Leadership is one of the key driving forces for improving a firm's performance. It is assumed that the kind of leadership style employed in an organization has an impact on its overall performance. The study examined the leadership style practiced at TumaKavi Development Association (TKDA) in Northern Region of Ghana and its effect on its organizational performance. Qualitative case study design was employed. Purposive sampling was adopted to sample a total sample size of 11 respondents representing 65% of the total staff population. The study established that TKDA majorly uses democratic leadership style in its operations. It also discovered that the democratic leadership style being practiced has had an appreciable influence on the operations and performance of the organization. The results of this study also revealed that there is strong relationship between leadership style and organizational performance of TKDA. As the strength of the organization dwells much on democratic style of leadership, it is recommended that management of the organization applies more of that and mix it with other leadership styles where necessary for the organization to wax stronger within its industry.

Until recently and despite its familiarity, begging in Ghanaian cities had been considered worthy of little attention. Despite the best efforts of a few academics to highlight the motives of beggars, critical analysis of the begging phenomenon within the spectrum of urban livelihood remains embryonic. This article unpacks the complexities, degree of organization, and embedded risks in street begging involving children in Kumasi, Ghana. The article draws on empirical evidence from 55 conveniently selected child beggars from five heavily congested locations and presents extensive review of existing scholarships on the phenomenon. The results reveal that child beggars adopt varied operational strategies to woo public sympathy. Begging strategies are mapped by adult escort who also counts the money as it is made. For many, begging has increasingly become a socially and economically constituted process that mediates how they deal with poverty and livelihood challenges. The beggars are also daily exposed to risky encounters but without any protection. We argue that stopping the phenomenon will require innovative approaches that go beyond conventional legislations.

Disasters associated with Fuel service stations (FSS) in Ghana have been debated  severally and attracted policy attention, yet their mitigation strategies seem too far  off and unimaginably  unrealistic. Knowing that such disasters can limit enjoyment  of citizenship rights, Ghana has developed safety standards geared towards  mitigating their effects. Framed around the compliance theory and drawing on  data from 150 residential owners located within 15.4m buffer zone and five state  institutions, this article examined the extent of compliance with safety policies  guiding FSS in Kumasi, Ghana. The results showed that compliance with safety  policies was sinking into its bare existential levels as none of the facilities selected  for the study passed all the 11 safety standards. The facilities also negatively affected  residents who never considered their place of abode as perilous and that they  live in zones of vulnerabilities. This situation it is argued, fundamentally affects development trajectory of the contemporary African city. It obviously obscures the realities of interrelated processes shaping urban disaster management. Even  though the spring-up of FSS have catapulted economic growth, inherently they are  also hazard-ridden. We suggest that in the broad scheme of urban planning, FSS  safety policies must not be discussed in the margins.

This study investigates the factors that influence youth participation in local level governance in Ghana, a developing country. The Upper West Region was selected as a case study for this research. Through focus group discussions and in-depth interviews, as well as analysis of policy documents, the study reveals that the youth are more skillful in the use of technology and other strategic interventions to help address local, national, and global issues. Nonetheless, they are often marginalized and discriminated by their older partners at the Wa Municipal Assembly (WMA). Factors such as institutional barriers, partisan politicking, and inadequate resources account for much of the limitations placed on youth participation in the WMA. Given that the youth constitute more than half of Ghana`s population and 36% of the population of Wa, it is important to rethink the place of the youth in the management of the Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies

The COVID-19 pandemic compelled many African countries to make decisions that limited livelihood choices. This article examines how informal traders (IT) in Kumasi, Ghana responded to the COVID-19. It explores the livelihood capacities, socioeconomic, sociocultural, and sociopolitical values of informal economics. Using data from multiple sources, the purchase and sale of personal protective equipment (PPE) emerged as the dominant livelihood activity. The results show that IT innovated their way of trading, realigned livelihood activities, and created cross-sectoral networks that enhanced social cohesion. The emerging informal market catalyzed spin-off activities that linked values of the informal sector to the public, distributing agencies, producing companies, and the government. We argue that IT constitute a “natural” and “indispensable” share of Ghana's urban economic, cultural, and governance space. The values of IT expressed within and between these distinct societal spheres should be amplified in the development discourses of countries like Ghana.