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Ubuntu: Journal of Conflict and Social Transformation Volume 3, Numbers 1 & 2, 2014

About This Edition

ISSN : 2078-760X (print), 2050-4950 (online)

Table of Contents :

Alison Jones7

How are African landscapes emptied and reconfigured to enable the construction of white settler identity as an exclusive racial group, self-endowed both with power and a sense of ‘belonging’ in Africa? How, in a post-colonial/post-apartheid era, can Africans reclaim their power, and re-people their landscapes without replicating colonial/apartheid methods of racial conquest and forceful exclusion? The paper attempts to unpack and address these questions with close reference to the ubuntu ethic which informed South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Combating or Condoning Corruption? The two faces of Anti-Corruption Agencies
Adeoye O. Akinola & Ufo Okeke Uzodike 35

Clearly, corruption has impacted negatively on national development in the many countries of the developing world. Despite growing efforts toward reducing instances of public sector corruption in the late 1990s, “corruption eruption” has continued to remain an endemic feature of many political economies in Africa and beyond. This paper appreciates the necessity and effectiveness of Anti-Corruption Agencies (ACA) and also critically examines allegations of complicity and instrumental use of their strategic positions to pursue political (and other) objectives or to frustrate the eradication of corruption. This study reviews the roles of ACA in combating corruption, assesses the impact of rogue anti-corruption agencies on national anti-corruption projects. The study recognizes the difficulty to subdue motivations for corruption and also notes the high vulnerability of the anti-graft agencies to the overtures of political elites. This is attributable to the patrimonial nature of most political structures in developing countries. However, the paper contends with any attempts to exploit their strategic position and status for personal aggrandizement, which is adjudged more rampant in developing societies. Even in advanced democracies, incidences persist of the agencies acting as cover-ups and conspirators.

Single Party Dominance and Democracy in Nigeria: The Peoples Democratic Party
Antonia T. Simbine 63

This contribution seeks to examine the development, causes and effects of single party dominance as exemplified in Nigeria’s ruling party, the Peoples Democratic Party, on Nigeria’s democracy. It traces its development, activities and performance over the years since the return to democratic rule and concludes that it has failed in its democratic responsibilities of aggregating social interests, representing specific constituencies, and serving as intermediaries between state and society. As it is only a viable party system that can be a strong basis for democracy, the party, along with others in opposition, which have continued to exhibit anti-democratic tendencies have continued to undermine the development of the party system, the state and democracy in general. In this kind of environment where unchecked political power leads to a culture of impunity, leadership gloats and pretends that all is well and (political) corruption flourishes unhindered; there is need for change in order to avoid the recent experiences of countries of the Maghreb and Arabian Peninsula.

Land Policy and Human Security Concerns in Southern Africa: A Case Study of South Africa and Zimbabwe
Melody Mbwadzwo-Siangombe and Ufo Okeke Uzodike89

Food insecurity, poverty and deepening inequality are distinctive features of the global social landscape, especially in the poorer regions. Land is a key asset in sustaining livelihoods in Southern Africa and accounts for a major share of Gross Domestic Product as well as employment. Ironically, the majority of the people in Southern Africa region are landless. Colonial land policies institutionalised racial inequality in access to land in Southern Africa. Recent attempts to confront the consequences of historical land expropriation and redress contemporary inequities and discriminatory legislation and institutions have generated renewed racial conflict in the region and exacerbated insecurity. The objective of human security is protection against chronic threats such as hunger and disease as well as sudden and harmful disruptions in the patterns of daily lives. Land policies are of paramount importance in pursuit of human security. Access to land literally determines who lives or dies. Using South Africa and Zimbabwe as case studies, this article explores post-independence and post-apartheid land policies in Southern Africa. It interrogates the linkage between land policy and human security in order to determine how land policies affect human security. Recent events in both countries - land invasions and economic collapse in Zimbabwe and high rates of unemployment, inequality and poverty in South Africa - attest to the importance of the land issue and clearly spell out the need for land reform. The article demonstrates that Africa’s disadvantaged position (in terms of both power and wealth) in the international system has made it difficult for African states to address local or national priorities in terms of access to land.

Book Reviews: The Fragmented Politics of Urban Preservation: Beijing, Chicago, and Paris. 2013.
Isabel L.S. Ramaisa107

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