rights, a social and economic order, a system that ensures desirable results, or a unique process of making collective and binding decisions”. A classic definition of democracy has been given by Schumpeter (1976, 260) who says it is an, “institutional arrangement for arriving at political decisions in which individuals acquire the power to decide by a competitive struggle for the people’s vote”. Macpherson (1973) quoted by Bratton and Van de Walle (1997, 10) defines democracy as, “expansive visions of citizen participation in political parties, community groups, and work-place organizations”. From the above definitions a number of issues are central to conceptualizing democracy. First elections are an integral part, if not an indispensable component, of democracy. Second, the participation of citizens in shaping decisions by which

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they are governed is quite an important ingredient of democracy. In fact democracy has been evolving over time having originated with the Ancient Greeks in the 5th century B.C. Imperial Romans, the political revolutions in England, the United States and France popularized the notion of popular sovereignty and republican elements while the Americans expanded the elements of universal suffrage and political party elements (Gyimah- Boadi 2001).

Some writers posit that the concept of democracy is a Western one and as such quite suited to the Western context and unsuitable to the African context. For instance, Gatsheni–Ndlovu (undated) argues the concept will not be easily sustainable in Africa. He bases his argument on the fact that pre-colonial Africa had its own systems of governance replete with its own checks and balances. However, there are others who feel that there is nothing Western about democracy and it can therefore be applied universally. Ndlovu-Gatsheni cites the late Nigerian scholar, Claude Ake (1991, 30-34) who was dismissive of the notion that democracy was alien to Africa in the following terms: Premised on the misconception that democracy is solely a Western creation [and] stems from a confusion between principles of democracy and their institutional manifestations. The principles of democracy include widespread participation, consent of the governed, and public accountability. These principles may prevail in a variety of political arrangements and practices, which naturally vary according to historical conditions. Traditional African systems were infused with democratic values. They were invariably patrimonial, and consciousness was communal; everything was everybody’s business, engendering a strong emphasis on participation. Standards of accountability were stricter than in Western societies. Chiefs were answerable not only for their actions but for natural catastrophes such as famine, epidemics, floods, and drought. In the event of such disasters, chiefs could be required to go to exile or be ‘asked to die’ (Ake 1991, 30- 34 cited by Ndlovu- Gatsheni (Undated, 7).

There are some scholars who feel that for it to be suitable to the African context, democracy has to be adapted to suit the prevailing and historical conditions in Africa. The prominent West African scholar, Gyimah- Boadi (2001) believes that the African historical context should be brought to the fore in order to make it adaptable to modern democracy. According to him, if we are to root modern democracy in African values and traditions, the intellectual focus should be on “determining the core of those African values and traditions that are essential to and consistent with governance in contemporary circumstances (Gyimah- Boadi 2001, 18). Even if such African values and traditions were found, the challenge would be to integrate them with Western liberal democracy so that the two do not become incompatible. Those African values should also not be used to dilute democracy because Africans deserve no less. To date no such model as African democracy has been invented and so it means that we continue to judge our democratic practices against western liberal democracy. However, this is not to imply that the search for a suitable type of democracy for Africa should be abdicated.

Modern democracy thus has become intricately linked with representative democracy. This is whereby citizens sacrifice their decision-making rights to representatives who will speak and act on their behalf. Decision – making therefore becomes the prerogative of the chosen few, whose choices of course are informed by the wishes of those whom they represent. The political elites (the chosen few), just like the traditional leaders, are the ones who make decisions. What is critical however, as Ndlovu – Gatsheni postulates, is to craft “a working and sustainable democracy for Africa” ,“ one that is inculcated from below”, “ a democracy that is amenable to the everyday demands of peasants and workers for food, clean water and shelter” ( Ndlovu- Gatsheni 2008, 18). This is the sort of democracy that Zimbabweans have been craving for since the early post-colonial period, a democracy that does not just promote political rights at the

