Suchergebnisse

Purpose
Leadership and governance are all about "people" and the "common welfare". Africans have an Ubuntu philosophy which culturally calls on individuals to promote the welfare of collective society. It is therefore paradoxical to note how African leaders and governance regimes perform poorly when it comes to the usage of public resources to create conditions for collective human welfare. Why do leaders instead of championing societal advancement rather advance their selfish, egoistic and sectional interests? This study aims to unpack a prevalent paradox and discuss a new approach of linking the rich Ubuntu philosophy to Africa's governance and leadership discourse.


Design/methodology/approach
This study discusses from secondary sources of data, mainly drawn from journal articles, internet sources and scholarly books relevant to leadership and public administration in developing African countries and how Ubuntu African philosophy can be deployed to ensure leadership ethos. In attempt to obtain a more comprehensive and systematic literature review, the search covered all terms and terminologies relevant to the objective of the study. The search process mainly comprised four categories of keywords. The first category involved the concept as approximately related to leadership: "leadership and civic culture", "Ubuntu culture" and "African collectivist culture". For the final category, words such as "crisis", "failure" and "experiences" were used.


Findings
This study contends that the preponderance of corruption and poor leadership in Africa is anti-cultural, anti-human, anti-ethical and anti-African; hence, those individuals who indulge or encourage leadership paralysis are not "true Africans" by deeds but merely profess to be. Linking the African Ubuntu philosophy to public leadership, the study maintains that the hallmark of public leadership and governance is to develop the skills of all and caring for the society.


Practical implications
This study draws attention to the need for leaders to espouse virtues so that leadership becomes a tool to promote societal welfare. The hallmark of public leadership and governance is to develop the skills of all and caring for the society. It involves weighing and balancing professional and legal imperatives within a democratic and ethical context with an ultimate responsibility to the people and public interest. It is not a responsibility to a particular set of citizens, but a commitment to be just and equitable to all. The preponderance of corruption and bad leadership is anti-cultural, anti-human, anti-ethical and anti-African; hence, individuals who indulge or encourage leadership paralysis are not true Africans by deeds but merely profess to be.


Originality/value
This study draws a clear link between indigenous African cultural value system and ethical public leadership. It draws congruence between Africa's Ubuntu philosophy of civic virtue and Africa's leadership/governance. This will bring about a renewal of thoughts and practice of public leadership on the continent, as it has been demonstrated that a true African seeks collective social welfare and not selfish interest.

Without the right political will to battle corruption, systems and institutions are put in place and tend to be façade and window dressing. Ghana, especially, in the new millennium has seen the proliferation of various institutions ostensibly to curb the phenomenon of corruption, yet its impact has only been marginal. This study adopts two models of corruption to critically assess the institutional development of Ghana since the Fourth Republican Dispensation and how these institutions have impacted the fight against corruption. The study adopts mainly secondary data and resources from the 1992 Republican Constitution, Acts of Parliaments and Legislative Instruments relevant corruption combat. An analysis of the corruption perception index of Ghana from 2000 to 2014 and other data portrays poor performance. What accounts for this phenomenon? Are there really demons who obstruct the spirit and letter of the institutions? Are the systems weak or the human elements (demons) rather stronger in adapting and outsmarting the institutions? Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The 21st century public organization is faced with complex problems, informed stakeholders, and information flows, which necessitate a corresponding open system view of leadership. The traditional notions of public administration and new public management had been structured by strict bureaucratic rules and managerial flexibility, respectively. This paper begins by theorizing two hypothetical constructs (helicopter and deadbeat leadership), which engage in extreme micromanagement/surveillance and negligence/indifference, respectively. Those form basis for designing an optimal (transdisciplinary) leadership, which forges synergistic link between leaders, subordinates, and external actors in codesigning objectives and strategies to address societal problems. Strategies to promote transdisciplinary leadership are discussed.

Decentralisation and local governance aim at local economic development, but collaboration among key actors at the local level is essential in realising this objective. However, at district assembly level Ghana exhibits problematic conflicts between district chief executives (DCEs), who head the executive committee, and presiding members (PMs) who convene and preside over assembly deliberations, acting as speaker. This study aims to unpack the main causes of such unsavoury conflicts by using 13 case studies from the Ashanti Region. Both primary and secondary data were collected for the study. Primary data was gathered from a selection of 40 key informants drawn from three main groups including DCEs, PMs, and other stakeholders such as regional coordinating council members, assembly members and chiefs. The main research instrument was one-on-one in-depth interviews with participants. The study found deep-seated conflicts between DCEs and PMs, in some cases even transcending these two actors to involve a greater section of actors within the local government administration. The study noted that professional bureaucrats within the local government service are affected when allegations of affiliation are levelled against them. The study also found that the legal status of DCEs and PMs appears to be the main driver of potential conflict, although other context-specific issues were also prevalent.

