Journal Articles

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Kibiro Indigenous Salt Making Technology and Uganda’s Economic War, 1972-1979
(African Journal of History and Geography, 2024-12-02) Ssematimba, Juliet; Kyazike, Elizabeth; Khanakwa, Pamela
This paper examines the continuities and changes that characterised traditional salt-making technology at Kibiro during the 1972 economic war in Uganda and the influence of these technologies on the volume, quality, and benefits of mined salt. While Kibiro’s salt-making was not new in historical discourse, attention had largely been on its archaeology rather than its history. Using a historical qualitative approach, data was collected through oral interviews through purposeful snowballing, documentary review, and observations. The data were analysed using documentary analysis and narrative techniques. Results show the dynamics in the traditional salt making technology that provided a basis for appreciating how national changes can lead to unintended changes and benefits to the local communities without necessarily changing the production technology. The traditional salt-making technology exclusively done by women reveals the power of a woman salt miner to survive and support her household in an agriculturally barren geographical setting with trivial support from men due to cultural beliefs and practices.
The archaeology of kakoro and komuge rock art sites in eastern Uganda
(Studies in the African Past, 2023) Nyiracyiza, Jackline; Kyazike, Elizabeth
This paper presents the archaeology of Eastern Uganda's Komuge and Kakoro rock art sites. The paper is set out to examine the relationships between the archaeological assemblage and rock art with reference to chronology and authorship. Methodologically, the research employed systematic and unsystematic surveys to identify sites for excavations to aid in identifying archaeological materials associated with rock art. The study results demonstrate a clear cultural sequence spanning from the Later Stone Age (LSA) to the Later Iron Age (LIA) evidenced by the presence of lithic, faunal remains, pottery and rock art dating to 1,675BP. The archaeological remains at both sites indicate that the LSA communities that depended on wild and domesticated animals authored the rock art. Continuity in the settlement is marked by the presence of all types of classic Early Iron Age, Transitional Urewe, Middle Iron Age and Later Iron Age (IA) roulette ware superimposed on LSA lithics. Remarkably, the similarity of designs in rock art and ceramics indicates the continuity of inherited traits.
Perspectives from the local community on strategies for community transformation in Uganda’s public universities
(East African Journal of Education Studies, 2024-07-01) Adebua, Asaf; Oriangi, George; Abola, Benard; Malinga, Geoffrey M.; Ezati, Betty Akullu; Amone, Charles
Several Universities in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) rarely have a clearly defined strategy for transforming communities. This is partly because some are still built on colonial models, which place a strong focus on theory, rote learning, and memorisation, where learners duplicate the content during examinations with little or no impact on the community. As a result, the surrounding communities continue to grapple with high levels of poverty, illiteracy, poor housing, disease, and poorquality health and hygiene. This study explores the strategies Gulu University is using to transform the post-conflict community of Gulu City, northern Uganda. A cross-sectional research design was used involving 390 households. Selfadministered questionnaires were employed to collect data on community perceptions of the operationalisation of the different strategies employed by Gulu University to transform the community. Descriptive statistics was used to determine the most outstanding strategies and their associated variables, while chisquare test was performed to assess the relationship between community perception of the existence of Gulu University and the strategies of community transformation. Findings revealed that, first, Gulu University’s strategy of knowledge application has been perceived by the surrounding community to have worked well by increasing employment opportunities, providing young people with opportunities for meaningful livelihood activities, reducing crime, and fostering enterprise development in the surrounding community. Second, the strategy of partnerships and community projects has paid off by providing scholarships to help community members further their education. However, there is still more to be done in terms of knowledge generation strategy through skill training, knowledge transmission strategy through technology transfer, primary health care, better farming engagements, and innovative business services, as well as partnerships and community projects strategy via enterprise development. Furthermore, findings indicated that there was a significant association between community perceptions of transformation and the existence of Gulu University. The findings highlight potential areas of focus for Gulu University and other Ugandan universities for formulating policies that higher institutions of learning can employ to transform communities. Besides, future research should explore the dimensions of community transformation that influence the role of higher institutions of learning in transforming communities.
