School-wide publications
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://dspace.njala.edu.sl/handle/20.500.144402/177
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Item Sierra Leone: A Political History by David Harris London: Hurst, 2013. Pp. 232. £19·99 (pbk)(Cambridge University Press, 2014-04-30) Richards, Paul M.Item How villagers in central Sierra Leone understand infection risks under threat of Covid-19(Public Library of Science, 2020-06-24) Kamara, Foday MamoudBACKGROUND: Concern has been expressed over how well Africa is prepared to cope with the pandemic of Covid-19. Will rural populations with low levels of education know how to apply community-based infection control? We undertook fieldwork in two villages in central Sierra Leone to gain insight into how rural people faced with Covid-19 assess epidemic infection risks. METHODS: Two communities were selected based on prior contrasted exposure to Ebola Virus Disease-one with substantial number of cases and the other having resisted infection through strong community sequestration measures. We assessed understanding of infection risks via an experimental game. This asked players to express a preference for one of two diseases, one resembling Ebola with lower risk of infection and the other resembling Covid-19 with lower risk of death. Players were not told the identity of the diseases. RESULTS: In total 107 adult villagers played the game (58% women). Half (52%) preferred the disease model with lower risk of infection, 29% preferred the model with lower risk of death, while 21% saw the combined risk of infection and death as being equivalent. Differences in reactions between the two locations were small despite different experiences of Ebola. Asked to explain their choices 48% of players cited information on infection risks modelled by the game and 31% stated that their choices reflected awareness of the need for personal action and respect for local regulations. We concluded that villagers thoughtfully assess disease risks and that some are good intuitive statisticians. CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest rural people in Sierra Leone retain the lessons of experience from the Ebola outbreak of 2014-15 and will be able to apply these lessons to a new infectious disease for which have no prior practical experience. Our expectation is that rural populations will understand Covid-19 control measures, thus reducing need for draconian enforcement.Item Health and demographic surveillance systems in low- and middle-income countries: history, state of the art and future prospects(Taylor & Francis, 2021-10-26) Herbst, KobusHealth and Demographic Surveillance Systems (HDSS) have been developed in several low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) in Africa and Asia. This paper reviews their history, state of the art and future potential and highlights substantial areas of contribution by the late Professor Peter Byass.Historically, HDSS appeared in the second half of the twentieth century, responding to a dearth of accurate population data in poorly resourced settings to contextualise the study of interventions to improve health and well-being. The progress of the development of this network is described starting with Pholela, and progressing through Gwembe, Balabgarh, Niakhar, Matlab, Navrongo, Agincourt, Farafenni, and Butajira, and the emergence of the INDEPTH Network in the early 1990'sThe paper describes the HDSS methodology, data, strengths, and limitations. The strengths are particularly their temporal coverage, detail, dense linkage, and the fact that they exist in chronically under-documented populations in LMICs where HDSS sites operate. The main limitations are generalisability to a national population and a potential Hawthorne effect, whereby the project itself may have changed characteristics of the population.The future will include advances in HDSS data harmonisation, accessibility, and protection. Key applications of the data are to validate and assess bias in other datasets. A strong collaboration between a national HDSS network and the national statistics office is modelled in South Africa and Sierra Leone, and it is possible that other low- to middle-income countries will see the benefit and take this approach.Item Corruption Trends and Graft Control Progress in Sierra Leone: Study of Causes and Remedies(International Foundation for Research and Development, 2022-05-24) Fayiah, MosesCorruption continues to affect the vast majority of Sierra Leoneans and is regarded as the greatest culprit of poverty, inequality and social cohesion. This publication shed light on corruption trends, control measures, causes, development implications and remedies for combating corruption in Sierra Leone. The data for this article was sourced from secondary/desk review. The secondary data sources were mainly from published articles, government reports, Acts, policies, workshops and conference proceedings, newspaper commentary, Transparency International Annual Reports, Truth and Reconciliation Commission Reports, and NGOs among others. Key words like corruption in Sierra Leone, causes of corruption, negative effects of corruption and bribery, and control measures of corruption were used to search for relevant information. Specifically, the study revealed that corruption was more prevalent from 2003 to 2018 but declined from 2018 to 2021. Most corruption cases in Sierra Leone arise from the abuse of public offices for private gains. Furthermore, systemic analysis of literature showed that corruption arises as a result of low salary wages, political ambition and other sociological factors. From 2019 to 2021, Sierra Leone has made remarkable progress and is been rated below Africa’s corruption average. This might be attributed to the various reforms and the pre-conviction corrupt asset recovery strategy adopted and the massive public outreach and awareness-raising drive adopted by the commission. It is recommended that the Anti-Corruption Commission of Sierra Leone be adequately empowered to go after any individual engaged in corrupt practices regardless of social status, ethnicity, political connection and wealth. It further recommended that the Anti-Corruption Commissioner appointment should not be political but by integrity and sound track record of citizens.Item Health-care availability, preference, and distance for women in urban Bo, Sierra Leone(Springer Science+Business Media, 2016-03-30) Fleming, Lila CObjectives To examine the diversity of the health-care providers in urban Bo, Sierra Leone, identify the types of health-care facilities preferred by women for fevers, and analyze the road network distances from