Volume 2 (2013)

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Sociolinguistic meaning of Bantu place names : The case of Ruhaya in north-western Tanzania
(University of Namibia, 2012) Buberwa, Adventina
This paper examines the sociolinguistic meaning behind the adoption of place names in Ruhaya, the language spoken in north-western Tanzania. The paper based on the assumption that place names are not arbitrary labels but are connected with particular social-cultural phenomena such as community heroes or persons who made notable contributions to the society or people who had achieved particular notoriety or events that had come to be considered unique. These would be reflected in what the name was derived from in the appropriate time and place (appropriate context). The paper reveals that Ruhaya place names have meanings which tend to be derived from phenomena such as names of unique people, events, fauna, flora, crops raised, habitation information, natural terrain and activities carried out in the area to which the name is given. Also, place names in Ruhaya have meanings relating to parts of the human body such as hip, nape, tongue, breast and heart. As language advance, it was necessary to explore such sociolinguistic elements as an important contribution to the growing body of sociolinguistics and linguistics knowledge relating to languages spoken in Tanzania and Africa in general.
Genitals are assets: Sexual and reproductive behaviours of street children of Harare, Zimbabwe, in the era of the HIV and Aids pandemic by Watch Ruparanganda. Umbreit: LAP Lambert Academic Publishing, 2011, pp 303.
(University of Namibia, 2012) Chirere, Memory
Watch Ruparanganda’s book, Genitals are Assets: Sexual and Reproductive Behaviours of Street Children of Harare, Zimbabwe, in the era of the HIV and Aids Pandemic, is extremely thought provoking and will make you want to laugh and cry at the same time. It explores the sexual and economic relations amongst the street children of Harare, Zimbabwe, in a language that is effortless and compelling. This is a book for both the deep academics and ordinary readers. Underneath everything else, this book goes into important theoretical and methodological debates about power differentials between men and women in society.
Writers and teachers as agents of social change
(University of Namibia, 2012) Broekhoff, Marna
Despite idealistic intentions, teachers at all levels and in most subjects are often accused of fostering Western hegemony and linguistic imperialism. However, a unique writing project in the southern African country of Namibia demonstrates that teachers can become agents of social change. One part of this project is an anthology of writings by indigenous women about their struggles with HIV and AIDS. Because AIDS has become a pandemic, now afflicting more than 35 million people worldwide, this anthology from Namibia, produced by the Women’s Leadership Centre, provides both a local and global (or “glocal”) orientation to the problem. It demonstrates the value of English in promoting health and human rights issues and more generally of empowering marginalized populations. It is also a supreme example of auto-ethnography, an account of one’s own experiences as grounded in and reflecting a culture, which has become a cutting-edge form of qualitative research. This paper explains how this “grass roots” writing project works and how to replicate it and develop relevant curriculum in other settings. A Reading Guide and high school curriculum have already been created, providing authentic, contextualized, and culturally appropriate materials for consciousness-raising activities focusing on reader response to social concerns, as well as for a typical language lesson.
Violation and the inscription of opposites in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter and Bram Stoker’s Dracula
(University of Namibia, 2012) Harford, Carolyn
Part of the power of myths and symbols is held to lie in their capacity to encompass opposites. This paper proposes that the mythologem of a male violation of a virginal female victim is inscripted to represent the opposites of fertility and infertility in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter and Bram Stoker’s Dracula, which represent the rape of Persephone by Hades and the vampiric attack on Lucy Westenra by Dracula, respectively. The opposition emerges partly in the fate of the victim. In the Homeric Hymn, Persephone is taken from above ground to the underworld by Hades, an allegory of the planting of the corn seed, which further symbolizes the cycle of fertility in which life emerges from death, as indicated by Kerényi (2002a). In Dracula, Lucy Westenra does not make this journey. When she dies after Dracula’s attack, she is not truly dead, neither above nor below, but trapped in the middle, as one of the Undead. This version of the mythologem may thus be said to represent infertility. This conclusion may be sharpened in the light of a common reading of Dracula as refl ecting the anxieties of Bram Stoker’s Victorian society about women’s sexuality. Lucy’s transformation into a vampire is accompanied by an increased sexual boldness towards the men around her. This voluptuousness suggests unchastity, the “fate worse than death”, represented by the fate of being undead. Unchastity in this light is opposed to, not fertility perse, but to socially sanctioned fertility.
