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PurposeThe purpose of this article is to underscore postcolonial approaches that undercut racial inequities as they foster racial equality and inclusivity at higher institutions of learning, especially in racialised spaces in South Africa.Design/methodology/approachThis article dwells on whistleblowing as a channel of demythologising Whiteness in South African universities. While the #RhodesMustFall movement at University of Cape Town enjoyed much critical attention, concurrent movements in other universities such as Open Stellenbosch movement did not. This could be attributable to the methods used, especially whistleblowing, an unorthodox method employed to radically question university symbols, to disrupt racial superiority. In revisiting the movement's campaigns, the article specifically highlights Kylie Thomas' whistleblowing to underscore the role of humanities in fostering social transformation beginning with spaces of knowledge production such as universities.FindingsThe research found that challenging apartheid murals and monuments on South African institutions of higher learning required aggressive but creative approaches. This called for unmasking foundations of White supremacism. Whistle blowing and activism against White supremacism boldly confronted apartheid legacies that appear to be well preserved.Research limitations/implicationsThe research is limited to the 2015 South African student movements. The emphasis is on Open Stellenbosch movement which has received lesser critical attention compared to #RhodesMustFall. It envisions equality, diversity and inclusion in learning institutions which is achievable only through robust activist approaches to institutional/systemic racism in the institutions, rather than armchair theorising.Originality/valueThis article examines ways in which unorthodox methods such as whistlelowing and activism work to disrupt regimented White supremacism in an institution of higher learning founded on racist ethos.

Considering an expanding research and development pipeline of and growing practical experiences with genetically modified (GM) crops, governments in Sub-Sahara Africa have in recent years authorized various GM crop events for general, unconfined environmental release, and in a few cases, subsequent commercial variety registration and cultivation. These decisions are consistent with more business-oriented agricultural development policies aimed at turning agriculture into a leading driver of economic growth and wealth creation. Such policy reforms are also motivated by continent-wide initiatives described in this review paper, which emphasize seed sector reform, agricultural productivity growth, intra-regional trade, and agri-business development. While such policy developments spur a more proactive approach to introducing agricultural biotechnology, it becomes apparent that authorizing GM crops for general environmental release and commercial seed registration requires the harmonization of government policies in various sectors relevant to seed systems, most notably those affecting plant breeding research, testing, and variety release. Critical areas for such policy reforms and harmonization were analyzed in this paper, with associated recommendations.

The objectives of the study were to identify the challenges facing public VTCs in Bumula sub County and to establish possible solutions to the challenges facing public VTCs in Bumula Sub County. Therefore, the descriptive survey research design was adopted and it was guided by the theory of cost benefit analysis. To arrive at an appropriate sample sizes, the table of the research advisors (2006) was used basing on a confidence level of 95% and a margin error of 5.0%. Whereby, 16 VTCs out of 16, 260 VTC trainees out of 790 and 4 VTC managers and 24 instructors were selected for inclusion in the study. Data was collected using questionnaires, interview schedules and document analysis guide. Finally, the collected data was coded and entered into the computer for analysis using the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS). This data was then presented in frequency tables, bar graphs and pie charts. The findings of the study was important to the government, the tax payer and for future research in this area of study because it provided feedback about investment in the VTCs and also formed a basis for future research. The conclusions of the study were that some of the challenges facing VTCs which were hindering trainees' empowerment included lack of modern and adequate instruction materials, low academic qualification of the instructors, lack of gender balance, inadequate government support in terms of funding and inadequate instructors.

Abstract Background Women are described as experiencing unmet need for contraception if they are fecund, sexually active and wish to postpone or limit childbearing but fail to use contraception to do so. The consequences of unmet need include unwanted pregnancy, induced abortions, school dropout due to pregnancy and premature maternal deaths. Global efforts aimed at addressing the adverse effects of unmet need abound. In Kenya, one in every four married women in the reproductive age bracket (15–49 years) has unmet need for contraception. Regional differences exist but the reasons behind these differences remain poorly understood. The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which regional differentials in unmet need for contraception exists and to explain the regional differences in unmet need for contraception in Kenya. Methods The paper used the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey (2008/09) data. Unmet need for contraception was measured based on the revised estimates contained in the survey. Summary statistics were used to show the percentage differences in the values of selected covariates across the high and low unmet need zones. The dependent variable had three categories: no unmet need, unmet need for spacing and unmet need for limiting births. The categorical nature of this dependent variable which is not ordered in any way lends itself to the use of multinomial logistic regression. The paper applied the seemingly unrelated estimation (suest) test to ascertain whether the covariate coefficients between the high and low unmet need zones were different. Stata Version 13.0 was used for analysis. Results The percentage values of the selected covariates of unmet need for contraception were much higher in the high unmet need zone as compared to those observed in the low unmet need zones. On the overall, 15.4 % of women in the high unmet need zone had unmet need to space their next birth as compared to 8.6 % of their counterparts. Likewise, the percentage of women who wanted to limit further births stood at 14.1 % among women residing in high unmet need zones while those in low unmet need zones had 10.5 %. Further analysis based on seemingly unrelated estimation found that in general, a comparison of the coefficients been the high and low unmet need regions were significantly different ( p < 0.05). Conclusion Evidence from the nationally representative KDHS 2008/09 shows that regional differentials in the covariates of unmet need for contraception exist. There is need to address religious inhibitions that stymie contraceptive uptake especially in the high unmet need regions. Efforts should promote maternal education and economically empower women in order to reinforce individual and contextual attitudes towards the benefits of contraception. The government .

"This book examines the history of community relations across the Kenya-Uganda border using the case of the Bukusu and the Bagisu. From this microcosmic level, the book explores the social, economic, and political relations that have evolved between the two communities and states over time"--