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expense of economic rights. Economic rights should be an integral component of rights championed by Africanists. BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY Zimbabwe attained independence in 1980 after dislodging a racist settler Smith regime that had denied citizens of the most basic democratic rights. Lack of freedom of assembly, freedom of expression, the right to freely participate in the governance of the country and access to education were some of the deprivations of the most basic democratic rights. Africans were also deprived of economic rights. Generally Africans were de-enfranchised and political repression was the order of the day. The voters roll was divided into two along racial lines. Most Africans could not meet the stringent property and educational pre-requisites for the right to vote. Access to basic services like health and education was also unequal between the races. The whites enjoyed most of the modern services little wonder they described themselves an island of white and as the leaven of civilization and articulated the two pyramids system in which Africans would be hewers of wood and drawers of water. According to Ndlovu-Gatsheni (2009,73) the construction of the early colonial state was characterized by ambiguities and contradictions as it tried to avoid open and direct African resistance but at the same it proceeded with social and spatial segregation and dispossession of African people. Early struggles were therefore inevitable but these were reformist. With time, however, the struggles became radical. From accommodation, they now contested for state power especially from the late 1950s onwards. It was against the backdrop of these grievances that the liberation movements led by ZANU-PF and PF – ZAPU took up arms to dislodge and contested for state power, culminating in independence1. THE PROMISE FOR A BETTER ZIMBABWE The prospects for a better Zimbabwe and better tomorrow were encapsulated in the independence speech the triumphant Robert Mugabe of ZANU-PF articulated at his inauguration. He said: Henceforth you and I must strive to adapt ourselves, intellectually and spiritually to the reality of our political change and relate to each other as brothers bound by a bond of comradeship. If yesterday I fought as an enemy, today you have become a friend and ally with the same national interests, loyalty, rights and duties as myself. If yesterday you hated me, today you cannot avoid the love that binds you to me and me to you. Is it not folly, therefore, that in these circumstances anybody should seek to revive the wounds and grievances of the past? The wrongs of the past must now stand forgiven and forgotten (Mugabe 1980). The reconciliation speech by Mugabe was meant to allay the fears of the local whites who could easily have emigrated en mass given the atrocities committed during the armed liberation struggle. In Mozambique, the Portuguese had emigrated in droves and dozens fearing a backlash from The Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (FRELIMO). The result was that the development prospects for the country were scuttled at birth since the fleeing whites had destroyed most of the infrastructure necessary for the reconstruction challenge. The international community’s fears of a backlash against its kith and kin needed to be allayed as well so that it could assist in the daunting task of post-war reconstruction. Mugabe continued; It could never be a correct justification that because the Whites oppressed us yesterday when they had power, the blacks must oppress them today because they have power. An evil remains an evil whether practiced by white against black or black against white. Our majority rule would easily turn into inhuman rule if we oppressed, persecuted or harassed those who do not look or think like the majority of us (Mugabe 1980). The noble intentions and articulation were, however, not matched by actions on the ground. The