Modelling transformation of communities by public universities in post conflict northern Uganda using economic and demographic factors
(East African Journal of Education Studies, 2024-07-02) Adebua, Asaf; Oriang, George; Abola, Benard; Amone, Charles; Ezati, Betty Akullu
Scarcity of knowledge exists on how economic and demographic factors of surrounding communities influence the capacity of universities to transform them. This study examines the dimensions that contribute to community transformation in the context of the community surrounding Gulu University in post-conflict northern Uganda and the economic and demographic factors of the surrounding community that influence their transformation by Gulu University. The study employed a cross-sectional research design with a sample of 390 households. Self-administered questionnaires were used to collect data on household economic and demographic factors and data on dimensions of community transformation. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to determine the contributions of the dimensions of community transformation, while logistic regression model was employed to determine economic and demographic factors that influence community transformation by Gulu University. The independent variables tested in the economic and demographic categories included age, gender, household size, occupation, alternative income, savings, credit, remittances, and education, while transformation formed the dependent variable. Findings revealed that the economic, physical, political and spiritual dimensions contribute more to the transformation of the community surrounding Gulu University, while the economic and demographic factors that had a significant influence on community transformation included occupation in civil service, business, and commercial farming (P=.004); and the level of education (P=0.044). The study concludes that the economic, physical, political and spiritual dimensions with their associated variables contributed more to community transformation. These can be used by other related studies to measure community transformation by universities in the context of developing countries. Furthermore, policies need to focus more on supporting the improvement of the business environment to promote commercial farming and university education since they have a higher multiplier effect on community transformation. Consequently, community members need to focus on business, harness commercial farming and achieve university level of education
Community Perceptions on the Contributions of Public Universities to Community Transformation
(East African Journal of Arts and Social Sciences, 2024-08-06) Adebua, Asaf; Ologe, Daniel Ochieng; Edekebon, Elaijah; Oriangi, George; Ezati, Akullu Betty; Amone, Charles
Much as the role of higher education has been recognised for promoting development globally, communities surrounding universities in Sub-Saharan Africa are still grappling with poor quality health, low income, poor housing, unreliable electricity and othersocial amenities. This study determined community perceptions of the contributions of Gulu University to community transformation in post-conflict northern Uganda. A cross-sectional study design was employed to collect data while using researcher-administered questionnaires and geospatial techniques. Questionnaire data was analysed using principal component analysis, and descriptive statistics while geospatial data was analysed using buffers, spatial join tool, and overlay analysis in GIS environment. Findings revealed that the economic, political, spiritual and physical dimensions were important in explaining the transformation of communities surrounding Gulu University. The community surrounding Gulu University is perceived to have progressed well in terms of savings, business, commercial farming, and civil service; consumption of more than 3 meals per day, access to credit and remittances; easy access to health care, and quality education. The majority of the population can make free and independent decisions, are good at self-expression, exercise love for one another, enjoy living with community members, are at peace with one another, exercise kindness, waste is properly managed, and there is good access to water. However, there is slow progress in having alternative sources of income, only a few community members perceived: their level of education to have improved, participate in leadership and are taking part in politics. There is also a scarcity of respect for one another, endurance and faithfulness. The study concludes that (i) households need to think of alternative ways of generating income, given its relevance in enabling households to meet their daily income, (ii) education policies and other stakeholders need to provide more support for community members to pursue higher levels of education, (iii) more civic education to create awareness on the importance of participating in leadership and politics, and (iv) a need by religious sects to continue with more teachings on respect for one another, endurance and faithfulness in the community surrounding Gulu University.
