University of Ghana Readers

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The Readers are a collection of essays reflecting developments in the discipline or sub-discipline over several years. They are meant to highlight Legon’s contribution to knowledge development over the last 65 years. The books include articles by many luminaries, Professors and Lecturers past and present.

Each Reader will be essential reading for senior undergraduates, graduate students and professionals in the field concerned. They will give the students and even the faculty themselves a better understanding of their roles as participants in an on-going intellectual activity and tradition.

But the intended audience is not limited to academia – each reader presents the face of its unit to the wider community, both in Ghana and abroad, and will be useful to anyone who wants to know something of what is going on in that field at the University of Ghana.

All the books are being published by Ghanaian publishers, at affordable prices.

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Now showing 1 - 20 of 70

ACUTE APPENDICITIS
(2013-12-09) Naeder, S.B.; Clegg-Lamptey, J.N.; Dakubo, J.C.B.
There is considerable variation in the incidence of acute appendicitis worldwide. The disease is common in western nations but much less so in developing countries. However recent reports suggest that the incidence of acute appendicitis is declining in the developed world and the reverse is occurring in developing countries. Acute appendicitis is now the leading cause of the acute abdomen in Africa including Ghana and West Africa. The aetiology of acute appendicitis has been attributed to the substitution of high residue diets with refined foods but this hypothesis has been disputed. Appendicular luminal obstruction by a faecolith is thought to initiate the inflammatory changes associated with acute appendicitis as the majority of cases are due to an obstructing faecolith. Diagnosis of acute appendicitis is largely clinical with the symptomatology essentially similar globally. In children, the elderly and pregnancy acute appendicitis may present a formidable diagnostic challenge and therefore a high index of suspicion is required. Sophisticated investigations are not necessary in the majority of cases. However ancillary investigations may be done to improve diagnostic accuracy and minimize the negative appendicectomy rate. The treatment of acute appendicitis is appendicectomy. Prophylactic antibiotics are required in all cases to reduce the incidence of surgical site infection. However in resource-limited settings conservative management with antibiotics may be the only option as the natural history of acute appendicitis includes spontaneous resolution. Recurrence rates following conservative treatment are, however, unacceptably high. Generally mortality and morbidity rates are low in acute appendicitis but are higher in those with complicated appendicitis.
Adoption and Benefits of Contemporary Management Accounting Systems: Evidence from Ghanaian Manufacturing Firms
(2013-12-09) Nartey, E.
This paper aims at examining the level of adoption and benefits derived from contemporary management accounting practices by Ghanaian manufacturing firms. The study employed a survey strategy to solicit information from 62 manufacturing firms within the Accra-Tema industrial area of Ghana. Results show that the adoption rate of contemporary management accounting techniques compared to the traditional techniques is low. Overall, traditional management accounting techniques relating to annual budgetary practices and budgeting for controlling costs and coordinating activities were found to top the list as highly adopted. The study also establishes that there is a positive relationship between contemporary management accounting techniques and the operational activities.
Aspects of the Geography of Manufacturing in Ghana
(2013-12-09) Yankson, P.W.K.
Manufacturing geography has developed as one of the systematics of geography. In this chapter, the manufacturing sector of Ghana is analysed from the perspective of manufacturing geography. It provides a background to modern industrialization in Ghana against the backdrop of industrialization at the global level, describes the role of the manufacturing in Ghana’s economic development, trends in policy and strategy towards the manufacturing sector; trends in the performance of manufacturing, particularly in the area of employment generation; location and distribution of manufacturing firms, and the effect of contemporary economic issues on the manufacturing sector. The chapter ends with a concluding section which also looks into the future.
The Back Without Which There Is No Front
(2013-12-09) Anyidoho, K.
Using as its basic point of reference the principle of continuity so fundamental to Ewe conception of development and of life itself, the author of this paper draws on personal experience and testimony to establish an organic relationship between Ewe oral tradition and poetry written in English by himself and others. The article examines certain contradictions surrounding the use of colonial heritage language and culture as the basis of creativity and general education in Africa. It also demonstrates the challenges of creative work in colonial heritage languages as well as special benefits of original work in African languages that draws on models from the oral tradition. However, given the reality of the primary orality of African cultural practice, the paper also acknowledges the need for using modern technology for transmitting African literature, especially poetry, through recordings of the spoken voice.
