110 Book Reviews
The Political Economy of Information on Development, Democracy & Security
in Southern Africa, Maurice Lundu (ed), SAPES Books, Harare, 1996,
ISBN: 1-77905-43-7,179 pp, inc index (p/b). Price N/K.
The Political Economy ofInformation on Development, Democracy &Security in
Southern Africa is a welcome piece of work both in terms of informing the public
about the crucial role of information in a democratic society, and as a basis for
further research in the area. It is quite a unique book in the sense that it attempts to
investigate the issue from various perspectives. This kind of work required experts
in various fields; as such it not only presents the views and observations of the
'Traditional Information Workers,' but also those of professional experts.
In the first chapter Abate presents the conceptual framework of the problem. He
starts by giving an overview of what he calls the three most important challenges
facing the Southern African region, namely: development, democracy and governance,
and security. Next, he looks at what he refers to as the "information
problematique" and identifies various subdivisions, such as: definition of information;
ideological dimensions; institutional-cum-infrastructural dimensions; the
political economy of information in the context of underdevelopment; and the need
for extensive research into the area. As a background to what needs to be done, it
is fairly well presented. Itshould be pointed out, however, that with the attainment
of majority rule in South Africa, some of the issues need to be examined in a new
setting, hence the need for further research.
Zwizwai's study examines the process of information generation, dissemination
and consumption related to the economic reform and structural adjustment
programme in Zimbabwe. The study assesses the adequacy and quality of information
generated by and disseminated to the various parties in society. It also
examines the extent to which the government, through legislation, protects the
information rights of society, both on paper and in practice; and the information
infrastructure between the government and the donor community. Among its
findings, the study established that the people were not informed enough about the
merits and demerits of the structural adjustment programme. As is the case with
many other government projects, the validity of these findings would not be
doubted.
The next chapter is on information for manufacturing and foreign trade in
Zimbabwe, and the study has four objectives, namely: identifying and discussing
the information requirements and outputs of key players; ana lysing the requirements
and outputs in order to determine the existence of obligations, choices and
rights to information; considering the methods and mechanisms used to generate
and disseminate information and discussing their shortcomings in the fulfilment of
other key players' rights; and highlighting key problems on the flow of information
Book Reviews 111
and recommending areas needing further examination. Chawira concludes that
infonnation docs not reach its intended audiences and believes that there is a need
for further research into how best the manufacturing and foreign trade sector can
be provided with appropriate information.
Dcve and Dcrges look at lllfonnation for economic, social and cultural equity
in Southern Africa and both contend that this equity does not exist. Deve, for
example, argues that, these economic and social inequalities are based on racial
lines, whereby the minority peoples of European descent are beuer-off than the
majority of African descent. This isexplained in terms of access to and control over
infonnation. The authors believe that to attain a reasonable degree of equity,
peoples' strategic concerns, classified basically as access to clean water, decent
food, health care and education, should be placed on the information agenda.
Dcrges points out that the state seems not to see the importance of information in
relation to the promotion of cultural equity. This is evidenced by the absence of
well-articulated information policies; and the lack of adequate investment of
resources to develop the information sector for the promotion of culture. She
further states that SADC existed for fifteen years before the establishment of a
culture and information sector.
Lundu and Likubangwa examine theconcept of 'Information isPower' and how
this affected the privatisation of the copper mining industry in Zambia. They start
by presenting the history of the mining industry in Zambia; the change in policy
direction at the beginning of the new political dispensation; and a general analysis
of technical, economic and social issues. They then proceed to discuss the
infonnation scenario with regard to the copper mining industry; with a systematic
presentation of the six parameters of theinformation problematique outlined in the
research methodology. The fmdings of the study indicate that the government did
not conform to all these six parameters in their handling of privatisation.
Mugwara discusses information for food security in Southern Africa and his
fmdings show that there is inadequate information on water resources and needs,
household food security and the use of indigenousknowledge. Herecommends the
establishment of a regional information system on food security. The chapter,
however, does not touch much on the subject of information in the context of the
information problematique.
In the conclusion, Lundu contends that policy-makers, political functionaries,
business executives and leaders of academic and research institutions must
endeavour to make use of information generated, produced and disseminated
within the region; and he views this as the cardinal point upon which information
across borders in the Southern African region beyond the year 2000 should be
conceptualised and developed.
112 Book Reviews
Asmentioned in the introduction, the book has generally set the stage for further
research in the field of the political economy of information and how it affects
development, democracy and security in Southern Africa. One serious weakness,
though, is the lack of consistency in the way the research was carried out as
reflected in the way the results have been presented. In fact, the observation made
in the preface that only two researchers pursued the investigation in a consistent
and systematic manner is very correct. Some papers went so much away from the
locus of the study that they ended up saying very little about the problem that they
were set to address.
Of importance also are some errors that may have originated from either the
editing process or the printing process - such as incorrect citations and titles for
some articles. Otherwise this is a book worth reading.
Reviewed by Bright Nkhatha, Librarian. SAPES Trust. POBox MP Ill, Mount
Pleasant, Harare. Acknowledgements to SAPEM. Vol 10 No 1 1996 where this
review originally appeared.
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