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post – colonial regime was soon pre-occupied with consolidating its hold on state power and that was to explain its disregard for the inclusivity that the leadership was pontificating. The high sounding reconciliation speech should be more acknowledged in racial terms but not in ethnic terms. This is because there existed under-currents of competition between the Patriotic Front (PF), that is ZNAU- PF and PF- ZAPU. The regime unleashed an orgy of violence against the Ndebele elements that were unhappy with the way the demobilization was going on. The ruthlessness with which dissent was crushed has been termed Gukurahundi and it has been the subject of numerous studies2. Joshua Nkomo,leader of the main opposition party, who had been given a junior ministry position in the first government narrowly escaped death by fleeing into Botswana. The other leaders of PF- ZAPU such as Dumiso Dabengwa , Lookout Masuku, Makhatini Guduza and others were incarcerated on charges of recruiting, inciting and training dissidents (Todd 2007,191) and only released on the eve of unity talks. Peace was only established with the swallowing of ZAPU under the so-called Unity Agreement in December 1987. Another promise of a better future was when donors buoyed by Mugabe’s statesmanship poured in fairly huge sums of money for infrastructural development at the ZIMCORD conference in 1981. Pro- labour legislation such as the 1985 Labour Relations Act (LRA) that provided for shop-floor labour organization, minimum wage legislation, Legal Age of Majority Act and the Employment Act that sought to protect workers from arbitrary retrenchment all combined to provide a flicker of hope for a better tomorrow. During May Day celebrations the Head of State and labour leaders addressed workers side by side outlining measures to improve their lot and the economy in general. Government had a hand in the formation of the national labour centre, the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) as it sought to place labour under its ambit. Albert Mugabe, a brother to the Prime Minister and Makwarimba were among the first leaders of the ZCTU (Mandaza 1987). This state- labour alliance continued until divorce came in the late 1980s when radical leaders like Gibson Sibanda (President) and Morgan Tsvangirai (Secretary – General) took over the leadership of the ZCTU. During much of the 1980s the government committed itself rhetorically to establishing a state based on Marxist-Leninist ethos. For instance, as late as 1989 the party was affirming its commitment to the socialist ideology and that its leadership would be guided by the leadership code (ZANU-PF Unity Congress Resolutions 1989). State leaders were discouraged from acquiring land and wealth at the expense of the masses. Co-operatives of various sizes and for various enterprises were established. Several studies have, however, shown that by day the government preached socialism while at night they practiced capitalism (Astrow 1982, Bond and Manyanya 2004). The 1980s and 1990s were marked by a slow pace of land redistribution for the masses while the chiefs acquired large tracts of land for themselves. Kanyenze (2004) and Sachikonye (2004) have succinctly shown how Lancaster provisions, corruption and lethargy in the corridors of power combined to circumscribe land redistribution in Zimbabwe. EARLY AND SERIOUS CHALLENGES TO DEMOCRATIZATION As alluded to above the earliest challenges to the opening of democratic space related to the Matabeleland massacres where an estimated 20000 people lost their lives (CCJP 1997). Ostensibly carried out as counter-insurgency measures, the massacres were carried out to weaken Joshua Nkomo’s party which was seen as an affront to President Mugabe’s- then Prime Minister- hold on power. State response to the uprising can be interpreted as being two pronged. First, the insurgency was ruthlessly crushed by the Korean trained Fifth Brigade so as to send a clear message that opposition to the government was not brooked. Second, with Apartheid South Africa sponsoring Renamo’s destabilization activities in Mozambique, the government might have wanted to send a clear message to SA that it was ready for military encounter. The massacres were only ended with the Unity Accord of December 1987 which established what can be described as the first government of national unity (GNU) in post- colonial Zimbabwe. Another early challenge to democratization relates to the idea of wanting to create a one- party