BENIGN AND PREMALIGNANT BREAST DISEASE
(2013-12-09) Dedey, F.
Benign Breast disease is one of the common diseases mainly affecting women. It includes a wide spectrum of disorders, some of which have malignant potential. It is therefore important to diagnose and manage these diseases appropriately. Breast Disease is assessed using the triple assessment. This includes clinical and radiological assessment, as well as biopsy for histological confirmation. Breast pain, lumps and nipple discharge are the most common features of benign breast disease. A thorough examination is useful in distinguishing benign from malignant breast disease. Radiological assessment involves the use of mammography and ultrasonography commonly. Core biopsies are usually preferable for obtaining tissue for histological diagnosis. Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology, incision and excision biopsies may however be indicated in specific situations. Treatment options depend on the specific disease and may be surgical or non surgical. Common benign breast diseases include fibrocystic changes and fibroadenoma in females and gynaecomastia in males. Premalignant breast disease, most commonly Ductal Carcinoma In Situ, has become more common with increase in screening procedures. It carries a higher risk of invasive disease as compared to the benign breast diseases. It should therefore be treated appropriately to prevent development of invasive carcinoma.
Breast Cancer Research in Ghana: A Review of Social Science Perspectives
(2013-12-09) Atobrah, D.
Cancers are fast becoming a leading cause of mortality in Ghana. However cancer research is very limited. The situation is worsened by the woefully inadequate research on the subject in the social sciences, which is badly needed to enhance understanding on, and management of the social science dimensions of the disease. The objective of this chapter is to present an overview of research on the different types of cancer in Ghana, and to highlight gaps in social science research on cancer in Ghana, using breast cancer as a case study. An online search of journal publications on all types of cancer in Ghana revealed 105 articles published between 1956 and 2012. The review focused on the type of cancer and the disciplinary themes of the publications. Eighty nine (89.5%) of publications were based on biomedical research on various kinds of cancer. Breast cancer was the most studied type of cancer (n=34) 32.4%, and was dominated by biomedical research n=28 with the remaining 5 being in the social sciences. Social science themes that emerge in the review were mainly on why breast cancer patients report late or abscond during treatment, general knowledge, attitudes and practices on breast cancer screening, fatalism on breast cancer and the cost-effectiveness of breast cancer screening options.
Cancer of the Colon and Rectum
(2013-12-09) Naaeder, S.B; Dakubo, J.C.B.
The global incidence of colorectal cancer currently exceeds 1.2 million new cases per year with a third of cases coming from developing countries where hitherto the disease was thought to be uncommon. In Africa there has been a steady increase in the annual incidence of new cases colorectal cancer over the past five decades. An aging African population may be accounting for this trend although environmental factors may also be contributing to the rising incidence of the disease. Whereas the mortality rate from colon cancer is declining in western nations it continues to have a devastating effect on half of its victims worldwide. Surgical excision remains the linchpin in the management of colorectal cancer and offers the only chance of cure in approximately half of the patients. Local and distant recurrences of the disease are not uncommon. Adjuvant chemoradiation has been and is still the standard of care for rectal cancers staged beyond Dukes Stage B1 as it has been shown to improve disease-free survival and overall survival. Newer chemotherapeutic agents have recently been introduced for the treatment of metastatic cancer with moderate outcomes. Novel molecular targeting therapies have been incorporated into a multimodality treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer and they have shown promising response rates and progression-free survival. With the introduction of thermal ablation techniques patients with inoperable and local recurrent colorectal cancer may have some hope as early results are encouraging.
Central Themes, Concepts, and Methodologies of Geography
(2013-12-09) Gyasi, E.A.; Yaro, J.A.; Owusu, A.B.
