Browsing by Author "Ali, Mkubwa Shaali"

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    Patterns in state control of disease: the case of Tuberculosis in Zanzibar, 1890-2005
    (University of Dar es Salaam, 2009) Ali, Mkubwa Shaali
    TB has been a serious and resilient health problem in Zanzibar. It occurrence dates back to the period before British colonial rule. Both the colonial and postcolonial states introduced policies and undertook practical measures to control and exterminate this disease. The outcome, however, has not been good, as TB continues to be one of the major public health menaces in Zanzibar. In an attempt to explain the resilience of this problem, despite colonial and postcolonial interventions, this study sought relevant information from archives and through unstructured interviews. These data together with the background information gathered from secondary literature were integrated into the analysis presented here. The main argument of this study is that the TB control policies and practices of both the colonial and postcolonial states in Zanzibar were focused on cure rather than on prevention of the disease. However the emphasis on cure overlooked the fact that TB is a highly social problem, and therefore the necessity to raise people’s awareness of the nature of the disease and to deal with social and economic conditions, such as urban overcrowding, unhealthy housing and sanitary conditions and poor economic conditions among the majority of the population. Accordingly, it is argued that the failure to take into consideration these social and economic factors largely explains the resilience of TB in Zanzibar.
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    Socio-cultural setting, Political Dynamics and provision of Social Welfare in Colonial Zanzibar , 1890-1963
    (University of Dar es Salaam, 2020) Ali, Mkubwa Shaali
    This study analyses the influence of socio- cultural and political dynamics in shaping the development of social welfare services in colonial Zanzibar. It was inspired by notable research gaps in the extant literature on the provision of colonial social welfare. The existing literature is silent on how the socio-cultural and political dynamics influenced colonial social welfare and how the local population reacted to it. In an attempt to fill the gaps , the study uses a multidimensional conceptual approach and employs the qualitative method of data collection and analysis. This study argues that the dynamics driving the colonial state, the pre-existing waqf institution and the traditional social welfare practices in Zanzibar society greatly influenced the provision of colonial social welfare. The colonial government ‘s early interventions were mostly influenced by the laissez-fair policy, and they did not involve any significant initiatives to develop social welfare as it is conventionally known. The introduction of colonial development Act in 1929 saw the colonial state abandoning its laissez-faire policy, but this Act fell short of addressing the basic social welfare problems. The subsequent introduction of a colonial development and welfare Act in 1940 was a turning point in the development of social welfare as the Act support a number of social welfare initiatives. The state also intervened directly in the Waqf institution, which negatively altered its traditional role in welfare provision. Colonial welfare policies and practices also shaped the pre-existing inter-racial relations. There was also active agency of local communities in shaping the development of social welfare. The study adds new knowledge to the historiography of social welfare in Africa by bringing together socio-cultural and political forces and showing their interplay in shaping welfare policy and practices.