https://naturalsciences.unza.zm/index.php/ZJOCI/issue/feed 2024-09-06T11:30:33+00:00 Mpandamabula Florence zango@unza.zm Open Journal Systems ZANGO, a Zambian Journal of Contemporary Issues is published by the University of Zambia Press under ISSN: 1028-3536. For submission of articles contact the Chief Editor on the following emails: zango@unza.zm / press@unza.zm. https://naturalsciences.unza.zm/index.php/ZJOCI/article/view/1262 2024-09-06T11:30:10+00:00 Bibian Kalinde bibian.kalinde@unza.zm

In many cultures, musical instruments are used to convey cultural and spiritual values. In Africa, the drum and other instruments played by men are dominant to a point of relegating those involving women. In an attempt to contribute to the documentation on Zambian musical instruments played by girls and women, this article probes the modern contexts of two musical bows; the Mantimbwa played by the Tonga and the Mtyangala of the Chewa and Tumbuka, found in the Southern and Eastern provinces of Zambia, respectively. Data for the study was collected using interviews and participant observations. The study exposed the lack of documentation on Zambian instruments, especially chordophones and aerophones. Besides documentation, the need to record the music played on these instruments using modern technology such as on video and audio Compact Disks (CDs) was indicated. The greater picture that emerges from this study is that musical traditions in Africa are closely tied to culture. Therefore, as certain cultural traditions disappear, musical traditions that are closely tied to them eventually also disappear. There also arise nuances in the study that point to the neglect of meanings that individuals attach to the process of music making.

2024-09-06T00:00:00+00:00 ##submission.copyrightStatement## https://naturalsciences.unza.zm/index.php/ZJOCI/article/view/1264 2024-09-06T11:30:13+00:00 Dickson Njobvu judith.ziwa@unza.zm Judith Lubasi Ilubala-Ziwa judith.ziwa@unza.zm

The study examined the measures, challenges and factors that influenced the Reformed Church in Zambia (RCZ) to promote gender equality among their members. A case study design that involved the use of semi-structured interview and focus group discussion (FGD) qualitative methods, was used. Purposive sampling was used to select the 28 participants. The findings revealed that the RCZ played a significant role in promoting gender equality in the church through training religious leaders responsible for counselling young people and couples about to get married. The study concluded that although the RCZ played a significant role in promoting gender equality in Zambia, it concentrated much at the congregational rather than community and national levels.

2024-09-06T00:00:00+00:00 ##submission.copyrightStatement## https://naturalsciences.unza.zm/index.php/ZJOCI/article/view/1265 2024-09-06T11:30:16+00:00 Solomon A. Adedire solomon.adedire@uniosun.edu.ng Adebowale Idowu Adeyeye adebowale.adeyeye@uniosun.edu.ng

The paper investigates the civilian and the intricacies of corruption during President Buhari administration. This article is a conceptual paper based on content analysis. It forwards its arguments using neo-patrimonial theory. The article reveals that the scale of corruption in Nigeria under Buhari’s administration is massive, widespread and pervasive. It contends that the politicisation of anti-corruption crusade of Buhari as well as “sacred cows” in his government have created doubt in the fight against corruption. This is quite evident in the records of various allegations levelled against political office holders. The content analysis shows that the limited political will of the anti-graft agencies, and inadequate resources hinder the drives towards attaining the Buhari’s tripod vision of fighting corruption, defeating terrorism, and fixing the economy. The article concludes that, despite the anti-corruption crusade, there are still rising insecurity, democratic backsliding which have hindered anti-kleptocracy efforts, and created new corruption opportunities for unscrupulous officials and their enablers. Therefore, it recommends autonomy of the anti-graft agencies; improved standard of living of people above poverty line; strong institutions; public awareness by the civil society on the threat posed by corruption, and value re-orientation of the people.