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state. The head of government was an admirer of the Eastern bloc, particularly China and Russia where the one party state regimes were in place. Up to 1989 the leadership was still committed to the one-party state project until Edgar Tekere protested and formed the Zimbabwe Unity Movement (ZUM) which won about twenty (20) percent of the votes in the 1990 general elections. This was the opposition that scuttled the one party state project. The party was formed when Tekere was expelled from the party for being vocal against growing corruption in the party leadership as evidenced by the Willogate scandal that received so much national condemnation (Interview). The Zimbabwe African National Union - Patrotic Front (ZANU-PF) leadership was professing socialism by the day yet at night they were busy amassing wealth (and land) for themselves. Dissent against the cancer of corruption in the society was not taken lightly. The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions ((ZCTU) and University of Zimbabwe (UZ) students who demonstrated against corruption were ruthlessly dealt with. UZ leaders such as Arthur Mutambabra and others were arrested for spearheading the anti-corruption demonstrations and when Tsvangirai, then Secretary –General of the ZCTU remonstrated against the student leaders’ continued imprisonment he was also arrested (Huddleston 2005). The heavy-handedness with which the state was reacting to criticism is characteristic of autocracy. This was symptomatic of more repression that was to come. However, despite the repression, students, academics, poets and others continued with their criticism of the state. Even within the ruling party there were dissenting voices in the form of Lazarus Nzarayebani, Sydney Malunga and Welshman Mabhena, among others. GRAPPLING WITH LABOUR UNREST IN THE 1990S The labour unrest was a public reaction and rage against the failed Economic Structural Adjustment Programme (ESAP). The Bretton Woods institutions - induced SAP supposedly put in place to restructure and place the economy on a sound footing, failed dismally. Instead of creating employment and up-lifting the people’s standards of living the programme resulted in retrenchments and declining standards of living. The deleterious consequences of ESAP are a subject that has received considerable scholarly attention (Mlambo 1997; Kanyenze 2004). All the authors agree that overall the programme had negative effects on the socio-economic welfare of the implementing countries. Trade liberalization resulted in company closures and devaluation resulted in declining real wages. Tremendous strides in the education and health sectors were rolled back. The hardships that were unleashed by forces from the SAP are the ones that the labour movement protested against. One of the most serious industrial actions in post- colonial Zimbabwe was the 1996 civil service strike. This strike was well organized and illustrated labour resiliency against a regime that had failed to reduce poverty among the workers. The 1996 nation-wide strike was followed by more nation-wide strikes in 1997 and the stay – aways from work of 1998. Government countered the stay-aways in a heavy-handed manner. The ZCTU leadership was often arrested and accused of harbouring political motives, a charge they flatly refused. However, it can be argued that by calling for the stay-aways the ZCTU leadership was testing its popularity with the people. Once they realized that they were very popular they developed the guts to form a political party. SERIOUS REPRESSION IN THE NEW MILLENNIUM Instead of democracy becoming entrenched with more years of independence the country’s democratic credentials in fact nose-dived. The significant turning point in the history of Zimbabwe was opened with the formation of a broad- based movement comprising labour, civil society, students and peasants- the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in September 1999. Engaging the authorities in order to improve the economy and conditions of living had all but failed and so the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) metamorphosed into a political party. The first significant success of this new party was to campaign against a draft constitution that had been subjected to a referendum in February 2000. The MDC party together with the

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NCA was agitated by President Mugabe’s inclusion in the draft constitution of clauses that gave him the right to stand for another two year terms as President and another that called for compulsory acquisition of land from the white commercial farmers without paying for it. The onus for payment was placed in the hands of the British government as provided for by the Lancaster Constitution (Sachikonye 2004). With its first taste of defeat the ZANU-PF government was to throw any caution to the wind and became seriously brutal as it sought to keep its hold on power by any means necessary. A common practice in politics is to demonise in order to find a justification to destroy. For campaigning for the No vote in the referendum, the NCA and MDC were labeled as fronts for Western imperialism. President Mugabe has consistently rejected that the MDC is a locally based party preferring to refer to it as a puppet for the whites (Blair 2002). He has always perceived the MDC as part and parcel of a western regime change machination against his rule. To achieve the twin objectives of punishing the commercial farmers who had campaigned against the referendum and to win the support of landless movements (war veterans, peasants and some land hungry urbanites) the government unleashed a reign of terror against the commercial farmers. On an unprecedented scale the landless movements led by the war veterans3 embarked on land invasions that were popularly termed jambanja. White commercial farmers were forced to flee their farms while others were killed. The case of the ruthless murder of Martin Olds in the Nyamandlovu area was just a tip of the iceberg in the calculated terror against white farmers. Thus, as Sachikonye (2004) observed land hunger was manipulated to improve the electoral fortunes of ZANU- PF. More was to come despite various courts judgments that ruled against the invasions. The ZANU - PF leadership argued that the land question was a political question which the courts could not resolve but had to be resolved politically. At some point the Commissioner of Police, Augustine Chihuri argued that while he wanted to comply with court judgments he did not have the manpower to carry out the same. He went on to raise a political argument. He said that by forcefully evicting the land occupiers he was afraid that could spark public disorder as the persons involved were prepared to resist the police in the furtherance of their quest for land ( Madhuku 2004, 141)). To show tacit sympathy with the invaders Chihuri said that they were not the best institution to deal with the land question. In other words the police leaders were justifying their contempt for the court rulings. These arguments were however dismissed by the courts. One commentator (Madhuku 2004) said that the manner in which the land occupations were carried out and the failure to implement court judgments meant that the rule of law in the country had been overthrown. The electoral environment preceding all elections after the emergence of the MDC has been characterized by serious repression by the authorities. ZANU –PF employed youths and war veterans to unleash an orgy of violence on the people. In the run up to the June 2000 elections violence claimed the lives of MDC supporters including Tsvangirai’s polling agent Tichaona Chiminya and his assistant Talent Mabika (Huddleston 2005). The perpetrators of violence got even more vigour from the speeches and threats of their leader. President Mugabe has often said;” There will never come a day when the MDC will rule this country, never, ever” (Mederith 2002, 210). The opposition MDC is often described in imperialist terms while ZANU-PF sees itself as being more patriotic, what Bond and Manyanya characterize as ‘Exhausted Nationalism’ (Bond and Manyanya 2003). Robert Mugabe is also on record for saying that the nationalists brought independence to Zimbabwe through the barrel of a gun and so the MDC would be day- dreaming to think that they could get the right to rule it through ‘pen and paper’ (Fx Documentary, Only in Africa, 5 September 2011). Dozens of people are believed to have died in the run up to all post- 2000 parliamentary and presidential elections. The deaths were from both ZANU-PF and the MDC but by far the latter had the greater number of casualties. In the period leading to the Presidential run –off in June 2008 Tsvangirai had to withdraw his candidature in that election to save the lives of his supporters because he alleged that up to two hundred of his people had been killed.