The marginalised in post-independence Zimbabwe in selected stories in Memory Chirere’s short story anthology Somewhere in this country
(University of Namibia, 2013) Mupondi, Aaron
Memory Chirere is one of the contemporary Zimbabwean writers who uses the short story genre as a mode of expression. In his fi rst collection of short stories in English under one book, Somewhere in this Country (2006), Chirere focuses on the marginalised members of society in their day-to-day struggles for survival in post-independence Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe’s masses leading miserable lives, years after independence which was obtained in 1980, refl ects that the black leaders failed to fulfi ll their erstwhile promises of better days to the majority. At the centre of each of the stories selected to be studied in this article, “Suburb”, “An Old Man”, “Maize” and “Sitting Carelessly” is the writer’s touching compassion for the underprivileged members of society such as squatters, street kids, land-hungry peasants and displaced farm workers respectively. However, in “Maize” the black government is applauded for alleviating the situation of peasants by giving them land under the recent land reform programme. Hence, notable in Chirere’s criticism of society and its institutions is his objectivity.
“Confessional spaces and criminality”: Incest in Alice Walker and Yvonne Vera’s works
(University of Namibia, 2013) Mhandu, Edwin
The paper explores incest in Alice Walker and Yvonne Vera’s works as site for contestation of larger forces in society. The portrayal of incest comes at a time where certain “truisms” known to be in Black men in the stereotypification lore are overly dramatised and this tend to submerge genuine and well meaning struggles for racial emancipation and self determination to the periphery. That black men are portrayed as people with unrestricted libido is neither fortuitous nor an incidental project in the aforementioned writers’ works, rather, as a matter of priority it is often easy to take the lesser path by further complicating and bashing the generic punch bag of the Caucasian world. Thus, l argue that the said incestuous relationships are meant to vulgarise in a parallel form the ongoing struggles in America and in Colonial Zimbabwe respectively in the manner of Thomas Rice’s staged minstrels in Antebellum America. The emphasis by Walker and Vera is on the defective forms of lifestyles by people who declare alibis from the struggles and many critics have tended to applaud such projections as characterising a quest for inclusivity of the formerly muffled voices. This article contextualises the crime of incest, in its socio-political realm and refutes the overblown criminality of the black men as a political invention. Cases of incest abound in society and may persist in the unforeseeable future but these are not a preserve of black men.
Socio-economic determinants of obesity of Namibian women in the reproductive age group: A binary logistic regression model
(University of Namibia, 2013) Pazvakawambwa, Lillian; Tjipueja, Werner
Obesity leads to reduced lifer expectancy, increased likelihood of a wide range of diseases Obesity also lowers self-esteem and has negative consequences on the cognitive and social development of a person. World-wide, obesity is a leading yet preventable cause of death and its prevalence both in children and adults is increasing day by day. Compared to men, women have a relatively higher burden of disease attributable to overweight and obesity. This paper establishes the socio-economic factors influencing obesity in women in Namibia using logistic regression. The outcome variable was Obesity (1 for Obese, 0 for Not obese). The independent variables included the total number of children ever born to the woman, her place of residence; current age of the woman, her highest level of education, her economic status, contraceptive use, smoking habits, age of the woman at first birth, place of residence, region, and religion. Results indicate that in Namibia, obesity of a woman is associated with the age of the woman, her highest level of education, her economic status, contraceptive use, smoking habits, and the age of the woman at first birth. Policy and intervention programs to reduce obesity should focus on encouraging women to delay onset of child-bearing, to embark on lifelong regular exercise and diet programs. Even though smoking was inversely related to obesity, women should be encouraged to stop smoking because of its other devastating health effects.