2024-09-06T10:37:03+00:00 ##submission.copyrightStatement## https://naturalsciences.unza.zm/index.php/ZJOCI/article/view/1266 2024-09-06T11:30:21+00:00 Joseph Chabushiku S. Sapwe sapwejoseph68@gmail.com

The objective of this article was the narrativisation of space in Tsitsi Dangarembga’s Nervous Condition. It consisted in the inscription of space in the story since the space has significant place in the narration. The concept of space for narratology is the physically existing environment in which characters live and move called commonly setting. This is defined in other words, as the general socio-historical-geographical environment in which all the actions take place and plays a major role in the meaning of the novel and affects characters’ behaviour. As a matter of fact, Western values and traditional ones, represented in these respective spaces of colonialism and tradition, have impacted the African so that they become hybridised or alienated and colonialists racist.

2024-09-06T00:00:00+00:00 ##submission.copyrightStatement## https://naturalsciences.unza.zm/index.php/ZJOCI/article/view/1267 2024-09-06T11:30:23+00:00 Bolaji Omitola adebowale.adeyeye@uniosun.edu.ng Adebowale Idowu Adeyeye adebowale.adeyeye@uniosun.edu.ng Olumide Omodunbi olumide.omodunbi@uniosun.edu.ng

Nigeria has grappled with several security challenges emanating from communal and religious conflicts, urban violence, arms smuggling, kidnapping, human trafficking, cybercrime, and armed robbery from independence. Recent Niger Delta militancy, Boko-Haram insurgency in the North-East, Fulani herdsmen, bandits attacks, kidnapping, and ritual killings have continued to wreak havoc on the country’s security landscape. Efforts to curb security challenges have seen the deployment of both conventional and unconventional measures, including the police, military and other paramilitary organisations, militias and vigilante groups. However, all these interventions are yet to produce the necessary outcomes. Thus, as a way of curbing the persistent insecurities in their states, the governors of the South-West Yoruba speaking states inaugurated the Western Nigeria Security Network Code Amotekun. Using the historical and analytical approach, the article contends that the formation of the security network despite fierce opposition by some ethnic nationalities and federal government functionaries cannot be unconnected with the successful mobilisation of the Yoruba ethnic solidarity and renaissance of common attributes. This includes the myth of common ancestry, invincibility of traditional armies and tactics as displayed in Jalumi wars and Agbekoya uprising, survival instincts, and the elite consensus among others. The article concludes that proper synergy among the Amotekun security network and state machineries would bring about the needed success with minimal suspicion.

2024-09-06T11:08:01+00:00 ##submission.copyrightStatement## https://naturalsciences.unza.zm/index.php/ZJOCI/article/view/1268 2024-09-06T11:30:28+00:00 Bestern Kaani bestern.kaani@unza.zm Malatesha R. Joshi bestern.kaani@unza.zm

Orthographic transparency has a significant impact on reading and its development. Transparent orthographies are more beneficial for the reading process compared to opaque ones. This hypothesis was explored to examine the factors contributing to reading comprehension among bilingual children in Zambia. Two groups of fourth to sixth graders were administered equivalent measures of letter discrimination, phonological awareness, word reading, pseudo-word decoding, and reading comprehension skills in both Chinyanja and English languages. The results indicated that overall, reading proficiency is influenced by the writing system. Children tested in the transparent Chinyanja orthography performed better on all sub-tests compared to their counterparts tested in English, except for phonological awareness. The predictive power of the four variables on comprehension was specific to each orthography, with high correlations within each orthography. Word reading significantly predicted English reading comprehension, while pseudo-word decoding better predicted Chinyanja comprehension. The data from the English language aligned better with the conceptualised model of reading comprehension. This finding supports Share’s (2008) argument that reading models centred on the English language cannot be universally applied across orthographies with varying levels of transparency, as the English writing system is considered an exception.

2024-09-06T11:20:42+00:00 ##submission.copyrightStatement## https://naturalsciences.unza.zm/index.php/ZJOCI/article/view/1269 2024-09-06T11:30:32+00:00 Florence Tembo flomonza@yahoo.com

We welcome you to the thirty-eighth volume of the ZANGO: Zambia Journal of Contemporary Issues. The African wisdom continue to inspire and teach the ZANGO editorial team on how to connect, learn and cooperate with scholars from all over the world, when we reflect on the words of African sages which say that When a bird builds its nest it uses the feathers of other birds. The current edition contains exciting articles on a wide range of topics drawn from studies conducted and done by scholars coming from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, the United States of America and Zambia.

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