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In acts inimical to democratization, freedom of association and freedom of expression were severely circumscribed through heinous legislation like the Public Order and Security Act (POSA) of 2002 and the Access to Information Protection and Privacy Act (AIPPA) of 2002. Among a range of other deterrents to freedom of association POSA criminalizes the publication of statements that are “prejudicial to the state” (Chuma 2004, 135). With a state so intolerant of criticism even the most objective kind of criticism could be described as being prejudicial to the state. AIPPA provided for the registration of journalists by a Media and Information Commission (MIC) constituted by known party loyalists like Tafataona Mahoso. It also provided for the registration of media organizations with the same commission. MIC would also accredit journalists to enable them to practise in the country and unaccredited journalists were barred from practicing anywhere in the country. As a result of these repressive legislations foreign journalists working in the country were deported and there were also periodic arrests of local journalists working for private media houses (Chuma 2004). POSA was reminiscent of the draconian colonial Law and Order Maintenance Act (LOMA) which criminalized freedom of association. This shows that the post -colonial state borrowed most of the repressive instruments used by the colonial authorities to gag the freedom of their people. This gives weight to the thinking that the liberator has turned dictator and that ‘democracy from below’ was seriously resisted by the post –colonial state in Zimbabwe. As part and parcel of the consolidation of its hold on power the ZANU-PF government has assigned military and former military men to strategic positions in government. Strategic institutions such as the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC), the National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) Air Commodore Karakadzai and the Grain Marketing Board (GMB)- Muvuti (now Albert Mandizha) and the Zimbabwe Election Commission (ZEC)- Justice Chiweshe – were all men who have or had military backgrounds and owe their allegiance to President Mugabe’s party. The Zimbabwe Prison services (ZPS) and Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) are headed by people with liberation war credentials and people who have openly declared their support for ZANU-PF. Others with military backgrounds have been seconded to ambassadorial posts and line ministries as permanent secretaries. Rupiya (2004) has posited internal and external factors for the politicization of the military. Externally, the excursion in the DRC incurred criticism from the United States (US) and Britain who imposed military sanctions on the Zimbabwe Defence Force (ZDF) while internally the MDC criticized the DRC war and earned the wrath of the military in the process (Rupiya 2004). These former military people have been major beneficiaries of the politics of patronage such that some of them have openly declared that they would never salute a presidential winner without liberation war credentials. ZPS boss Zimondi threatened to take up arms should ZANU-PF lose elections (Interview). Prior to the 2002 Presidential election the security forces led by the then army commander- the late General Zvinavashe- had indicated that they would not salute any winner without liberation war credentials. This in essence amounted to a coup and a refusal to democratic change of government. The Head of State and Commander-in- Chief of the army did not condemn such utterances as he should have done. Noteworthy is that the military is not just blind patriotism they have unwavering support for President Mugabe for a number of reasons. First, it is economic, just like in Uganda where the army was a major beneficiary of Idi Amin’s expulsion of the Asians in 1972, in Zimbabwe the army has also stepped in the shoes of the displaced white commercial farmers. Second, a good number of these army chiefs also played varying and active roles during the Gukurahundi period and the fear of reprisals makes them to hang on tenaciously. This does not augur well for the democratization project. It shows a serious affront to the calls for democracy from below. THE WAY FORWARD In the face of intransigence by the President and his party, the way to go to press for more opening up of democratic space does not lie in the North African kind of revolutions like in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. There has been destruction of infrastructure and bloodshed in those countries. Indeed, if such revolutions were to occur in Zimbabwe there is a high probability that