Land and racial domination in Zimbabwe: An African-centred critical analysis of selected post-2000 Zimbabwean-authored novels
(University of Namibia, 2013) Magosvongwe, Ruby; Nyamande, Abner
The article makes an African-centred analysis selected post-2000 Zimbabwean authored novels that narrativise the land experiences in the country. The African-led land occupations of white-owned commercial farms in Zimbabwe from the late 1990s have necessitated the study and revisiting of the land question in Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia). The process that has been defended by the Government as part of the necessary land redistribution exercise to rectify colonial land injustices shows that the land question is as potent now as it was at the inception of colonial settlements. Zimbabwe’s land history has remained consistently contentious because land is the life-blood of the people’s livelihoods, black and white. For this reason, the process and aftermath of the occupations have rocked racial relations in the country and internationally. The controversies arising from the land occupations have culminated in the socio-economic and political instability of the country, and threaten to spill into and destabilise the SADC countries as well. It is against this backdrop that the article makes an African-centred analysis of selected post-2000 Zimbabwean-authored novels that variously respond to Zimbabwean land issues characterising the tumultuous post-2000 period. The view presented here is that literature defines the epicentre of the struggle of ideas, that partially but significantly, define what Zimbabwe is, including how and where she wants to go. Tsitsi Dangarembga’s The Book of Not (2006); Eric Harrison’s Jambanja (2006); John Eppel’s Absent: The English Teacher (2009) and Mashingaidze Gomo’s A Fine Madness (2010) are analysed in this light. The African-centred approach utilised in this chapter is significant in locating both texts and authors within the background that informs their fictional representations. The extent to which texts successfully balance their explorations of land and racial identity and help to influence society to rise above parochial partisan approaches, and encourage people to confront some of Zimbabwe’s land challenges would be worth noting.
The determinants of the child mortality rate in rural Namibia
(University of Namibia, 2013) Kaundjua, Maria B.
From a policy perspective, the most useful information about child mortality is its determinants. Hence, during the 20th and 21st centuries, researchers have increasingly turned their attention to identifying factors associated with low child mortality in developing countries. The identification of factors that account for variations in childhood mortality is essential in the formulation of policies and programs that aim to reduce child mortality. This paper analyses and compares the determinants of child mortality in Namibia, nationally, and in the two rural regional health directorates (RHDs), namely the Northeast and Northwest, using the 2006-07 Namibia Demographic and Health Survey. The Cox proportional hazard model is applied to assess the relative effects of the independent variables on child mortality. The results show that short birth intervals and widowed or divorced mothers had the highest risk of child mortality (p < 0.001) in Namibia as a whole as well as in the two rural RHDs. Whilst the variables of a toilet facility and mothers’ education showed significance in both the Northeast and Northwest RHDs, their risks were lower in the Northwest. The variation by the sex of the household head only had a distinct impact in the Northeast RHD. These findings support policy initiatives that encourage longer birth intervals via the strengthening of contraceptive use through broader programs of sexual and reproductive health. The results of this study are also expected to guide policy makers and programme managers in the health sector to formulate targeted intervention programs to reduce child mortality in the rural regions of Namibia.
The analysis of content question words in Embosi and Teke
(University of Namibia, 2013) Ibara, Yvon P.
This paper demonstrates that the typological classification does not affect all the linguistic descriptive apparatus of languages belonging to the same language family. It appears that the content question word ‘what’ has two distinct positions in Embosi and Teke. In the former, it is a post verbal word, whereas in the latter it is a pre-verbal word; hence challenging Split CP Hypothesis that is unable to explain its occurrence in the languages under discussion.
The educational consequences of teenage pregnancy in the Kavango Region
(University of Namibia, 2013) Nekongo-Nielsen, Haaveshe; Mbukusa, Nchindo R.
In this paper the authors discuss the pregnancy prevalence among learners in the Kavango region. The paper is an extract from a national study on dropout which collected data from three (3) regions, namely; Kavango, Kunene and Omaheke. While the dropout study was conducted in three regions with the highest dropout rate in the country, the findings on teenage pregnancy reported in this article are from the Kavango region only. The Kavango region, in addition to having higher dropout rates is also one of the regions with higher incidences of teenage pregnancy in the country. Through interviewing dropout learners and school principals as well as focus group discussions with teachers at 58 schools in the Kavango region the study found that a high number of female learners drop out of school due to pregnancy. Out of the one hundred and thirty one (131) learners interviewed, of which seventy two (72) were female, sixty (60) dropped out because of pregnancy, which means 83% of all female dropout cases was due to pregnancy. The dynamics and reasons why these learners became pregnant were as diverse as the schools visited. Based on the findings it is recommended that a good strategy for reducing pregnancy in the region requires the collaboration of community leaders, parents and school authorities.