Factors Influencing Public University’s Role in Community Transformation
(East African Journal of Arts and Social Sciences, 2024-07-17) Adebua, Asaf; Oriangi, George; Edekebon, Elaijah; Ezati, Akullu Betty; Amone, Charles
Paucity of knowledge exists on the factors that influence the capacity of universities to transform communities, particularly in the Ugandan context. This study examined the internal factors that influence the capacity of Gulu University to contribute to community transformation in Gulu City in Northern Uganda. A cross-sectional study design was used while employing self-administered questionnaire to sample 390 households. Logistic regression model was used to evaluate the influence of internal factors on Gulu University’s role in transforming the surrounding communities. Findings revealed that scholarships by the university (p=.000), enterprises developed within the community through Gulu University’s engagement (p=.007), religious meetings for spiritual transformation (p=.036), and the teaching done at the university (p=.045) had a statistically significant influence on the university’s role in transforming the surrounding community in Gulu city. The study concludes that universities, the central government, and other stakeholders need to focus more on scholarships for further education, enterprise development, supporting the church, and teaching in the university to realise multiplied transformation of the surrounding communities.
Charting a landmark-driven path forward for population genetics and ancient DNA research in Africa
(The American Journal of Human Genetics, 2024-07-11) Kyazike, Elizabeth; Sawchuk, Elizabeth A.; Sirak, Kendra A.; Manthi, Fredrick K.; Ndiema, Emmanuel K.
Population history-focused DNA and ancient DNA (aDNA) research in Africa has dramatically increased in the past decade, enabling increasingly fine-scale investigations into the continent’s past. However, while international interest in human genomics research in Africa grows, major structural barriers limit the ability of African scholars to lead and engage in such research and impede local communities from partnering with researchers and benefitting from research outcomes. Because conversations about research on African people and their past are often held outside Africa and exclude African voices, an important step for African DNA and aDNA research is moving these conversations to the continent. In May 2023 we held the DNAirobi workshop in Nairobi, Kenya and here we synthesize what emerged most prominently in our discussions. We propose an ideal vision for population history-focused DNA and aDNA research in Africa in ten years’ time and acknowledge that to realize this future, we need to chart a path connecting a series of ‘‘landmarks’’ that represent points of consensus in our discussions. These include effective communication across multiple audiences, reframed relationships and capacity building, and action toward structural changes that support science and beyond. We concluded there is no single path to creating an equitable and self-sustaining research ecosystem, but rather many possible routes linking these landmarks. Here we share our diverse perspectives as geneticists, anthropologists, archaeologists, museum curators, and educators to articulate challenges and opportunities for African DNA and aDNA research and share an initial map toward a more inclusive and equitable future.
Sugarcane plantations and the alienation of land from smallholder farmers through out-grower schemes in Busoga Sub-Region in Eastern Uganda
(Journal of African Studies, 2023-09) Robert, Ojambo
Despite wide research on land grabbing in Africa, much of the existing literature restricts the practice mainly to a situation where land is leased or sold to outside investors for the production of food and biofuel for export to the western world. This paper extends the debate further by examining how local sugarcane companies and individuals in Busoga Region in Eastern Uganda force smallholder farmers to surrender their land willingly through the out-grower schemes based on contract farming or private sugarcane production. Using a qualitative methodology that relied mainly on interviews of key informants and documentary reviews, the paper analyses the nature of the contemporary land alienations through contract farming between plantation agriculturalists and smallholder farmers, and how it has affected the livelihood of the peasants in the Busoga region especially when it comes to the production of sugarcane for sale at the expense of food for local consumption. The findings show that in the areas where sugarcane production through the out-grower schemes is the dominant economic activity, land alienation for sugarcane growing is rampant as the sugar companies and the agro-business farmers lure local peasants who mainly own land on customary tenure to grow sugarcane at the expense of producing food crops. The paper concludes that this is a new form of land grabbing in Uganda.
The Arab springs and the “walk to work” movement in Uganda: contest for political space and freedom
(African Journal of Education, Science and Technology, 2016-01) Robert, Ojambo
This paper presents an overview of how the Arab Springs influenced events in the Walk-to Work Protests in Uganda during the period after the 2011 election. It builds on the previous analysis of the nexus between the Arab Spring and other conflicts that sprung in different parts of Africa to provide an overview of in the fight for political space in the sub-Saharan Africa with a specific focus on Uganda. The main argument is that the recent Arab uprising have led to significant changes that call for rethinking of critical issues in the study of social movement which has in turn led to enormous implication in the theories of revolution especially in the Arab world. This study employed a qualitative methodology using historical approach to investigate the ‘Walk-to-Work’ protests in Uganda in the larger study of impact of the Arab Springs in the Arab North. Employing the Resource Mobilisation, Political Opportunity Structural and Framing Theories, the study establishes that the Arab Springs influenced a lot of events in the ‘Walk-to-Work’ Protests in Uganda. Our argument here is also that despite the fact that the ‘Walk-to-Work’ protests did not lead to change of Government, they were not mere protests but instead a manifestation of a peaceful struggle for political space in Uganda that has made a big paradigm shift in the politics of this country.