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there would be serious casualties as the wielders of state power have “degrees in violence” (Blair 2002). The run –up to the June 2008 run- off election is testimony to this point. A different route has to be followed. Each struggle is a result of its own peculiar socio- cultural, economic and political circumstances. Given this, civil society, students, academia and all pro-democracy forces should coalesce and provide more voter education among themselves and the masses so that they vote for democracy. Many potential voters have tended to watch the unfolding struggle for democracy from the terraces. They should register as voters and vote for democracy as well. Pro-democracy forces should also continue engaging the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the Global Political Agreement (GPA) facilitator, President Zuma of South Africa and the African Union (AU). Even when the liberation forces were fighting for independence external connections were important. The Patriotic Forces had linkages with the then Organisation of African Unity (OAU), neighbouring countries and the Eastern as well as Western bloc. External linkages are therefore necessary in the quest for more democratization in Zimbabwe. CONCLUSION The paper has analysed the various constraints that have been faced by the democratization project in Zimbabwe. It has shown that the state was comfortable with championing democracy at its own pace which was rather too slow. As demands for further democratization gathered momentum the state responded with repression reminiscent of the days of colonialism. Draconian legislations like POSA and AIPPA were put in place to deal with clamours for democratization. Those who wield state power tenaciously hold on to it because access to state power facilitates access to economic resources. Despite the authoritarian manner in which the state responded to calls for opening up of more democratic space it is incumbent upon the masses and civil society to continue applying pressure without relent. The renowned Nigerian writer succinctly sums up what needs to be done: “Like development, democratization is not something that one person does for another. People must do it for themselves or it does not happen” (Ake 1991, 38). There has to a re-acquisition of power by the ordinary people who should be allowed to view and define development and democracy in their own terms. Obviously this opportunity will not be given on a silver platter by the current wielders of state power. Democracy is so desirable that despite the seemingly insurmountable odds people just have to continue applying pressure so that in the end it may be achieved.

Notes

1. For a detailed discussion on the role of the liberation movements in the armed struggle see N.Bhebe, ZAPU and ZANU Guerilla Warfare and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Zimbabwe, Gweru: Mambo Press, 1999. Also informative is N. Bhebe and T. Ranger (eds), Soldiers in Zimbabwe’s Liberation War, Harare: University of Zimbabwe Publications, 1995.

2. Joshuah Nkomo’s The Story of My life (1984) has a chilling account of the atrocities that were committed by the Mugabe regime in its quest to eradicate “dissidents”. Nkomo himself, leader of the opposition PF- ZAPU missed escaped death by a whisker when he skipped the country into Botswana during Gukurahundi. The Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace in Zimbabwe (CCJP 1997) also carried out a study on this counterinsurgency culminating in Breaking the Silence, Building True Peace: A Report on the Disturbances in Matabeleland and the Midlands 1980 to 1988, Harare: Legal resources Foundation, 1997. S. J. Ndlovu- Gatsheni (2001) has also done some research into these disturbances.

