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Philosophy, Culture and Vision: African Perspectives
Believing that the intellectual enterprise called philosophy is essentially a part of the cultural as well as historical experience of a people, that the concepts and problems that occupy the attention of philosophers placed in different cultural spaces or historical times generally derive directly from those spaces and times, and that philosophy, in turn, has been most relevant to the development of human cultures, the Ghanaian philosopher Kwame Gyekye gives reflective attention in this book to some of the concepts and problems that in his view feature most prominently in the contemporary African cultural, social, political, and moral experience. Such concepts and problems include the following: political legitimacy, development, culture and the pursuit of science and technology, political corruption, democracy, representation and the politics of inclusion, the status of cultural values in national orientation, understanding globalization, and others. It is these topics that are covered in the essays collected in this book.
The unrelenting pursuit of the speculative activity by the philosopher in most cases eventuates in normative proposals; these normative proposals often embody a vision-a vision of an ideal human society in terms of its values, politics, and culture. Vision, understood here, has human-not supernatural or divine-origination and involvement and requires action by human beings in order for it to come into reality. A vision may derive from sustained critical evaluation of a culture or some elements of it. Gyekye attempts an articulation of the visions of the essays contained in the book.
Even though philosophical ideas and concerns are originally inspired by and worked out in a cultural milieu, it does not necessarily follow, Gyekye strongly believes, that the relevance of those ideas and insights is to be tetheed to the cultures that produced them. For, more often than not, the relevance of those ideas, or at least some of them, transcends the confines of their own times and cultures and can be appreciated by other societies, or cultures, or generational epochs. This trans-cultural or trans-epochal or meta-contextual appeal or attraction of philosophical ideas and insights spawned by a particular culture or cluster of cultures or in specific historical times is to be put down to our common human nature-including our basic human desires and aspirations. Thus, most of the essays published here should be of interest to the global community-i.e., to cultures and societies beyond the African.
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Reflections on the Supreme Court of Ghana (Hardcover)
The book is intended to be a contribution to comparative knowledge on what a final and constitutional court’s role and significance are to governance in a developing country.
It provides a recently retired judge’s insights into the substantive work and function of the Supreme Court in Ghanaian society and Ghana’s legal and political system.
The book throws light on the role played by the Supreme Court in the development of Ghanaian law and the laying of the foundation for Ghana’s constitutional democracy. The establishment of a constitutional democracy in Ghana has been an important factor in the nation’s development and the Supreme Court has had an important role to play in this process. It will also be invaluable to both academic and practising lawyers, as well as at non-lawyers interested in the function and operations of the Supreme Court.
The study of the Supreme Courts of emerging democracies should be given some emphasis in comparative law. It is hoped that the material contained in this book will contribute to the facilitation of such emphasis.
₵450.00 -
Selected Papers and Lectures on Ghanaian Law (Hardcover)
This book is a compendium containing chapters based on various papers and lectures on Ghanaian law delivered by the author. Its contents deal with a wide range of topics expected to be of interest, not only to Ghanaian lawyers, but also to lawyers in general and other persons interested in the legal process in developing countries.
The topics include the legal system and legal education in Ghana, the Judiciary, human rights and good governance, and business law.
The variety of topics treated means that the book can be regarded almost as a mini Reader on Ghanaian law.
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Traditional And Religious Plants in West Africa
The book is a comprehensive coverage of the Traditional and Religious Plants of West Africa. Readers will be fascinated by the information captured in this masterpiece, authored by an academic gem who is well-known in the botany field.
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Environmental Management and the Responsibility of the Privileged (The J.B Danquah Memorial Lectures, Series 13; 1980)
This centers on the J.B Danquah Memorial Lectures Thirteenth series, February 1980 in Accra.
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Waning Strength of Government: Essays on Nigerian Governance
In Waning Strength of Government, Obaze draws on twenty-three of his various speeches, policy briefs, lectures and op-eds, to render exploratory essays that dissect some common patterns and trajectories that point anthetically to factors and conducts, which ought to constitute the strength of government, but don’t. In so doing, he unmasks the prevailing weaknesses and waning strength of government – the attendant consequences, and their prevalence and implications for Nigeria.
Such developments, with the attendant reversals, some nondescript and some dramatic, but replete with absence of resilience, leads the author to assert that democracy, “once characterized as probably the greatest expansion of freedom,” has come under assault from within its ranks, as shifts in geopolitics combine with ascendancy of non-state actors to undercut democracy. Cognizant of the suggestion that the democratic system as conceptualized, has not just worked as expected, but is rather dysfunctional, the author asserts that nowhere is this consideration more evident and concrete than in Africa, Nigeria included.
Waning Strength of Government piggybacks on the assertion that Nigeria’s “democracy is in reverse gear” and “the story is that of regrets and missteps.” Obaze employs an inquiry and excursion model using the flipside of McGeorge Bundy’s 1968 seminal book, The Strength of Government, to analyze leadership, political and governance challenges that continue to dog Nigeria’s nascent democracy. The essays in this volume, which are clustered into four groupings; democratic imperatives; domestic development challenges; foreign policy dimensions and leadership and governance, explore some Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT), as well as general challenges and uncertain aspects of Nigeria’s affected democracy.