On the waters: economic and political drivers of maritime conflicts between Uganda and its neighbors
(African Studies Quarterly, 2021-10) Robert, Ojambo
The Great Lakes region has, in the recent past, been awash with numerous border conflicts/or threats to conflict among the member states. Whereas various studies have endeavored to explain the emergence of such conflicts, many of them lay the blame on colonial cartographical errors and territorial hegemony that developed after independence. This article furthers the debate by examining why, in the recent past, there have been conflict/disputes on shared waters between Uganda and its neighbors. Escalating maritime border conflicts in the Great Lakes Region have been mainly due to the increasing need for both control and exploitation of key economic resources, leading to the struggle for control of these areas. The strategic importance of lakes such as Victoria, Albert and Edward will continue to make them sources of conflict among countries in the Great Lakes Region, as long as a proper resource-management mechanism under international protocol is not put in place.
The political economy of globalization and employment returns to youth in Uganda
(Springer International Publishing, 2020-06) Kanyamurwa, John Mary
The political economy of globalization, with its main features such as market-driven technology, trade, and capital flows, continues to alter the structure of labour markets in developing countries, adversely affecting vulnerable population groups such as the youth. Using a cross-sectional survey design in a study undertaken in Uganda, this chapter investigates the political economy of structural changes affecting the youth in the local labour market as a consequence of globalization. The research reveals how economic reforms have undermined the state’s capacity to create decent employment opportunities, with some results suggesting dire consequences ensuing from global competition, which indicate profound inequality, social exclusion, and extreme poverty. Moreover, prime evidence shows the youth are facing new transitional challenges from training establishments to the labour market as employment opportunities in the country continue to dwindle. This situation is further complicated by demographic realities, which currently indicate that the youth in the working age bracket represent slightly over 30% of the country’s total population, putting a spotlight on the state’s current inability to create youth employment in Uganda’s neoliberal policy context. Findings further emphasize globalization dynamics as constituting the authentication for weakened political structures, which are constrained in a situation that requires urgent response to economic distortions evident in the youth unemployment challenge. The study recommends that the state, taking advantage of isolated supportive market indicators, should spearhead reforms to promote sustainable interventions for correcting the skewed youth unemployment challenge in the local labour market.
Elections and domestic peace in Africa: assessing peace opportunities in Uganda’s 2021 presidential election
(Springer International Publishing, 2022-11) Kanyamurwa, John Mary; Kakuba, Juma Sultan; Kaddu, Ronald; Babalanda, Stanely
Substantial narratives have in recent years been woven around the role of electoral democracy, widely welcoming it as a symbol of Africa’s advancement towards nonviolent power transfer and political stability. Yet, such analyses have often overlooked the unswerving electoral effects on critical peace perspectives in individual African countries. Contributing to the broader discourse on electoral democracy and peaceful democratic upshots, this chapter uses Uganda’s 2021 presidential election, held under COVID-19 pandemic regulations, to assess the domestic peace prospects attendant to electoral democracy as per current studies. Accordingly, adopting exploratory qualitative methods, the paper makes several arguments. First, the introduction of major constitutional reforms which centrally provided for competitive electoral democracy starting from the early 1980s, on which the January 2021 presidential election was based, paved the foundations for domestic peace in the country. Secondly, in line with the study results, we maintain that the 2021 presidential election processes fundamentally undermined domestic peace opportunities. This perspective was particularly reinforced by the experiences of violence leading to unfortunate civilian deaths, abductions and citizen incarcerations following the short-lived arrest of one of the presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in late 2020. Third, the results underscored a perspective on how key electoral and state security institutions detrimentally shaped the 2021 presidential election, inauspiciously contributing to events that further progressively eroded domestic peace. For more enduring and even-handed domestic peace in the country, the paper recommends profound constitutional reforms focusing on checks and balances, more inclusive electoral laws and security reforms aimed at boosting domestic peace in the context of electoral democracy.