3. The role of the war veterans of the Second Chimurenga in the land invasions is a topic that has been dealt with at length by W. Sadomba in his doctoral thesis ‘War Veterans and the Land Occupation Movement in Zimbabwe’ (2006) in the Netherlands.

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References

Ake, C. 1991. Rethinking African Democracy. Journal of Democracy, Vol. 2, No 1. Astrow, A.1983. Zimbabwe: A revolution that lost its way. London: Zed Books. Blair, D. 2005. Degrees in violence: Robert Mugabe and the struggle for power in Zimbabwe. London: Continuum. Bond, P and Manyanya, M. 2003. Zimbabwe’s plunge: Exhausted nationalism, neo-liberalism and the search for social justice. Harare: Weaver Press. Bratton, M and Van de Walle, N.1997. Democratic experiments in Africa: Regime transitions in comparative perspective. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJP). 1997. Breaking the silence, building true peace: A report on the disturbances in Matabeleland and the Midlands 1980 to 1988. Harare: Legal Resources Foundation. Chuma, W. 2004. Liberating or limiting the public sphere? Media policy and the Zimbabwe Transition, 1980 – 2004 in B. Raftopoulos and T. Savage (eds), Zimbabwe: Injustice and political reconciliation. Cape Town: Institute for Justice and Reconciliation. Eppel, S. 2004. Gukurahundi’ The Need for Truth and Reputation in B. Raftopoulos and T. Savage (eds), Zimbabwe: Injustice and Political Reconciliation. Cape Town: Institute for Justice and Reconciliation. Gyimah – Boadi, E. 2001. Democratizing Africa: Halting progress, outstanding problems and serious dilemmas. Accra: Ghana Universities Press. Huddleston, S. 2005. Face of courage: A biography of Morgan Tsvangirai. Cape Town: Double Storey Books Kanyenze, G. 2004. Economic structural adjustment programme (ESAP): Precusor to fast track resettlement? in M. Masiiwa (ed.), Post – Independence land reform in Zimbabwe: Controversies and impact on the economy. Harare: Friedrich Ebert Stiftung and Institute of Development Studies. Madhuku, L. 2004. Law, politics and the land reform process in M. Masiiwa (ed.), Post – Independence land reform in Zimbabwe: Controversies and impact on the economy. Harare: Friedrich Ebert Stiftung and Institute of Development Studies. Mandaza, I. 1986. Zimbabwe: A political economy of transition, 1980 – 1986. Dakar: Codesria. Meredith, M.2002. Robert Mugabe: Plunder, power and tyranny in Zimbabwe. Cape Town: Jonathan Ball Publishers Mlambo, A. S. 1997. The economic structural adjustment programme: The case of Zimbabwe, 1990- 1995. Harare: University of Zimbabwe Publications. Mugabe, R.1980. Independence Message. In The Struggle for Zimbabwe: Documents of the Recent Development of Zimbabwe 1975 – 1980.Vol 7, December 1979 – April 1980. Hamburg: Institute of African Studies Documentation Centre. Muzondidya, J.2009. From bouyancy to crisis, 1980 – 2008 in B. Raftopoulos and A. Mlambo (eds.), Becoming Zimbabwe: A history from pre-colonial period to 2008. Harare: Weaver Press

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Ndlovu- Gatsheni, S. J (Undated). Why is modern democracy not easily sustainable in Africa. Paper presented at the Ferguson Centre for African and Asian Studies. UK: The Open University. Ndlovu-Gatsheni, S.2009. Mapping cultural and colonial encounters 1880s – 1930s in B. Raftopoulos and A. Mlambo (eds.), Becoming Zimbabwe: A history from pre-colonial period to 2008. Harare: Weaver Press. Raftopoulos, B. 2009. The crisis in Zimbabwe in B. Raftopoulos and A. Mlambo (eds.), Becoming Zimbabwe: A History from pre-colonial period to 2008. Harare: Weaver Press. Sachikonye, L. 2004.The promised land: From expropriation to reconciliation and Jambanja in B. Raftopoulos and T. Savage (eds.), Zimbabwe: Injustice and Political Reconciliation. Cape Town: Institute for Justice and Reconciliation. Schumpeter, J. A.1976. Capitalism, socialism and democracy. London: Allen and Unwin. Todd, J. G.2007. Through the darkness: A life in Zimbabwe. Cape Town: Zebra Press. ZANU-PF Congress Resolutions. 1989. Sapes. Economic and Political Monthly (SAPEM), November.

