In October 2014, the news of the death of Ali Mazrui spread quickly in New York and around the world, marking the loss of an extraordinary mind. Mazrui was born in Kenya in 1933. His major intellectual contribution is his interpretation of Africa as a product of what he called ‘the triple heritage – Africa’s indigenous values, Islam, and the Western legacy’. Indeed, he was the first African in history to do a nine-hour global television series, shown in many countries in a blaze of controversy and publicity, especially in the US and UK, translated into several languages, and seen by millions worldwide. The television series is called The Africans: A Triple Heritage (Mazrui 1986a). A quick online search reveals that his ideas continue to inspire and influence people even today. By the time he died, Mazrui had also authored 58 books and 679 academic articles. This essay explores Mazrui as a prolific writer, examining the motivations for his extensive writing, the themes he addressed in his writing, and his unique writing style. By delving into these aspects of Mazrui’s scholarship, we can deepen our understanding of his diverse interests and intellectual expression as well as uncover inspiring and valuable insights into his enduring relevance.

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This study critically examines the challenges of regulating traditional herbal medicine in Ghana, highlighting the epistemic tensions between indigenous healing systems and biomedical regulatory frameworks. Drawing on Comtean theory, it explores how traditional practitioners, whose knowledge is rooted in experience and community validation, are regulated by the biomedical standards of professionalism. The study identifies key barriers to pharmacovigilance, including informal ‘one-man business’ models, a lack of standardised formulations, and fragmented oversight. It further questions the state’s attempt to professionalise traditional medicine through higher education, revealing that broad, non-specialised curricula and structural constraints lead many graduates to pursue careers outside herbal medicine. These findings underscore the limitations of policy models that privilege scientific rationality over indigenous epistemologies. The study argues for a more inclusive regulatory approach that valorises traditional knowledge, fosters epistemic pluralism, and enables meaningful integration into Ghana’s health system. Effective regulation must reconcile diverse ways of knowing to ensure safety, legitimacy, and sustainability in traditional medicine practice.

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In September 2025, relying on Article 146(9) of Ghana’s Constitution, Ghana’s president removed the country’s Chief Justice (CJ). Unusually, the act of the president did not draw criticism from the religious bodies and traditional political figures, as stakeholders of democratic governance. However, the opposition party raised concerns about a breach in the principle of separation of powers and suggested a need to revise the constitutional provision that empowers the president to appoint the CJ. Using the case of the CJ, I discuss decentralization by exploring three mutually related questions: First, how can the CJ whose appointment heavily depends on the president of Ghana, manage his or her function as a major branch of government in a way that moves beyond presidentialism to emphasize the importance of separation of powers and checks and balances? Second, how can the CJ draw on the support of the mainstay institutions of public governance? Third, what role does the CJ oath play in ensuring effective decentralization of power? Addressing these questions, the purpose of this paper is to argue that both the independence of the CJ and the support the office draws from the public is intimately aligned with the CJ’s fidelity to his or her oath of office.

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It is not merely what is visible that defines politics in much of Africa; rather, it is the hidden and unspoken layers that demand attention. To grasp the forces shaping the democratic façade in Uganda— and across the continent—we must unravel the informal and often invisible threads that sustain clientelistic relations. In this study, I examine the subtle yet powerful dynamics that construct networks of trust within which anti-democratic practices endure and flourish. These undercurrents are essential for decoding power operations that extend beyond formal institutions. Clientelism is framed as a political evil perpetuated by ‘big men’ exploiting vulnerable ‘small people’; nonetheless, in Uganda, it constitutes a normalised, reproduced, and routinised system embedded within the state. I explain how clientelistic relations are tolerated and reproduced by the populations they exclude, transforming marginalisation into legitimate political transactions. Drawing on content analysis and autoethnographic reflections from over a decade of service in Uganda’s public sector, this study unpacks the cultural logic and informal networks that sustain regime survival. It examines how public goods—jobs, services, and political representation—are converted into private favours. Ultimately, this work invites a reconsideration of how exclusion persists not through the absence of participation but through its reproduction.