In this very important work on Nigerian contemporary politics, leadership and dilemmas confronting the nation, the point is made severally, and vehemently too, that the strength of government is not about military capacity or use of force; but about the upholding the rule of law, consolidating democratic institutions and entrenching the social contract between the government and the governed.
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Times, Thoughts and Ideas: Selected papers of Professor Anya O. Anya (Volume 1)
Selected papers of Professor Anya O. Anya.
Compiled and Edited by Ndubuisi Ofondu, Ireke A Kalu Onuma, Ogbonna Oleka.
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Times, Thoughts and Ideas: Selected papers of Professor Anya O. Anya (Volume 2)
Selected papers of Professor Anya O. Anya.
Compiled and Edited by Ndubuisi Ofondu, Ireke A Kalu Onuma, Ogbonna Oleka.
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A Guide to Autopsy Practice in Ghana (Hardcover)
This book is meant to guide the Ghanaian resident doctor, district and regional medical officers, medical students, non-medical personnel such as police detectives and traffic officers and lawyers through the rudiments of autopsy practice. It sheds light on the benefits of the autopsy, autopsy practice and the laws that govern autopsy practice and general academic dissections. It also discusses religion and the autopsy and is thus useful to religious leaders and curious general readers who may not belong to any of the above stated professions.
In addition it discusses the rudiments of death certification with relevant examples and will be useful to nosologists and other health officials responsible for collecting and coding data related to cause of death certificates. It entrenches the role of the clinical pathologists who is a part of the clinical team by introducing the perspectives and relationship of various clinicians to autopsy practice.
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Medical Microbiology Simplified (2nd Edition)
The first edition of this title was published in 2012 with two main sections covering Bacteriology and Mycology. It provided students with a quick, updated, concise and an easy to understand text on medical microbiology. Each chapter discussed a set of closely related pathogens by focusing on their epidemiology, pathogenesis, laboratory diagnosis, treatment, prevention and control. These discussions were made against the backdrop of relevant historical contexts and current trends in molecular biology, bioinformatics and contemporary global health perspectives. The book was well received by both students and faculty and this has largely motivated a second edition.
The current edition is a revision of the first with additional content covering organisms not captured earlier. The present edition now includes sections on Parasitology and Virology to provide the full range of Microbiology disciplines. The sole author of the first edition (Dr. Mrs. Dorcas Obiri-Yeboah) invited other experts to contribute to the second edition. These experts were drawn from the Department of Microbiology and Immunology of the School of Medical Sciences, University of Cape Coast and included Prof. E. E. Brako and Dr. Victor Nuvor who contributed to the virology section; Mr. Daniel Amoako-Sakyi, Mrs. Faustina Pappoe and Mr. Kwabena Dankwa contributed the parasitology section.
This edition still aims to provide a concise, updated and easy to understand text for all range of students of Medical Microbiology. It is unique in its ability to teach complex concepts in an easy to grasp manner. Illustrations are included to aid comprehension of the subject where necessary. The text also takes time to succinctly describe and explain the virulence factors of viral, bacterial and fungal pathogens. It also explains the complex life cycles of parasites and how they have co-evolved to be checked up with their human host.
It is hoped that this second edition help readers to gain understanding of the subject and further develop their love for the great field of Medical Microbiology.
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Knowledge Management and Network for Capacity Development: A Focus on Institute of Directors Ghana (Hardcover)
The book examines how directors in Ghana share tacit knowledge and experiences on the board. The rationale is that there is the tendency for boards In Ghana to lose tacit knowledge, experiences, skills and particularly up to date knowledge required to inform their decision making due to lack of practical knowledge management system for directors’ capacity development. The focus is to examine how the Institute of Directors Ghana (IODG) can manage knowledge with the view to tackling challenges leading to losing tacit knowledge, experiences, and skills of boards in Ghana.
The objective is to influence boards of organizations in Ghana to recognize and initiate knowledge management practices, as well as adopt policies that support the application of practical knowledge management systems and interpersonal networks for directors’ capacity development in Ghana.
The results revealed the existence of records of minutes of meetings indicating a latent existence of knowledge management system within organizations but not formalized as a knowledge management system. Also, significantly missing was technology for knowledge transformation.
The book recommends knowledge management systems backed by technology for acquiring and sharing directors’ knowledge for successful knowledge transformation.
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Decentralisation Reforms in Ghana: The Experiences of the Fifth and Sixth Governments of the Fourth Republic
What were the decentralisation reforms? What did they consist of? What were their origins? Who authorised them? What were their outcomes? What Impact have they had on the local governance and decentralisation landscape In Ghana?
The answer to the first question is that they were new initiatives and innovations designed to accelerate the pace of and improve upon decentralisation implementation in Ghana.