homes to preferred health-care providers. Methods A population-based random sampling method was used to recruit 2419 women from Bo. A geographic information system was used to measure the road distance from each woman's home to her preferred provider. Results Preferred health-care providers for acute febrile illnesses (commonly referred to as "malaria" in the study communities) were hospitals (62.3 %), clinics (12.6 %), and pharmacies (12.4 %). Participants lived a median distance of 0.6 km from the nearest provider, but on average each woman lived 2.2 km one-way from her preferred provider. Women living farther from the city center had preferred providers significantly farther from home than women living downtown. Conclusions The diverse health-care marketplace in Bo allows women to select clinical facilities from across the city. Most women prefer a malaria care provider farther from home than they could comfortably walk when ill.Item Partial Least Square Analysis for University Student Satisfaction(Al-Jamiah Research Centre, 2020-04-30) Pangastuti, Sinta SeptiA university needs to identify and analyse their students’ satisfaction to be able to compete with others. There are five dimensions to identify students’ satisfaction, such as reliability, assurance, empathy, responsiveness, and tangibles. Related to randomness of the data, primary data collected from stratified sampling tend to violate multivariate normality test. Therefore, partial least square (PLS) might be one alternative solution since it ignores multivariate normal and multicollinearity assumptions. As a result, tangible, assurance and empathy affect student satisfaction and student satisfaction significantly affect student achievement. Therefore, we recommend to university to improve service quality especially on tangible, assurance and empathy aspect to improve student satisfaction and student achievement.Item Rural–urban connectivity strengthens agrarian peace: Evidence from a study of gender and motorcycle taxis in Sierra Leone(Wiley, 2021-05-06) Jenkins, JackRural‐based insurgencies disrupted the forest margins of Upper West Africa in the 1990s. A subsequent return to peace was accompanied by strong growth in small‐scale trade in foodstuffs and other agrarian produce in high demand in towns. Motor cycle taxis are a feature of this increased rural–urban market integration. It was a mode of transport pioneered by ex‐combatants. Where rural women were once attacked by rural young men without job prospects press ganged into fighting for the rebels, bike taxi riders now carry them to rural periodic markets, many of which are new since the end of conflict. The study provides an analytical account of these developments, drawing on discussions with villagers in three heavily war‐affected localities of Sierra Leone. The evidence indicates that communities divided by conflict have quietly built new cooperative links conducive to peace based on local agricultural production and petty trade.Item The empirical evidence of corporate tax impact on private investment of developing countries using Ghana as a case study(RELX Group (Netherlands), 2019-02-22) Senzu, Emmanuel TweneboahUnderstanding and appreciating the crucial role privates’ investment plays in developing economies towards it sustainable growth, it became an imperative assignment to investigate the effect of corporate taxes and it impacts on privates’ Investment in developing countries, but focused the study on Ghana for the hypothetical test. For this very reason, the study sort to derive a cogent argument between corporate tax and it impacts on private investment including controllable variables like real GDP, Inflation estimated under consumer price index, exchange rate measured nominally, government expenditure and finally domestic credits as a vector indicators using Johansen approach to co-integration.Item THE COMPLEMENTARY ROLE OF NON-BANK FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS (NBFIS) IN SIERRA LEONE FINANCIAL INTERMEDIATION SPACE: A CASE STUDY OF NATIONAL CORPORATIVE DEVELOPMENT BANK, SIERRA LEONE(RELX Group (Netherlands), 2015-04-04) Kabia, Allieu BadaraIn the past, little or no attention was directed to the informal sector in the development agenda in Sierra Leone. The inability of the formal sector to absorb all the available resources in the country has led to the rapid growth of the neglected informal sector. The aim of this research is to assess and evaluate the role played by the National Cooperative Development Bank as a Non-Bank Financial Microfinance Institution in providing financial services to class of economically poor people in the Western Area whom hitherto were been neglected by the formal sector. A sample of 30 “Barrays” with each constituting 5 members totaling to 150 respondents were thoroughly investigated 2001 to 2005. The OLS econometrics estimation technique was used to analyse the data employing a Probit Regression model. The result reveals that the probability of access to credit is increased if the individual is a; trader, self employed, widow and with increases in the initial amount deposited which was used as a proxyItem Uncovering Maqoshid Sharia: Safeguarding Ethics in Islamic Economics(Inovasi Analisis Data, 2024-06-02) Kaira, LaminThis study investigates the relationship between maqoshid sharia and economic practices in Indonesia, aiming to provide insights into how Islamic principles can contribute to sustainable and inclusive economic development. Utilizing a qualitative research methodology grounded in post-positivism, the study examines 89 publications from 2019 to 2023, employing descriptive statistics and an inductive approach to ensure nuanced interpretations. The research highlights the role of maqoshid sharia in adapting Islamic law to contemporary social dynamics, promoting human welfare, and guiding sharia application in economic practices. It categorizes maqoshid sharia into Dharuriyat (necessities), Hajiyat (needs), and Tahsiniyat (enhancements), emphasizing their importance in achieving socio-economic justice. Key contributions in the field include studies on corporate social responsibility, Islamic banking performance, and the foundations of Islamic finance. A bibliometric analysis with VOSViewer maps the development of maqoshid sharia research, identifying major clusters and collaboration patterns among authors. Overall, this study underscores the critical role of maqoshid sharia in shaping ethical economic practices in Indonesia, offering a comprehensive understanding of the interplay between religion, ethics, and economics in a multicultural context, with significant implications for public policy and economic strategies.