A socio-cultural and linguistic analysis of postcolonial christian naming practices in Zimbabwe
(University of Namibia, 2013) Mashiri, Pedzisai; Chabata, Emmanuel; Chitando, Ezra
The study of African personal names has interested a number of researchers from diverse fields. Focus on Christian beliefs in the postcolonial period and on the linguistic forms and the meanings communicated through these forms provides revealing insights to the relationship between language use and its sociocultural context, itself the concern of anthroponomastics. Zimbabwe’s political independence in 1980 represented a more robust Christian tradition and provided a framework for linguistic freedom that resulted in dynamic and creative ways of expressing Christian faith. Naming assumed exciting dimensions. The present study reveals the revitalisation of the traditional culture where naming is a specific, conscious and deliberate linguistic act intimately linked with values, traditions, hopes, fears and events in people’s lives. The data discussed in this article shows how black Zimbabwean parents communicate messages reflecting these dispositions through names that they create for their children in insightful, inventive and systematic ways in the postcolonial period.
Towards improving rural water supply and sanitation coverage in Caprivi, North-east Namibia
(University of Namibia, 2013) Matengu, Keneth K.
Improving access to clean drinking water has been a major development goal of the Government of Namibia since independence. In particular, efforts were made to ensure that access to clean water for women and children who carry the responsibility of household maintenance and water provision in homesteads is improved. Women and children constitute a major part of the rural population and have traditionally relied on open water sources. By improving the supply of clean quality water, health risks can be reduced. This paper examines the progress done by the Government of Namibia in improving access to rural water supply through a case study of Caprivi region. A mixed methods approach is used. The results show that major improvements in rural water supply have been made, however this has not resulted in reduction of waterborne diseases.
Cacophony in unison: Translation strategies in achieving ‘singability’ in the Silozi and Citonga versions of the Zambian National Anthem
(University of Namibia, 2013) Wakumelo, Mildred N.
This paper examines the translation strategies that were employed in the translation of the Zambian national anthem from English into two Zambian languages, Silozi and Citonga. The paper employs a comparative approach in an attempt to show that, in the translation of the national anthem into the two languages,the translators used various strategies in order to achieve ‘singability’ in the translated versions. Some of these strategies have compromised the source meanings of the national anthem to the extent that even if the singers of the three versions are singing the same tune, the semantic content in the different versions of the national anthem is not always the same.
“In my work there is a constant conversation between the earth, nature and the sky:” Conversations inside and outside of conversations in Chenjerai Hove’s Ancestors
(University of Namibia, 2013) Chirere, Memory
Chenjerai Hove’s novel of 1996 called Ancestors is intriguing because of its wide variety of methods of narrating that operate side by side in one novel. Sometimes the story is told by a realistic male character called Mucha. He is the immediate and major narrator who tells us his story and the story of his family from a personal and realist point of view. At another level, Mucha narrates the family story from the point of view and spiritual instruction of Miriro and to a less extent, Tariro. Then the reader fi nds out that Miriro, who remained deaf and dumb throughout her short life occasionally tells us directly from the grave about what she ‘heard’ during her lifetime! She even remembers the sounds of birds and animals, people’s songs and conversations. Miriro remembers all the things that are normally not available to those who are deaf and dumb. Therefore, a mathematical and accurate reading of this novel by one of Zimbabwe’s internationally acclaimed writers is not quite possible. To read it is an exercise akin only to moving towards an estimation of meanings.
Mukwahepo: Woman, soldier, mother: As told to Ellen Ndeshi Namhila. Windhoek: University of Namibia Press, 2013; pp 141.
(University of Namibia, 2013) Akawa, Martha
Unlike many stories that deal with high ranking and public fi gures, Mukwahepo is a book about a humble and unknown personality who made outstanding and remarkable contributions to the liberation of Namibia, popularly called The Land of the Brave. Mukwahepo is an ordinary woman who performed extraordinary duties for her country. This book is a clear testimony that the contributions, especially those made by women, did not have to be ambassadorial or political.
Liberal democracy, education and social justice in Africa
(University of Namibia, 2013) Amukugo, Elizabeth M.