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NEW PUBLICATIONS

Innovative Water Resource Use and Management for Poverty Reduction in Sub-Saharan Africa

Edited by Paulos Chanie

This anthology documents various issues including water use and management in agriculture especially in irrigation projects in Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda and Zimbabwe; water harvesting in Kenya and Uganda; the role of local water use institutions in Ethiopia; and water source maintenance and protection in Uganda. The anthology constitutes nine chapters, the first five of which deal with water use and management in agriculture. The remaining four chapters discuss issues of water saving; local water use institutions, and water source protection and maintenance.

Gender Training Manuals

In a special project devoted to the development of teaching materials on gender issues for postgraduate studies, OSSREA has processed five teaching manuals on gender, agriculture and natural resources; gender and population dynamics; gender in economic growth and poverty reduction; gender, vulnerability and social protection; and gender in political arenas. These five training manuals were prepared by gender experts from partner universities, subjected to rigorous review and edited by one specialist on gender

issues. These manuals were piloted through gender training courses for university staff teaching in gender courses in various universities in Eastern and Southern Africa and are expected to support postgraduate courses in the region

Gender Issues in Economic Growth and Poverty Reduction A Training Manual

Prepared by Leonorah Tendayi Nyaruwata and Tabeth Ndoro Chideya

Gender, Vulnerability and Social Protection

A Training Manual with In-built User’s Guide for Postgraduate Studies in Institutions of Higher Learning in sub-Saharan Africa

Prepared by OSSREA Bulletin vol. XI No. 2 (June 2014) 46

Gender in the Political Arena A Training Manual

Prepared by Rose Jaji and Barbara Rudo Gaidzanwa

Gender, Population Dynamics and Policy Understating the Linkages

A Training Manual for Graduate Studies

Prepared by Kennedy Nyabuti Ondimu

Gender, Agriculture and Natural Resources

A Training Manual

Prepared by Fedadu Beyene and Zelalem Nemera

OSSREA Bulletin vol. XI No. 2 (June 2014) Page 47

OSSREA Catalogue 2013-2014 New Publications & Selected Backlist

The OSSREA Bulletin Vol. XI No. 1 (February 2014) constitutes news articles, feature articles, the feature articles include:

 Post-Multiple Currency Strategy: Which Way Zimbabwe? Mbetu, Katazo Cecil, Chikoko, Laurine & Charumbira, Martin  Political Campaigning and Harmonized Elections in 2013: Examining the Strategies Dorothy Goredema and Pecyslage Chigora

CALL FOR ARTICLES, REVIEWS AND COMMENTARIES

Since the February 2003 issue of its Newsletter, OSSREA has been publishing short articles on topical issues concerning the transformation process in Africa. The African Union and NEPAD ha e been among s ch topics dealt ith from ario s OSSREA Bulletin vol. XI No. 2 (June 2014) 48

The Eastern Africa Social Science Research Review (EASSRR)

OSSREA invites contributions to its journal. The EASSRR publishes articles, book reviews, research notes and other short communications pertaining to the social sciences. The Editorial Policy and Authors' Guidelines are available on the website http://www.ossrea.net

OSSREA Bulletin vol. XI No. 2 (June 2014) Page 49

ARE YOU A MEMBER OF THE SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH COMMUNITY OF EASTERN AND SOUTHERN AFRICA?

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IF NOT YET, JOIN NOW!

OSSREA is an international organisation dedicated to the encouragement and promotion of study and research in the Social Sciences. Its sources of support are international donors and membership fees. Membership is open to individuals and institutions engaged in research in the Social Sciences and related fields in Eastern and Southern Africa. The current annual membership fees are as follows:

Full Membership Assoc. Membership

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