scholarly journals African Great Lakes Region: Governance and Politics

2021 ◽  
Vol 50 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Wioleta Gierszewska ◽  
◽  
Benjamin Mudaheranwa ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Great Lakes ◽  
Liberal Democracy ◽  
Great Lakes Region ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
African Great Lakes ◽  
State Management ◽  
Internal Conflicts ◽  
Cultural Conditions ◽  
European Culture

This article aims to indicate the sources of problems in the field of governance and politics in the African Great Lakes Region. The countries of this region play an essential role in the global socio-political and economic system. Their development is hampered by numerous external and internal conflicts resulting from both the historical and contemporary problems of the countries. Colonialism had a major impact on the development of African countries. It manifested itself, among other things, in the spread of political domination. Adopting state management patterns from European culture and attempt to transplant them on African ground without understanding local cultural conditions contributed too much post-colonial fresh and modern conflict. Examples of this are failures to establish liberal democracy and its crises in the African Great Lakes Region.

scholarly journals Collection of Anthropogenic Litter from the Shores of Lake Malawi: Characterization of Plastic Debris and the Implications of Public Involvement in the African Great Lakes

Toxics ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bahati S. Mayoma ◽  
Innocent S. Mjumira ◽  
Aubrery Efudala ◽  
Kristian Syberg ◽  
Farhan R. Khan
Keyword(s):  
Great Lakes ◽  
Citizen Science ◽  
Public Involvement ◽  
Environmental Problem ◽  
Lake Malawi ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Plastic Debris ◽  
African Great Lakes ◽  
Plastic Bags

Anthropogenic debris is an environmental problem that affects beaches and coastlines worldwide. The abundance of beach debris is often documented with the use of public volunteers. To date, such community participations have been largely confined to the marine environment, but the presence and impact of anthropogenic debris on freshwater shorelines has been increasingly recognized. Our study presents the first such information from the African Great Lakes, specifically Lake Malawi. A total of 490,064 items of anthropogenic litter were collected by over 2000 volunteers in a clean-up campaign that took place annually between 2015 and 2018. Approximately 80% of the anthropogenic debris was comprised of plastic litter, with plastic carrier bags being the most common item. The dominance of plastic litter, and in particular the presence of plastic bags, which have subjected to bans in some African countries, is discussed. The broader implications of citizen science in the African Great Lakes area is also discussed.

scholarly journals Genetic and antigenic variation of the bovine tick-borne pathogen Theileria parva in the Great Lakes region of Central Africa

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gaston S. Amzati ◽  
Appolinaire Djikeng ◽  
David O. Odongo ◽  
Herman Nimpaye ◽  
Kgomotso P. Sibeko ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Great Lakes ◽  
Evolutionary Dynamics ◽  
Sequence Diversity ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Tick Population ◽  
Great Lakes Region ◽  
Theileria Parva ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Ecological Zones ◽  
Biogeographical Distribution

Abstract Background Theileria parva causes East Coast fever (ECF), one of the most economically important tick-borne diseases of cattle in sub-Saharan Africa. A live immunisation approach using the infection and treatment method (ITM) provides a strong long-term strain-restricted immunity. However, it typically induces a tick-transmissible carrier state in cattle and may lead to spread of antigenically distinct parasites. Thus, understanding the genetic composition of T. parva is needed prior to the use of the ITM vaccine in new areas. This study examined the sequence diversity and the evolutionary and biogeographical dynamics of T. parva within the African Great Lakes region to better understand the epidemiology of ECF and to assure vaccine safety. Genetic analyses were performed using sequences of two antigen-coding genes, Tp1 and Tp2, generated among 119 T. parva samples collected from cattle in four agro-ecological zones of DRC and Burundi. Results The results provided evidence of nucleotide and amino acid polymorphisms in both antigens, resulting in 11 and 10 distinct nucleotide alleles, that predicted 6 and 9 protein variants in Tp1 and Tp2, respectively. Theileria parva samples showed high variation within populations and a moderate biogeographical sub-structuring due to the widespread major genotypes. The diversity was greater in samples from lowlands and midlands areas compared to those from highlands and other African countries. The evolutionary dynamics modelling revealed a signal of selective evolution which was not preferentially detected within the epitope-coding regions, suggesting that the observed polymorphism could be more related to gene flow rather than recent host immune-based selection. Most alleles isolated in the Great Lakes region were closely related to the components of the trivalent Muguga vaccine. Conclusions Our findings suggest that the extensive sequence diversity of T. parva and its biogeographical distribution mainly depend on host migration and agro-ecological conditions driving tick population dynamics. Such patterns are likely to contribute to the epidemic and unstable endemic situations of ECF in the region. However, the fact that ubiquitous alleles are genetically similar to the components of the Muguga vaccine together with the limited geographical clustering may justify testing the existing trivalent vaccine for cross-immunity in the region.