The answer to the second question is that they consisted of a National Decentralisation Policy Framework and a National Decentralisation Action Plan I (2010-2014) and II (2015-2019), an Inter-Ministerial Coordinating Committee on Decentralisation (IMCC), an expansion in the number of districts, a consolidated Local Governance Act, a re-branding of the Office of the Head of Local Government Service, the operationalisation of the Local Government Service and the introduction of a system of Inter-Service/Inter-Sectoral Collaboration and Cooperation. It also covered the enactment of National Development Planning (System) Regulations and a Land Use and Spatial Planning Act, the introduction of a Regional Integrated Budget System (RIBS) and blueprints for an Inter-Governmental Fiscal Framework (IGFF) and an Inter-Governmental Fiscal Transfer (IGFT) system.
The answer to the third question is that the reforms were traceable to the 2008 manifesto of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the party which won the Presidential and Parliamentary elections of 2008 and 2012 and therefore formed the Fifth and Sixth Governments of the Fourth Republic.
The answer to the fourth question is that the reforms were authorised by Presidents John Evans Atta Mills and John Dramani Mahama who successively were Presidents of the Fifth and Sixth Governments of the Fourth Republic.
The answer to the fifth question about outcomes is the new structures, procedures and processes for decentralisation implementation, the improved quality of human resources in the local government sector, and the more efficient systems of checks and balances in the sector.
The answer to the sixth question lies in the District Assemblies (MMDAs), the better service delivery by the Metropolitan, Municipal and of service delivery, the renewed interest in local governance by the citizenry and the claro Si rate reforms such as the elections of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDC Wand making the MMDAs partisan.
These and answers to other questions posed by the reforms are answered in this book by the two people who should know, namely, the authors Professor Kwamena Ahwoi and Dr Callistus Mahama.
Professor Kwamena Ahwoi is the longest-serving Minister of Local Government and Rural Development in Ghana (1988-2000). He was the Chairman of the High Level Strategic Task Force that produced the Decentralisation Policy Frameworks and Action Plans, He chaired the Legislative Review Task Force that resulted in the enactment of the Local Governance Act, 2016, Act 936 and was consultant to both the Ministry of Local Government and the IMCC during the period.
Dr. Callistus Mahama was a member of the High Level Strategic Task Force, a member of the Legislative Review Task Force, the Executive Coordinator of the IMCC and the Head of the Local Government Service during the period.
The two authors therefore write from a position of knowledge and experience and this is reflected in the contents of the book.
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Local Government and Decentralisation in Ghana
Developments since the publication of the First Edition of this book in 2010 have compelled the revision and publication of this Second Edition.
In 2011, the Fifth Government of the Fourth Republic launched a new ‘National Decentralisation Policy Framework’ (NDPF 1) and an accompanying National Decentralisation Action Plan’ (NDAP 1). The Local Government Service was operationalised in the same year, resulting in the migration of over 30,000 civil servants from the Civil Service to the Local Government Service.
Prior to these, the Local Government Departments of District Assemblies) (Commencement) Instrument, 2009, L.1. 1961, had been enacted, allowing for the conversion of the de concentrated Departments at the district level into devolved Departments of the District Assemblies. The Local Government (Urban, Zonal and Town Councils and Unit Committees) (Establishment) Instrument, L.1. 1967, was enacted in 2010. The long-awaited Composite Budget was introduced in 2012.
With the expiry of the NDPF 1/NDAP I in 2014, a new NDPF 11/NDAP 11 was launched in 2015 for the period 2015-2019.
A new Local Government (Sub-Metropolitan District Councils of Metropolitan Assemblies (SMDCs)) (Establishment, Composition and Functions) Instrument, 2015. 11. 2223, was enacted to provide for uniform composition and functions for the SMDCs in all the six Metropolitan Assemblies.
A National Development Planning (System) Regulations, 2016, enacted to support the National Development Planning and Act, 1994, 148. A Land Use and Spatial Planning Act, 2016, Act 925, was passed to establish a Land Use and Spatial Planning Authority and to devolve the Department of Country Planning to the MMDAs.
The disparate laws on local government were consolidated into one Local Governance Act, 2016, Act 936. A new Sports Act 2016, Act 934 and a new decentralised National Youth Authority Act 939 were also enacted.
It is these reforms that the Second Edition of the book has sought to capture, in addition to some elaborations on some of the theoretical underpinnings of local government and decentralisation in Ghana. The sections of Acton Civil Society Organisations and Non-State Actors and Women in Local Governance have been improved. Some aspects of the proposals of the Constitutional Review Commission on local government and decentralisation have been used. Some textual changes have also been made.
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Towards Safe and Effective Treatment of Disease in Ghana: Contributions from Clinical Pharmacology
The WHO technical report series (1970) states that the primary obligation of clinical pharmacology is the promotion of safe and effective use of drugs to improve patient care.
A review of the history and development of clinical pharmacology, with emphasis on factors that influenced the development of the subject as an established medical discipline, and a chronicle of key events that led to the established medical discipline, and a chronicle of key events that led to the establishment of the CTCPT begins this series.₵50.00 -
Agriculture Economics and Contemporary Issues in Ghana
A collection of review and empirical articles on agricultural economics by the Department of Agricultural Economics. It provides a good illustration of the key themes, concepts and methodologies of Agricultural Economics, Agribusiness and Agricultural Administration and demonstrates the basic concerns of the discipline.
₵50.00