Decentralisation and local governance aim at local economic development, but collaboration among key actors at the local level is essential in realising this objective. However, at district assembly level Ghana exhibits problematic conflicts between district chief executives (DCEs), who head the executive committee, and presiding members (PMs) who convene and preside over assembly deliberations, acting as speaker. This study aims to unpack the main causes of such unsavoury conflicts by using 13 case studies from the Ashanti Region. Both primary and secondary data were collected for the study. Primary data was gathered from a selection of 40 key informants drawn from three main groups including DCEs, PMs, and other stakeholders such as regional coordinating council members, assembly members and chiefs. The main research instrument was one-on-one in-depth interviews with participants. The study found deep-seated conflicts between DCEs and PMs, in some cases even transcending these two actors to involve a greater section of actors within the local government administration. The study noted that professional bureaucrats within the local government service are affected when allegations of affiliation are levelled against them. The study also found that the legal status of DCEs and PMs appears to be the main driver of potential conflict, although other context-specific issues were also prevalent.

Corruption exists in all political jurisdictions globally, but it is believed to be more pronounced in transitional democracies especially African countries. Due to the extent of corruption in African countries, scholars and practitioners in the fields of public policy and development studies suggest that corruption has significantly undermined, and continues to undermine development on the continent. Using Africa as a case study and selected theoretical models, this paper views corruption as a transaction process and provides a model to explain how the transaction occurs between the actors involved. It also explores how corruption diminishes efforts towards the development of Africa, and proposes a comprehensive framework that can be adopted to curb the canker of corruption in Africa. The study adopted the content analysis technique within qualitative study. It thus, draws extensively on existing literature available in peer reviewed articles, conference and government reports, books and magazines. Among the key findings of the study are that; corruption is a two-way affair, which manifests in some sort of demand and supply. It was also found out that the prevalence of weak bureaucratic institutions and systems (context) and the manner of how transactions are conducted (process) all contribute to promotion of corruption in developing African countries. In order to address the problem of corruption, the study recommends the adoption of a holistic approach, which involves a strong political will to enforce law and order, strengthening state institutions to detect, expose and prosecute culprits irrespective of their status and political affiliation. The paper also suggests that bureaucratic and political elites should take the lead in fighting corruption by conducting themselves in a manner that will inspire trust and confidence in the entire political system.

In recent times, there have been calls on public sector workers to increase productivity in the public sector of Ghana. This comes against the backdrop that productivity in Ghana's public sector appears to be consistently declining. While this seems to be the situation, it appears there is paucity of literature on the actual causes of productivity and how it can be improved in Ghana. Using secondary data and content analysis, this paper examines the phenomenon of low productivity in the public sector and recommends measures for improvement. Findings of the study revealed that poor remuneration systems in the public sector, political interference, and bureaucratic inertia are among the causes of low productivity in the public sector. The study recommended that public sector productivity could be enhanced through the establishment of a flexible bureaucracy, improvement in remuneration, regular monitoring and evaluation of the performance of the public sector and appointment of personnel based on merit. Political will as effective leadership are considered useful instruments to propel productivity in the public sector.

The quest to bridge the gender disparity in the politics of Ghana has seen little progress owing to the challenges associated with the passage of the Affirmative Action bill by the actors involved. However, the recent emergence and unconventional adoption of 'widow succession' politics in Ghana have sparked some public debates into the viability of the practice in the promotion of women in politics. This paper examined all five identified cases of widow politics in Ghana between 2000 and 2020 (Asutifi South, Shai Osudoku, Ayawaso West Wuogon, Mfantseman and Tempane constituencies) and draws on the widow effect and affirmative action concepts to propose lessons and the possible implication of the practice in Ghana.

The quest to bridge the gender disparity in the politics of Ghana has seen little progress owing to the challenges associated with the passage of the Affirmative Action bill by the actors involved. However, the recent emergence and unconventional adoption of 'widow succession' politics in Ghana have sparked some public debates into the viability of the practice in the promotion of women in politics. This paper examined all five identified cases of widow politics in Ghana between 2000 and 2020 (Asutifi South, Shai Osudoku, Ayawaso West Wuogon, Mfantseman and Tempane constituencies) and draws on the widow effect and affirmative action concepts to propose lessons and the possible implication of the practice in Ghana.