Geography as a discipline is one of the oldest fields of learning. The organization of the multi-faceted physical and human features over the earth space is generally seen as the primary focus of geographical enquiry, hence the common designation of geography as a subject that deals with spatial organization. This chapter provides a good definition of the key themes, concepts and methodologies of geography and elucidates the basic concerns and procedures of the discipline. The significance of this Chapter is that it provides the disciplinary context for the various topical issues addressed in subsequent chapters of this book.
Challenges in the design and implementation of geo-spatial data infrastructure for urban land use planning in Ghana
(2013-12-09) Owusu, A.B.; Kufogbe, S.K.; Yiran, G.A.B.
The cities of the developing world face major problems in managing growth and their urban spatial structures. The experiences of cities in the developed world have lessons to teach their developing world counterparts on how they have been able to deploy geospatial technology to plan and managed themselves. Geospatial technology and the underlying spatial data infrastructures (SDI) appear to offer significant potential to assist in planning and managing urban settlements in developing countries. In examining the challenges in the design and implementing spatial data infrastructure for urban land use planning the first part of the paper reviews the urbanization trends and land use planning challenges. It then looks at the application of geospatial technology and the underlying SDI before concluding with an attempt at SDI development in Ghana and the challenges that cities in Ghana faces in the bid to design and implement SDI for urban land use planning.
Challenges of Implementing the Medium Term Expenditure Framework in Developing Countries: Evidence from Ghana
(2013-12-09) Onumah, J.M.; Owusu, G.M.Y.
The paper examines the challenges faced by Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) country-adopters. This stems from the limited studies ascertaining the challenges emerging from the implementation of MTEF, especially in Africa. The current study therefore adopted survey strategy to collect data from 27 out of a population of 38 Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) that have direct budgetary allocation. Results show that the state of implementation of the concept in Ghana is acceptable, but the challenges identified are widespread, limiting the concept’s achievement to some extent. Other needs by the institutions are in the form of reliable data for realistic expenditure budgeting, personnel with requisite technical abilities and skills, adequate remuneration and executive commitment to see to the success of the concept. The study provides for the Executive and policy makers, relevant data that would aid their monitoring and evaluation of the MTEF concept and which would enable them take corrective measures in reforming their implementation plans and procedures.
The Changing Medical Geography of Africa
(2013-12-09) Agyei-Mensah, S.; Oppong, J.R.
This chapter provides an overview of the historical and contemporary scholarship on medical geography of Africa with emphasis on Ghana. Medical geography research on Africa has traditionally focused on disease ecology and geography of health care, increasingly linking health with its political and economic context. More recent studies typically apply more sophisticated techniques, including genotyping and spatial analysis, in an effort to model disease control and spread as well geographic access to health. African medical geography has a solid foundation but much more needs to be done. For the future, we argue that advanced analytical approaches such as multi-level modeling are needed to provide a deeper understanding of the pressing health issues confronting the continent.
The Changing Views on the Role of Small Towns in Rural and Regional Development in Africa
(2013-12-09) Owusu, G.
This paper discusses the changing views on the role of small towns in rural and regional development in twentieth-century Africa. It argues that one cannot understand the growth and development of small towns in Africa without examining development paradigms in general, and the historical development of urban places in Africa before the 1950s. For the future, it argues for a decentralised approach to development, incorporating local views and knowledge in the shaping of Africa’s urban and rural places in the twenty-first century.
A Comprehensive Review of the Policy and Programmatic Response to Rising Chronic Non-Communicable Disease in Ghana
(2013-12-09) Bosu, W.K.
Chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in Ghana remain a significant cause of illness and death in Ghana over many years. Yet, until recently, they have been neglected and not considered a health priority. This paper reviews the national policy and programme response to chronic NCDs over the period 1992 to 2009.Unpublished reports, documents, relevant files of the Ghana Health Service (GHS) were examined to assess programmatic response to chronic NCDs. Literature was searched to locate published articles on the epidemiology of chronic NCDs in Ghana. The websites of various local and international health institutions were also searched for relevant articles. Several policy and programme initiatives have been pursued with limited success. A national control programme has been established, NCDs are currently a national policy priority, draft tobacco control legislation prepared, public education campaigns on healthy lifestyles, instituted cervical cancer screening and a national health insurance system to reducing medical costs of chronic NCD care. Major challenges include inefficient programme management, low funding, little political interest, low community awareness, high cost of drugs and absence of structured screening programmes. Emerging opportunities include improving political will, government’s funding of a national cancer screening programme; basic and operational research; and using funds from well-resourced health programmes for overall health system strengthening.Although Ghana has recently determined to emphasise healthy lifestyles and environment as a major health policy for the prevention and control of chronic NCDs, low funding and weak governance have hindered the effective and speedy implementation of proposed interventions.