Democratisation Processes Amidst Cultural Diversity in Uganda
(Springer International Publishing, 2022-11) Kyazike, Elizabeth; Kanyamurwa, John Mary; Babalanda, Stanley
Uganda attained independence on the 9th of October 1962 with a diverse cultural spectrum. Yet current analyses hardly interrogate the role of culture in the country’s democratisation processes. The purpose of this chapter is to examine the linkages between cultural diversity and democratisation processes in a heterogeneous society. While this is not a fundamentally unique discourse, the case of Uganda is quite interesting and warrants investigation. Using the cultural theory of democracy, the chapter investigates the various forms of cultural diversity that shape Uganda’s democratic processes, the strategies used to harness democratic aspirations amidst diversity and the implications of the strategies on Uganda’s democratisation drive. To achieve these objectives, an explorative design is utilised. This entails the use of the qualitative approach and techniques for data collection, specifically focusing on documentary review methods. A thematic analysis is utilised to examine the democratisation contradictions within existing debates in the context of culture-based analytics and the cultural framework. The findings of this chapter reveal the cultural diversities that have shaped Uganda’s democratic practices, democratic harnessing strategies and how these aspects have affected the democratisation processes of Uganda. This partly explains why Uganda has one of the biggest parliaments and cabinet despite its size and population. The chapter recommends profound analysis of cultural considerations to guide decision-makers on the direction and pace for democratisation reforms as guided by the nexus between democracy and culture.
The 1995 Constitution as a Tool for Dictatorship in Uganda: An African Dilemma of Constitutionalism
(SpringerLink, 2022-11) Robert, Ojambo
This chapter examines the interplay between the 1995 Constitution and the growing tendency of dictatorship in Uganda. The main argument is that whereas the drafting of the 1995 Constitution was seen by many as an attempt to promote democracy and good governance in Uganda, its implementation has often not appeared to point to that endeavour. Rather the 1995 Constitution has been used as a legal instrument for the promotion of Museveni’s political interests in the form of personal rule. The article, therefore, examines how Museveni using his position as president has continuously used the legislative processes as part of a strategic repertoire to portray a democratic picture to the international community while weakening political opposition, promoting patronage and hegemonic government in Uganda. Therefore, the 1995 Constitution has in the end created a semi-authoritarian regime where symbolic importance of the legislature and relatively free media contend with fundamentally a dictatorship at the centre that survives through legal manoeuvres and violence against any opposition. The 1995 Constitution is, therefore, seen as a tool for Museveni’s dictatorship rather than the promotion of democracy in Uganda.
Characterising the archaeological assemblage of Kaiso Village in the Ugandan Albertine Rift
(SpringerLink, 2022-12) Mirembe, Fatumah; Kyazike, Elizabeth
This paper presents results from archaeological surveys and excavations conducted in 2012 around Kaiso Village located within the Albertine Graben part of the Western arm of the Great East African Rift Valley. This area has received limited attention compared to other parts of Uganda. The findings demonstrate that Kaiso contains a previously unexplored archaeological record ranging from the Later Stone Age to the Late Iron Age which is important for addressing broader regional questions and the site's archaeological potential. Kaiso Village’s archaeological assemblage comprises lithic, pottery and faunal remains. The lithic artefacts that dominate the archaeological assemblage broadly include shaped tools, cores and angular fragments. The dominant tools are both end and side scrapers and points. Other lithic materials include flakes and core scrapers, denticulates, burins and core axes identified from these specific attributes interrogated such as lithic typology, technology and raw material types. Analysed materials from the survey and test excavations, suggest the utilisation of a wide range of raw materials such as quartzite, quartz, basalt and chert. This research presents a hitherto unknown area archaeologically despite the lack of absolute dates. The scattered evidence of archaeological materials such as Levallois reduction strategy and points cannot warrant branding the Kaiso assemblage as Middle Stone Age due to the shallow stratigraphy of the excavation units and lack of absolute dating. Instead, the Kaiso assemblage suggests that the site had different periods of cultural occupation, some of which were temporary settlements depicted from the shallow stratigraphy. However, severe erosion evident from the gullies that transverse the landscape and animal grazing due to the large numbers of cattle that were roaming the village and, in most cases, unattended could also explain the shallow stratigraphy as a result of disturbance, while the enormous amounts of lithic debitage in the archaeological assemblage suggest extensive stone tool manufacture at Kaiso.