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Child malnutrition is a major public health problem in Tanzania that significantly contributes to infant mortality. To address this issue, the Tanzania Food and Nutrition Centre (TFNC) has developed a nutritional food for weaning children called Lishe. Local processors have adopted this product and sold it as a supplementary food. In this study, a questionnaire was administered to 15 women with small children in Village A and 13 in Villages B and C in the rural Morogoro district of Tanzania in March and August 2025 regarding their preparation and purchasing of Lishe. Their opinions on Lishe and its impact on their children’s health was also investigated. The results indicated that the majority of women were familiar with Lishe. Among them, 60–70% learned about Lishe from health service workers, while the remaining women learned about it from friends and relatives. Most of the women (80%) in Village A and 30.8% women each in Village B and C prepared Lishe themselves, while in the latter villages, several women purchased Lishe from shops. Regarding impact, 60–70% of respondents across all villages believed supplementary foods positively impacted their children’s health. This study suggests that while traditional diets can enable a balanced nutrition, more advocacy regarding children’s diets is needed to improve child nutrition in Tanzania.

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This study aimed to understand the different community-based approaches used to engage local communities in solid waste management (SWM). A qualitative research methodology was employed with ten respondents. Primary data were collected through semi-structured interviews, and secondary data were collected from desk reviews of books, reports, journals, and articles. These findings indicate that Gasaka residents have mixed perceptions towards the responsibility of SWM. Many view it as the collective responsibility of producers, the government, NGOs, and waste management companies, whereas others believe it is solely the government’s duty. Common strategies used to encourage community participation in SWM include football tournaments, weekly community activities, meetings, and the implementation of paid SWM services. However, efforts to engage the community face several challenges, including low technical ability, limited financial opportunities, and few SWM companies in Gasaka. The outcomes suggest that the local government and other local actors should make greater efforts to increase awareness using local modes of communication, strengthen existing collaboration, and provide technical expertise.

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Urban farming in Lusaka, the capital of Zambia, has been progressively shaped by the politics of waste, predominantly through the informal use of effluent for irrigation. This systematic review brings together empirical and theoretical research on the political economy of sewer water usage in urban agriculture schemes with a focus on access, undercurrents of power, governance, and health–ecological trade-offs. Drawing on studies conducted in Lusaka and similar urban settings in the Global South, this review highlights patterns in how wastewater is accessed and disputed, how governance structures influence usage, and how growers circumnavigate related risks. Effluent is a vital survival resource; however, using it exposes growers and customers to health hazards that are ineffectively addressed by public health schemes and extension services. Governance responses continue to be disjointed with civic authorities, traditional leaders, and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) adopting irregular or ad hoc approaches. Thus, effluent is both a livelihood enabler and a marker of marginalisation, exemplifying broader struggles over urban informality, environmental justice, and infrastructure politics. The findings provide a critical understanding of urban informality, ecological justice, and the sociopolitical life of infrastructure in African metropolitan areas.

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The peri-urban forests in Africa are vital for the climate resilience of cities, but face significant threats from charcoal production, which degrades ecosystems and increases greenhouse gas emissions. This study focused on the Ntouessong locality in the northern part of Yaoundé, aiming to identify the main tree species used for charcoal, analyse production methods, and assess annual production quantities. We conducted focus group discussions and semi-structured surveys across four villages in the area. This study identified the key charcoal species including Margaritaria discoidea, Cylicodiscus gabunense, and Sclerocarya birrea. Due to the high level of forest degradation, charcoal producers no longer distinguish between species and tree categories. The predominant method of production was the smokestack. The results indicated that approximately 496.23 tonnes of charcoal were produced annually, generating 58,380 and 70,056 USD (29,190,000 and 35,028,000 CFA Francs, respectively). To address the impact of charcoal production in Ntouessong, sustainable management strategies are essential, including eco-friendly training for producers, legal organisations, and networking, to preserve biodiversity and support community resilience.

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