Computer Technology and Teaching of Accounting by Universities in Ghana
(2013-12-09) Simpson, S.N.Y.; Welbeck, E.E.
The past several years have seen phenomenal efforts across the globe to adopt information and communication technology (ICT) in every aspect of education due to the several benefits it presents. The areas that seem to be attracting much attention are teaching, learning and research. Universities in Africa have not been left out in this development, but compared to other countries, regions and continents, very little seems to have been done in assessing the extent of ICT adoption in the teaching and learning of the various disciplines, including accounting. Adopting the survey strategies, this paper explores the use of ICT in the teaching of accounting in African Universities, using evidence from Ghana. Results show that ICT is used in the teaching of accounting by universities; more in public than private universities. Moreover, more accounting students in private universities are exposed to ICT resources like accounting software than the public universities. In addition, PowerPoint presentations, emails, and the internet in general, are the commonly used ICT resources in the teaching of accounting.
Contaminant Hydrology: Concepts of Oil Pollution and Environmental Management
(2013-12-09) Owusu, G.
Oil contamination in soils, aquifer, and sea can pose threats to water resources and other ecosystems agents. In this chapter I will discuss physical and institutional characteristics of oil contaminants management in surface water, soil water, groundwater, and ocean. The contaminants include Light Non-Aqueous Phase Liquid (LNAPL) and Dense Non-Aqueous Phase Liquid (DNAPL). Oil contaminants that enter through soil surface may undergo through the following processes: Dissolution, Advection, Dispersion, Diffusion, Adsorption, Volatilization, and Biodegradation. As the oil pollutants travel through hydrological cycle there are various risks associated with exposure of it to environment. When it is exposed to human beings it is called Human toxicological risks; when it is exposed to ecology we call it Eco-toxicological risks, and finally when it spreads to join other water bodies we call it Spreading risks. These risks can be stopped through assessment and implementation of five-step environmental remediation framework that include Environmental Site Assessment (ESA), Threshold Value Assessment, Mapping and Modelling of Contaminants, Oil Contaminant Risk Assessment, and Choosing appropriate environmental Remediation techniques. This basic knowledge in contaminant hydrology can help manage environmental problems associated with large scale oil exploration and production in Ghana.
Corporate Governance and Earnings Management: Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa.
(2013-12-09) Akyeampon, D.; Amidu, M.; Abor, J.
This paper examines the link between corporate governance and earnings management (EM) of firms in some selected countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). A two-step estimation procedure using firm level data is applied. The first step employs a panel data estimation technique to analyze working capital discretionary accruals (WCDAC), a proxy for EM. Building on these results, the second stage examines the sources of EM, placing emphasis on the role of corporate governance and institutions. We find that EM of firms in Africa can be explained by the size of the board, its composition, return on assets, and debt ratio. In addition, our result reveals varying results as different corporate governance mechanisms affect EM across the various countries.
Current Global Developments in Breast Cancer and Management in Ghana
(2013-12-09) Clegg-Lamptey, J.N.; Vanderpuye, V.
Breast cancer is the leading malignancy globally, and one of the leading cancers in Ghana. Global developments in the management of breast cancer have led to better patient management. These include the use of multidisciplinary teams (MDTs) in the formulation of management plans. These teams form the basis for best practice in the management of breast disease, and there are attempts to incorporate them in the management of Breast cancer in the two main treatment centres in Ghana. Others include the concept of patient-centred care, use of protocols and clinical trials. Developments in mammographic screening have not been reproduced in developing countries like Ghana for many reasons. These include the absence of mammographic facilities and the relatively young age of patients. A suggested programme that involves Clinical Breast examination, Breast self examination and opportunistic screening has been recommended. Triple assessment remains the basis for diagnosis. Of the various means of biopsy now possible, methods for taking biopsy of non-palpable lesions need to be developed in Ghana, since more patients now have mammograms with some of them reporting with non-palpable abnormalities There have been advances in treatment: surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Biological therapy in the treatment of patients with HER2 receptor overexpression is often hindered by the high cost of treatment. Generally, Breast cancer management in Ghana has kept pace with global developments. The young age breast cancer patients in Ghana, sociocultural differences and financial limitations require some modifications in the approach of the management of this condition in our country.