Exploring the preference for indigenous medicinal plant medicine in Buliisa District, Western Uganda
(Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences: AJOL, 2021-08-11) Kyazike, Elizabeth
This paper explores the preference for indigenous medicinal plant medicine in Buliisa district, situated in the Albertine Graben. Despite attempts to improve access to conventional health services, there seems to be a preference for alternative medicine from medicinal plants. The specific objectives included examining the forms of indigenous herbal medicine, how they are administered and passed on from generation to generation, preservation challenges and mitigation measures. The study utilises a multidisciplinary approach by using archaeological transect walks, oral interviews with 50 herbalists, observation of the administration of herbal medicine, focus group discussions, and documentary review to collect data. Four hundred and seventy-seven medicinal plant sites were marked using a hand-held Global Positioning System at 80 locations. The results revealed that all plant parts are used for treatment as either independent parts or combined and often with other plant types. The most commonly used medicinal plant parts are the leaves. Buliisa medicinal plants cure various diseases, but the most common ones are sterility, sexually transmitted infections, high blood pressure, back pain, eye diseases, external body injuries, poisoning, and nose bleeding. In addition, treatment for aspects such as luck and spiritually related ailments are also handled. Though the harvesting poses a key conservation challenge, the secrecy embedded in the transmission of indigenous knowledge, education, Christianity and oil exploration is each equally a threat. The study recommends that since most herbal medicines have no overdose, there is a need to undertake more research to document the dosage and side-effects of using medicinal plants and compile a red list of the endangered species. The study has implications for the knowledge and development of herbal indigenous medicinal plants.
Mapping past human land use using archaeological data: A new classification for global land use synthesis and data harmonization
(PLOS ONE, 2021-04-14) Morrison, D.Kathleen; Hammer, Emily; Boles, Oliver; Madella, Marco; Whitehouse, Nicola; Gaillard, Marie-Jose; Bates, Jennifer; Linden, Marc Vander; Merlo, Stefania; Yao, Alice; Popova, Laura; Hill, Austin Chad; Antolin, Ferran; Bauer, Andrew; Biagetti, Stefano; Bishop, R. Rosie; Buckland, Phillip; Cruz, Pablo; Dreslerová, Dagmar; Dusseldorp, Gerrit; Ellis, Erle; Filipovic, Dragana; Foster, Thomas; Hannaford, Matthew J.; Harrison, P. Sandy; Hazarika, Manjil; Herold, Hajnalka; Hilpert, Johanna; Kaplan, Jed O.; Kay, Andrea; Goldewijk, Kees Klein; Kolář, Jan; Kyazike, Elizabeth; Laabs, Julian; Lancelotti, Carla; Lane, Paul; Lawrence, Dan; Lewis, Krista; Lombardo, Umberto; Lucarini, Giulio; Arroyo-Kalin, Manuel; Marchant, Rob; Mayle, Francis; McClatchie, Meriel; McLeester, Madeleine; Mooney, Scott; Moskal-del Hoyo, Magdalena; Navarrete, Vanessa; Ndiema, Emmanuel; Góes Neves, Eduardo; Nowak, Marek; Out, Welmoed A.; Petrie, Cameron; Phelps, Leanne N.; Pinke, Zsolt; Rostain, Stéphen; Russell, Thembi; Sluyter, Andrew; Styring, Amy K.; Tamanaha, Eduardo; Thomas, Evert; Veerasamy, Selvakumar; Welton, Lynn; Zanon, Marco
In the 12,000 years preceding the Industrial Revolution, human activities led to significant changes in land cover, plant and animal distributions, surface hydrology, and biochemical cycles. Earth system models suggest that this anthropogenic land cover change influenced regional and global climate. However, the representation of past land use in earth system models is currently oversimplified. As a result, there are large uncertainties in the current understanding of the past and current state of the earth system. In order to improve representation of the variety and scale of impacts that past land use had on the earth system, a global effort is underway to aggregate and synthesize archaeological and historical evidence of land use systems. Here we present a simple, hierarchical classification of land use systems designed to be used with archaeological and historical data at a global scale and a schema of codes that identify land use practices common to a range of systems, both implemented in a geospatial database. The classification scheme and database resulted from an extensive process of consultation with researchers worldwide. Our scheme is designed to deliver consistent, empirically robust data for the improvement of land use models, while simultaneously allowing for a comparative, detailed mapping of land use relevant to the needs of historical scholars. To illustrate the benefits of the classification scheme and methods for mapping historical land use, we apply it to Mesopotamia and Arabia at 6 kya (c. 4000 BCE). The scheme will be used to describe land use by the Past Global Changes (PAGES) LandCover6k working group, an international project comprised of archaeologists, historians, geographers, paleoecologists, and modelers. Beyond this, the scheme has a wide utility for creating a common language between research and policy communities, linking archaeologists with climate modelers, biodiversity conservation workers and initiatives.
