• 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • SeedTime: Selected Poems I

    In memory of all the Ancestral Voices who prepared the field for our SeedTime…

    SeedTime I brings together Selected Poems from Kofi Anyidoho’s first five collections, beginning in reverse order with poems from AncestralLogic & CaribbeanBlues (1993), A Harvest of Our Dreams (1984), EarthChild (1985), Elegy for the Revolution (1978), and BrainSurgery (1985). BrainSurgery, the earliest of these collections, was never published as a collection until it came out together with EarthChild (Woeli Publishing Services, 1985), even though several of the poems had appeared in various journals, magazines and anthologies.

    SeedTime: Selected Poems I is a backward glance to those magical years of birth waters flowing across a landscape filled at once with danger and hope, with dying and rebirth in the mystery and miracle of new beginnings so soon after countless brushfires. But the doubt returns again so close behind the hope as we offer trembling prayers in new poems from an old loom: See What They’ve Done To Our SunRise. Yet, somehow, we must open our minds and souls to the Forever Promise of New SeedTimes. This world cannot, must not crumble under our watch.

    “Quintessential Anyidoho…a harvest of the master craftman’s gems across time and space. SeedTime brings a refreshing newness to old songs, and, for new ones, a touch of creative genius we have come to associate with the poet’s pedigree; a timeless legacy of a poet-laureate, whose voice waxes even stronger in his twilight years.” − Mawuli Adjei, author, poet and literary scholar

    “A collection of haunting poems in which we SEE the turbulent variety of our history, and HEAR the English language teased to express the many rhythms of the African’s eternal homesickness.” − Prof. A. N. Mensah, Department of English, University of Ghana

  • The Scholar’s Journey: A Practical Guide to Entering Graduate School and Securing Master’s and PhD Funding

    Graduate school and higher education will continue to be with us till the end of time! Getting into it needs preparation, and getting funding for a PhD is a skill one must muster! One will have to provide motivation, a statement of purpose, craft a CV, write proposals, prepare a work plan and schedule, and write an email to a prospective supervisor, among others. In the end, PhDs whose projects receive funding might be required to submit conference abstracts and progress reports to funders. Each of these criteria is met by this book. It might be challenging to find all of these in one location, as Dr. Theo Acheampong argued in the book’s foreword. For the following reasons, this book stands out and fills a need:

    1. It is written in simple terms for easy understanding.
    2. It is made by a skilled individual who has gone through all of these stages.
    3. It compiles all the paperwork required for graduate school, as well as for obtaining grants and funding, in one place.
    4. The book is lighter and easier to carry when traveling.
    5. It includes useful examples that the author has prepared based on his experience.
    6. The examples provided in this book can be used by the reader to create his own narrative.

    7. The book serves as a helpful resource for prospective Master’s and PhD Students

  • Bookset: Let’s Speak Gonja Pack (4 books)

    The Gonja language which is spoken by the Gonjas is quite distinct from all the languages in the Northern and Upper Regions. It is rather akin to some languages in the South, particularly, the Guang languages.

    Gonja-speaking area covers more than one third of the Northern Region. It shares boundaries with the Brong-Ahafo and Volta Region in the South, and the Dagombas, the Mamprussis and the Walas in the North.

    Gonja is a tonal language and changes in meaning are brought about by tonal differences. It is to be noted that most questions end on a falling tone.

    All persons learning Gonja will find that the Gonjas have the tendency to elide vowels and slur consonants. Final vowels are always elided before other vowels, and often before words beginning with consonants.

  • Politics in Ghana: From the Earliest Times to the Eve of the Fourth Republic

    Politics in Ghana: From the Earliest Times to the Eve of the Fourth Republic has been introduced to equip political science students and avid readers interested in the subject as well as both budding and seasoned politicians with effective tools that give them a firm understanding of Ghana’s political development.

    The book provides a bird’s eyes view and a penetrating insight into controversial issues that shaped events and developments of the country from the pre-colonial times through the struggle for independence to the post-independence era.

    In an accessible and engaging writing style, the book effectively analyses the nexus between the geographical features of the country, particularly the ethnic and regional distributions of the people and how they impacted on the political development during the period under review. It also traverses the constitutional development and other factors that triggered political action from the late 1800s to the eve of the Fourth Republic. Ghana witnessed three republics each of which was truncated by military juntas that provided interim administration to fill the hiatuses before the eventual transition to democratic rule for the fourth time. Factors that occasioned the interruptions and the subsequent return to constitutional rule together with the performances of the various regimes and their ramifications are incisively analysed.

    Politics in Ghana: From the Earliest Times to the Eve of the Fourth Republic is an authentic reference document for any person who is thirsty for a better understanding of political events that preceded the final return to constitutional rule in 1993.

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