Cutting a Long Story Short: A Semiotic and Postmodern Reading of Veronique Tadjo’sas the Crow Flies
(2013-12-09) Adjei, M.
As the Crow Flies,written by Ivorian female writer VéronqueTadjo, deals with several stories in everyday life. Tadjo is a writer, artist, academic and author of books for young people. In As the crow flies, she ushers us into a wonderful world full of images, rhythm, colours, feelings, people, musicality, reflections about life in order to open the reader's mind and eyes. The work provokes pertinent questions in our daily lives through characters who are both nameless and faceless. This stylistic choice allows the reader to identify himself with these nondescript characters. The text is revolutionary in its construction and shuffles between the Short Story, Novella and Novel. Over all, it is a stylistic choice driven by postmodernism in its bold attempt to subvert existing conventional novelistic forms and makes meaning only when it is consciously located within such a framework. I, therefore, posit that, to critically engage with the text by way of content and form, one needs to approach it from semiotic and postmodernist perspectives.
Determinants of Intellectual Capital Disclosures (ICD): Evidence from Ghana
(2013-12-09) Onumah, J.M.; Amidu, M.; Asare, N.
This paper seeks to identify factors that influence the voluntary disclosure of Intellectual Capital (IC) in corporate annual reports of listed companies in Ghana. We examine the ICD of 25 listed companies on the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) over a five-year period (2006-2010) through content analysis of their corporate annual reports. The study employs a panel regression analysis to establish the relationship between ICD levels of firms and firm-specific characteristics. While company size and industry sector determine the level of ICD of companies in corporate annual reports, corporate profitability and age cannot be used to predict such ICD levels of companies. The study was limited to selected listed companies on the GSE before 2006; a basically small capital market in Ghana. The implication of this study is that financial performance and the number of years of existence by a company does not influence ICD levels while the size of a company and industrial sector in which a company operate do impact ICD levels among listed companies. This is a pioneering paper on evidence of determinants of ICDs of Ghanaian corporate firms, one of the first to investigate the determinants of ICD in annual reports in West Africa.
Diabetes in Ghana: A Review of Research on Prevalence, Experiences and Healthcare
(2013-12-09) Aikins, A.D.; Owusu-Dabo, E.; Agyemang, C.
Diabetes is a major cause of adult morbidity and death in Ghana. In this chapter we review empirical studies on diabetes in Ghana to highlight trends in prevalence as well as medical and social responses to its public health challenges. We conducted by a search of the PUBMED and Psycinfo databases, supplemented by a manual search of bibliographies of the identified articles and through the Ghana Medical Journal as well as local sources of literature available across public libraries. The key findings are as follow. The prevalence of diabetes has risen from 0.2% in the late 1950s (among a community of men in Ho) to 6.0% in 2009 (among a community of men in Kumasi). In Accra, a prevalence of 6.4% was recorded in a mixed community in the late 1990s and 9.1% among civil servants in 2006. Prevalence rates of impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) and impaired fasting glucose (IFG), when measured are double or treble the diabetes prevalence, which suggests that higher numbers of individuals are at risk of developing diabetes in the future. People living with diabetes experience complex psychosocial challenges including psychological and emotional insecurities, and limited social support. Management and self-care is poor, and healer-shopping between medical systems is common. Major limitations exist with diabetes care including poor diabetes education, a lack of guidelines for diabetes care, erratic supply of essential diabetes drugs at health facilities and poorly trained health care professionals to manage diabetes including doctors, nurses and dietitians. We consider challenges for research, healthcare and policy.