State repression and democratic dispensation in Uganda 1996–2016
(SAGE Journals, 2021-07-11) Kakuba, Sultan J.
State repression covers several and many aspects such as wrongful detention, harassment, intimidation, torture, beating, and killings within state boundaries. This study adopted a desk survey qualitative research design to document state repression acts during five presidential elections. Secondary and primary data were gathered from Uganda Electoral Commission presidential elections results, African Elections Database, and Inter-Parliamentary Parline database. This was augmented by interviews carried out with purposively selected political activists from different political shades and members of civil society organizations. The data collected from documentary reviews and interviews were thematically analyzed using the content analysis method. The findings were that successive presidential elections won by National Resistance Movement (NRM) were characterized by state repression acts amounting to human rights abuse such as torture, denial of political gatherings, wrongful arrest, and detention, intimidation, and killings. Drawing from the study findings, the conclusion is that NRM has used state institutions to repress opposition to shield its regime and to lure mass support to remain in power, undermining democratic dispensation it restored in the country.
Politics of natural resource management and accountable systems in the delivery of water services in Uganda
(AJOL: Africa Development., 2017-12-12) Kanyamurwa, John Mary
The political behaviour of public institutions exhibited in the management of critical natural resources influences the nature of service delivery. In particular, the character of such public organizations as regulators of natural resources, like water, impacts not only on what such management bodies do and their functionality, but also on the way they respond to public accountable systems. The latter systems refer to those formal and informal public frameworks that emphasize the need to ensure that water services are delivered effectively, efficiently, satisfactorily and in a sustainable manner. It is mostly the shortfalls in such accountable systems, as is the case in most developing countries’ cities, that prompts analysis of the role of politics in the relevant public organizations. Thus, this article is intended to explore pertinent issues particularly relevant to the interests, rational choices and calculations in the regulation of natural resource management and the modes in which they impact on accountable systems in Uganda. Using a descriptive and correlational research design, data were collected using questionnaires administered to 1,086 respondents from key stakeholders in Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA). The findings indicate that political considerations by water managers mostly led to utility maximization of selfinterest rather than serving public interest in terms of decisions which were characterized by minimal participation of lower-level employees and water consumers. The level of adherence to accountable systems was low, suggesting that managers in water provision services were working hard to satisfy their political masters rather than the clients they served. The political considerations that underlined the practices in water resource management significantly watered down the promotion of accountable systems, but also affected the efficiency of the National Water and Sewage Corporation (NWSC). The article concludes that politics in organizations promotes skewed management practices that ultimately undermine accountable systems in the provision of critical resources such as water at the expense of consumers and citizens. Public reforms that enhance the independence of public institutions charged with the provision of vital development resources, which also enhance accountable systems in the public interest, are the most appropriate policy response to this challenge.