It is a widely accepted view that military and other forms of authoritarian rule were employed in the governance of certain African countries during the early years of postcolonial period from the 1960s to 1980’s as indicated by Bangura (1992), Harber (1997) and Leon (2010). Besides, a few socialist-oriented, independent one-party states existed. The latter years (1990s into the 21st century), saw many independent African countries embracing ‘liberal democracy’ accompanied by market economic models. The introduction of liberal democracy on the African continent has not been without its controversies however, as some African and Carribean social scientists such as Ake (1993 & 1996), Mafeje (2002), Lumumba-Kasongo, (2005), Ngwane (2006) and Sankatsing (2004), have blamed this system for being responsible for much social wretchedness across Africa. The question is: (a) to what extent has liberal democracy delivered social equity on the continent; and (b) in which way do liberal democratic policies promote or impede the aims of education in a democratic society? Arguing from a critical theory perspective, this Article explores the way in which liberal democracy as a system of governance put limitations on education’s capacity to play the transformative role within society. It suggests that liberal democracy advocates equality of opportunities for all at the expense of social justice; and that this prevent education from playing its role as a tool for achieving greater equity within society through promoting human, social and economic development.
Namibian teachers’ understanding of education for all issues
(University of Namibia, 2013) Zimba, Roderick F.; Mufune, Pempelani; Likando, Gilbert N.; February, Pamela J.
The purpose of this study was to find out Namibian teachers’ understanding of their work circumstances, goals of education for all (EFA) and quality of education. To obtain data on these issues, a structured questionnaire was administered to a proportional representative sample of 1611 primary and secondary school teachers from six regions. Some of the study’s main findings were that several sampled teachers taught under difficult circumstances in which their schools lacked classroom furniture, electricity, water, teaching and learning materials; had problems communicating with parents of their learners; had difficulties managing overcrowded classrooms; were given heavy administrative loads that prevented them from effectively undertaking their teaching duties and that they knew little about the existence of EFA goals. These and other findings are discussed in the paper and developed into insights for enhancing educational practice in Namibia and for identifying issues on which to base further research.
Establishing a university records management programme: A case study of the University of Namibia
(University of Namibia, 2013) Matangira, Violet; Katjiveri-Tjiuoro, Mercia; Lukileni, Ndahambelela H.
Records management is crucial to all organizations including universities. Unless records are managed efficiently, it is not possible to conduct business effectively, and to account for what has happened in the past or to make good decisions about the future. The University of Namibia (UNAM) records management project reported in this article was carried out on the notion that records need to be systematically and continuously managed throughout their life-cycle in an integrated manner. The management of institutional records throughout their life cycle is necessary in order to support strategic business objectives of the university and to preserve corporate memory. The project was an attempt to formalize record-keeping at the university in accordance with international archival standards. Starting with information gathering, the project followed some stages which included the legal and regulatory framework, resources and staffing. The investigation also covered vital functions of the university including finance, human resources, student affairs and the executive. The information gathered using the survey method paved way for the implementation of the records management programme at the university.
We need new names: By NoViolet Bulawayo. London: Reagan Arthur Books, 2013; pp 290.
(University of Namibia, 2013) Muganiwa, Josephine
The novel captures the Diaspora experience of a young girl, Darling Nonkululeko Nkala, after experiencing hardships in the Zimbabwean economic meltdown. It is therefore a critique of moving to the Diaspora as a solution to challenges in one’s country. Darling constantly refers to the pain of missing home but stuck in the knowledge that she can never return because she has become an illegal immigrant in America. Once she visits ‘home’ she will not be allowed to come back as her papers are not in order. What intensifies the pain is the misunderstanding by those that remain in the troubled country that those in America are sitting pretty, with no worries at all. This pushes aunt Faustina and others to work double shifts so that they can send money home. The chapter “How they lived” fully captures the experience of those in the Diaspora from third world countries which gives the book a universal feel. Bulawayo writes: And the jobs we worked, Jesus- Jesus – Jesus, the jobs we worked. Low paying jobs. Back breaking jobs. Jobs that gnawed at the bones of our dignity, devoured the meat, tongued the marrow. We took scalding irons and ironed our pride fl at. We cleaned toilets. We picked tobacco and fruit under the boiling sun until we hung our tongues and panted like lost hounds. We butchered animals, slit throats, drained blood. We worked with dangerous machines, holding our breaths like crocodiles under water, our minds on the money and never on our lives. We swallowed every pain like a bitter pill, drank every fear like a love portion, and we worked and worked Every two weeks we got our paychecks and sent monies back home by Western Union and MoneyGram. We bought food and clothes for the families left behind; we paid school fees for the little ones. We got messages that said Hunger, that said Help, that said Kunzima, and we sent money. When we were asked, You guys work so hard, why do you work so hard? We smiled (We Need New Names, p. 244).

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