Browsing by Author "Kanyandago, Peter"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Overcoming Poverty: Accounting for Stagnation and Upward Mobility in Central Uganda
    (East African Researcher, 2012) Ssempebwa, Jude; Kasoma, Abisagi Ndagire; Kule, Abraham; Ssekyewa, Charles; Nnyanzi, David; Kisolo, Gelvan; Nyende, Jeremiah; Masereka, Joseph; Nambuubi, Juliet; Otaala, Laura; Akello, Lucy Dora; Odong, Moses; Okullo, Nellie Florence; Kanyandago, Peter; Lugemwa, Peter; Ouma, Richard; Akabwai, Steven
    Poverty in Uganda has been the subject of extensive scholarship and policy attention. Subsequently, several poverty alleviation programmes/ projects have been implemented in the country over the last five decades. Although successive surveys have reported notable improvements in the quality of life, there is evidence that many households are still stagnating in poverty. Why? How come the poverty alleviation programmes/ projects that are enabling some households to transit poverty are not working for the households stagnating in poverty? This study delved into these questions, taking the case of Central Uganda. The findings were that the households that are stagnating in poverty suffer from a broad syndrome of disadvantage, which affects their capacity to transit from poverty. However, it was also found that, despite their indisputable challenges, many of them are stagnating in poverty because they don’t feel that they are poor. Differences were noted between their view of poverty and the traditional view of poverty (by which they are characterized as poor). It was concluded that poverty alleviation programs/ projects have not transformed them because the interventions delivered under the programmes/ projects are based on the traditional view of poverty. Thus, it is recommended that those designing/ implementing these programs/ projects synchronize their view of poverty with the views of the poor whose poverty they are working to alleviate.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Violence in Africa: Further Reflections on the Causes
    (East African Journal of Traditions, Culture and Religion, 2022) Kanyandago, Peter
    This is not the first time that ESEAT has written on violence in Africa. In Fact, in 1999 a whole volume was devoted to violence. In 2010 I reviewed this volume. However, despite all these efforts, we see that inter and intra-state violence continues in many countries in Africa, including environmental violence. In this paper, while referring to what has already been written about, I try to reflect on what could have been left out in our search for causes of violence on the African continent. On the theoretical plane, I suggest that we should emphasise the fact that when theologising, we use and are influenced by our historical and cultural context. This comes out when we examine the root cause of environmental violence, where we argue that it is mainly to be explained by how the West has understood the bible, especially the creation story. Furthermore, I note that while looking for the root causes on the Africa continent, we have to revisit the way we conceive causality. Rather than limiting ourselves to the immediate and visible causes, we should also include remote and invisible causes in a way that we come to what I call cumulative causality, meaning that the different factors contributing to the phenomenon must be taken together. On the practical level, I refer to how Africa has been successively invaded since the 17th century BC. I argue that these invasions have negatively impacted Africa. I end by making suggestions on how to deal with this violence, by proposing the following: the importance of putting in place mechanisms and strictures for promoting justice; the importance of using the African worldview, including appropriate rituals, while working on the causes of violence; and cooperating with well-wishers from outside Africa in fighting the causes of violence