Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

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Browsing Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences by Subject "Africa"

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    Linearity and cyclic conception of time in Ngugi Wa Thiong’o’s petals of Blood and wizard of the crow
    (International Journal of ELT, Linguistics and Comparative Literature, 2017) Onkoba, Stephen Okari; Muriungi, Colomba Kaburi; Waita, Zachary Njogu
    Any attempt to discuss the African conception of time from a Western perspective is likely to obscure unique African realities since time is conceptualized cyclically by most ethnic groups in Africa. This paper examines how Ngugi wa Thiong’o addresses the concept of time with regard to reconstruction of a people’s history. We argue that Ngugi, in Petals of Blood and Wizard of the Crow, draws heavily from a cyclic conceptualization of time to reimagine and recreate new possibilities for a continent that has to some extent stagnated due to official histories that are entrapped in linearity. The study’s discussion of Ngugi’s deconstruction of time in the rewriting of history is anchored in the Heideggerian concepts of temporality and historicity. The conclusion of the study is that literary works by critiquing officialdom of histories, through reinterpretation of the place of time in the reimagining of new realities for the Africans, provide a platform for people to redefine themselves.
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    Responsible leadership for sustainable development in the post-independent Africa: A Kenyan experience
    (International Journal of Development and Sustainability, 2017) Kagema, Dickson Nkonge
    The political independence in Africa was welcomed with joy and a heap of expectations, as Africans believed that the new African governments would bring sustainable development after years of subjugation, exploitation and oppression. Unfortunately, this has not been the case. Today, many years after the attainment of the political independence, many African nations largely remain underdeveloped with poverty, diseases, poor communication networks, illiteracy, tribal animosity, economic challenges, injustices, etc affecting every aspect of the African life. This study employed the descriptive survey design and involved a sample of 384 respondents randomly drawn from 8 of the 47 counties in Kenya purposely selected to cover all the 8 regions in Kenya. The study aimed at investigating why Kenya and African nations in general continue to lag behind in development as well experience other perennial problems many years after the attainment of political independence. The study found that although Kenya is endowed with numerous resources, it suffers from the lack of responsible leaders, particularly political leaders. Leaders in Kenya and Africa as a whole are available in abundance but very few are concerned with the welfare of the people they lead. The majority of the leaders are keen to retain power and acquire wealth at the expense of the suffering Africans. This has created a very horrendous situation in Africa as people struggle for the poorly managed resources. No sustainable development can be attained in a situation where leaders are not responsible. To attain sustainable development in Kenya and Africa as a whole we must start to think about our leadership. African leaders must realize that they are stewards who will one day be accountable for what they have done. Responsible leadership and sustainable development are closely interwoven. Recommendations are made on the need to develop our leaders for responsible leadership if at all any meaningful development will be attained in Africa.