Drivers and trajectories of land cover change in East Africa: human and environmental interactions from 6000 years ago to present
(Elsevier: Earth-Science Reviews., 2018-03) Marchant, Rob; Richer, Suzi; Boles, Oliver; Capitan, Claudia; Courtney-Mustaphi, Colin J.; Lane, Paul; Prendergast, Mary E.; Stump, Daryl; De Cort, Gijs; Kaplan, Jed O.; Phelps, Leanne; Kay, Andrea; Olago, Dan; Petek, Nik; Platts, Philip J.; Widgren, Mats; Wynne-Jones, Stephanie; Ferro-Vázquez, Cruz; Benard, Jacquiline; Boivin, Nicole; Crowther, Alison; Cuní-Sanchez, Aida; Deere, Nicolas J.; Ekblom, Anneli; Farmer, Jennifer; Finch, Jemma; Fuller, Dorian; Gaillard-Lemdahl, Marie-José; Gillson, Lindsey; Githumbi, Esther; Kabora, Tabitha; Kariuki, Rebecca; Kinyanjui, Rahab; Kyazike, Elizabeth; Lang, Carol; Lejju, Julius; Kathleen, D. Morrison; Muiruri, Veronica; Mumbi, Cassian; Muthoni, Rebecca; Muzuka, Alfred; Ndiema, Emmanuel; Nzabandora, ChantalKabonyi; Onjala, Isaya; PasSchrijver, Annemiek; Rucina, Stephen; Shoemaker, Anna; Thornton-Barnett, Senna; Plas, Geertvan der; Watson, Elizabeth E.; Williamson, David; Wright, David
East African landscapes today are the result of the cumulative effects of climate and land-use change over millennial timescales. In this review, we compile archaeological and palaeoenvironmental data from East Africa to document land-cover change, and environmental, subsistence and land-use transitions, over the past 6000 years. Throughout East Africa there have been a series of relatively rapid and high-magnitude environmental shifts characterised by changing hydrological budgets during the mid- to late Holocene. For example, pronounced environmental shifts that manifested as a marked change in the rainfall amount or seasonality and subsequent hydrological budget throughout East Africa occurred around 4000, 800 and 300 radiocarbon years before present (yr BP). The past 6000 years have also seen numerous shifts in human interactions with East African ecologies. From the mid-Holocene, land use has both diversified and increased exponentially, this has been associated with the arrival of new subsistence systems, crops, migrants and technologies, all giving rise to a sequence of significant phases of land-cover change. The first large-scale human influences began to occur around 4000 yr BP, associated with the introduction of domesticated livestock and the expansion of pastoral communities. The first widespread and intensive forest clearances were associated with the arrival of iron-using early farming communities around 2500 yr BP, particularly in productive and easily-cleared mid-altitudinal areas. Extensive and pervasive land-cover change has been associated with population growth, immigration and movement of people. The expansion of trading routes between the interior and the coast, starting around 1300 years ago and intensifying in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries CE, was one such process. These caravan routes possibly acted as conduits for spreading New World crops such as maize (Zea mays), tobacco (Nicotiana spp.) and tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum), although the processes and timings of their introductions remains poorly documented. The introduction of southeast Asian domesticates, especially banana (Musa spp.), rice (Oryza spp.), taro (Colocasia esculenta), and chicken (Gallus gallus), via transoceanic biological transfers around and across the Indian Ocean, from at least around 1300 yr BP, and potentially significantly earlier, also had profound social and ecological consequences across parts of the region. Through an interdisciplinary synthesis of information and metadatasets, we explore the different drivers and directions of changes in land-cover, and the associated environmental histories and interactions with various cultures, technologies, and subsistence strategies through time and across space in East Africa. This review suggests topics for targeted future research that focus on areas and/or time periods where our understanding of the interactions between people, the environment and land-cover change are most contentious and/or poorly resolved. The review also offers a perspective on how knowledge of regional land-use change can be used to inform and provide perspectives on contemporary issues such as climate and ecosystem change models, conservation strategies, and the achievement of nature-based solutions for development purposes.

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