The State of Liberal Democracy With Regard to Elections and Political Stability in Africa: Bridging the Gap Between Theory and Practice in Tanzania and Keny

2021 ◽  
pp. 52-70
Author(s):  
Paul Mtasigazya
Keyword(s):  
Liberal Democracy ◽  
Political Stability ◽  
The State ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
East African ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
Liberal Democratic ◽  
Democratic Tradition ◽  
Election Violence

This study explores the state of liberal democracy and political stability in Africa. In particular it intends to assess what is said about liberal democracy in relation to free and fair election, political stability and the politics of ethnicity in Tanzania and Kenya and the reality happening on the ground (the practice) in East African countries. The rationale for undertaking this analysis is that the East African countries have experienced political transformation: for instance, for much of the post-colonial period East African countries tended to live under one-party regime, but since 1990s East African countries embraced multiparty system. This study pays attention to assessing the outcomes of liberal democracy in East African countries in particular examining the extent to which the liberal democracy promotes free and fair elections, political stability and the mitigation of the politics of ethnicity. This study employed a comparative analysis, in which it compared the extent to which liberal democracy is practiced in Tanzania and Kenya and how far the above-mentioned parameters are realized under the broad spectrum of liberal democracy. The methods of data collection were interviews and documentary review and the discussion of the findings was organized around the sub-themes of this study. The period covered in this discussion is the contemporary period from 1990’s to 2019. The findings indicate that even though African countries have adopted liberal democracy, in some of the East African countries like Kenya, political stability and free and fair elections have not been fully realized, while in Tanzania the experience indicates that political stability is relatively realized after elections. This study concludes that even if the institutions of liberal democracy have gradually developed with partial free and fair elections, the manifestations of political instability still exist in some of the East African countries, as shown by the election violence in Kenya comparatively to Tanzania. Therefore, the interface between the liberal democracy and political stability has not been sufficiently realized in the liberal democratic tradition. This study recommends that elections as one of the pillars of liberal democracy should be properly and fairly instituted, so that the role of liberal democracy is realized in fostering peace and tranquility.

scholarly journals A sister lineage of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex discovered in the African Great Lakes region

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean Claude Semuto Ngabonziza ◽  
Chloé Loiseau ◽  
Michael Marceau ◽  
Agathe Jouet ◽  
Fabrizio Menardo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mycobacterium Tuberculosis ◽  
Great Lakes ◽  
Mycobacterium Tuberculosis Complex ◽  
Phylogenetic Reconstruction ◽  
Multidrug Resistant ◽  
Great Lakes Region ◽  
Tuberculosis Complex ◽  
Genome Region ◽  
African Great Lakes ◽  
Molecular Events

AbstractThe human- and animal-adapted lineages of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) are thought to have clonally expanded from a common progenitor in Africa. However, the molecular events that accompanied this emergence remain largely unknown. Here, we describe two MTBC strains isolated from patients with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis, representing an as-yet-unknown lineage, named Lineage 8 (L8), seemingly restricted to the African Great Lakes region. Using genome-based phylogenetic reconstruction, we show that L8 is a sister clade to the known MTBC lineages. Comparison with other complete mycobacterial genomes indicate that the divergence of L8 preceded the loss of the cobF genome region - involved in the cobalamin/vitamin B12 synthesis - and gene interruptions in a subsequent common ancestor shared by all other known MTBC lineages. This discovery further supports an East African origin for the MTBC and provides additional molecular clues on the ancestral genome reduction associated with adaptation to a pathogenic lifestyle.

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