Institutional vulnerabilities, COVID-19, resilience mechanisms and societal relationships in developing countries

Abstract

In this article the author submits that COVID-19 pandemic challenges could be utilised as an opportunity to reform government institutions to develop resilience measures that would potentially meet contemporary and future challenges. It will highlight that the current approach of institutions has failed to meet societal need. It focuses on developing countries, particularly the continent of Africa, drawing on results from a qualitative study of a justice institution of Uganda as a case study that explored how institutions coped to maintain societal relationship during the pandemic. Results suggested that, despite the pandemic challenges, institutions suffer epistemic issues that require critical examination for states to develop policies that would facilitate institutional reform to gain resilience mechanisms needed to meet contemporary and future societal challenges. A vulnerability theoretical framework is introduced and suggested as the remedy.