Department of Social sciences
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Item GENDER, LAND OWNERSHIP AND FOOD PRODUCTION NEXUS IN MBEERE DRYLANDS, KENYA: IMPLICATIONS ON HOUSEHOLD FOOD SECURITY(2018) Mwenzwa, Ezekiel; Cheserek, Grace; Kiptui, MarkLand ownership gives an individual the confidence and dignity required to be active in society. Indeed, land ownership and rights are important for effective utilization of farmland for food production to alleviate food insecurity and revitalize household welfare and national development. While the foregoing is the ideal situation, the reality is that culture and gender dictates who owns land especially when customary laws seem to override any legal and policy provisions regarding land ownership, access and control. In particular, women are largely land caretakers, with men owning most of the land, titled or otherwise. Based on the foregoing, this paper sought to identify gender and land ownership structures in the context of dryland farming and their implications on household food security in the Mbeere drylands of Embu County. It utilized both qualitative and quantitative methods of social investigation and concluded that while many factors combine to determine food production and food security, inadequate access to and control of land and related resources by women in the Mbeere drylands is significant. Consequently and given the environmental and cultural milieu on which land is utilized, measures have been proposed to augment dryland farming and alleviate food insecurity in the Mbeere drylands.Item Gender, Land Ownership and Food Production Nexus in Mbeere Drylands, Kenya: Implications on Household Food Security(European Journal Of Social Sciences Studies, 2018) Mwenzwa, Ezekiel; Cheserek, Grace; Kiptui, MarkLand ownership gives an individual the confidence and dignity required to be active in society. Indeed, land ownership and rights are important for effective utilization of farmland for food production to alleviate food insecurity and revitalize household welfare and national development. While the foregoing is the ideal situation, the reality is that culture and gender dictates who owns land especially when customary laws seem to override any legal and policy provisions regarding land ownership, access and control. In particular, women are largely land caretakers, with men owning most of the land, titled or otherwise. Based on the foregoing, this paper sought to identify gender and land ownership structures in the context of dryland farming and their implications on household food security in the Mbeere drylands of Embu County. It utilized both qualitative and quantitative methods of social investigation and concluded that while many factors combine to determine food production and food security, inadequate access to and control of land and related resources by women in the Mbeere drylands is significant. Consequently, and given the environmental and cultural milieu on which land is utilized, measures have been proposed to augment dryland farming and alleviate food insecurity in the Mbeere drylands.Item RELATIONSHIP CHALLENGES FACING RE-INTEGRATION OF WOMEN EXOFFENDERS IN NYERI COUNTY, KENYA(2019-12) Muthee, John Mbai; Barasa, Francis O.; Adeli, ScholasticaThe comparative rate of women entering the formal correctional system and serving custodial sentences, both in prison and prison remand awaiting trial, is on the increase. This is accompanied by a similarly increasing number of women eventually exiting prisons annually. This study sought to investigate the Relationship challenges influencing re-integration of women exoffenders in Nyeri County, Kenya. Labeling and the social bond theories provided the theoretical framework. Case study design was used. With the site selection and sampling procedure being purposive, respondents were picked through snowballing until saturation was attained with a sample size of 41 women ex-convicts. The Key informants and Focused group discussants were also purposively selected. Data was collected by use of semi-structured interview schedule orally administered through personal face-to-face interviews and field sheets. The results showed that change in relationships between the ex-convicts, their families and significant members in the community were the major issues that the ex-convicts faced. Some indicated that they had good relationships while others had strained relationships, both before and during incarceration or even after release. Research on methods to smoothen the relationships between female convicts and their families and the communities they are released into is recommended in order to ameliorate the process of reentry and re-integration. Understanding relationships’ related challenges is significant in successfully reintegrating back into the community for the women returnees in the Kenyan context.Item Managerial Skills and Corporate Strategic Planning(International Journal of Management Science and Business Administration, 2016) Kiambati, Kellen; Itunga, JuliusThe aim of this study is to establish the relationship between managerial skills and corporate strategic planning. The study was premised on increased call to meticulous strategic planning in all organizations across all sectors in Kenya. A close examination of existing literature showed that very little has been done in the area of evidence-based strategic planning. Public and private institutions participated in this study. The findings showed a positive and significant relationship between managerial skills and corporate strategic planning. The implication of the findings for management is to give more attention to managerial skills.Item The Relationship between Psychosocial Preparation for Retirement and Quality of Life of Retirees in Kenya(Research Publish Journals, 2016-09) Thuku, Pauline; Maina, Lucy; Gecaga, MargaretAs the Kenya government works towards improving the Quality of life (QoL) of all people, that of retirees requires special attention. This is because they have to undergo the retirement transition that significantly influences QoL. Research has established a significant positive relationship between retirement preparation and QoL. Hence, the relevant policies and institutional frameworks to promote QoL in retirement have been put in place. However, studies show that retirees in Kenya continue to experience many challenges. This study was therefore conducted to assess the relationship between psychosocial retirement preparation and QoL with a view to delineating the significant predictors of QoL. From a target population of 4,469 retirees, ten percent was sampled for the study. Purposive, cluster, simple random and stratified random sampling methods were used to select 447 respondents. Quantitative data was collected using interview schedules and analyzed quantitatively. FGD guides were used to collect data from participants and analyzed thematically. The study found that most respondents (82.25 percent) had not adequately prepared for retirement in the psychosocial domain. Consequently, less than half (41.5 percent) of them experienced a high QoL in retirement. QoL was found to be positively related to social support and a diversity of pre-retirement activities that translated in greater satisfaction at retirement. In view of this, the study recommends that psychosocial preparation for retirement be emphasized as a critical component of the retirement preparation process.Item The Oscillating State’s Role in the Provision of Social Welfare Services in Kenya(International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 2016-05) Mwenzwa, Ezekiel Mbitha; Waweru, Sammy MwangiThe provision of social services in the global south has largely remained the role of governments with the private sector playing a peripheral role. At Kenya’s independence in 1963, provision of social services was solely the role of government. This was to remain so until the adoption of Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs) as prescribed by World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF), which called on government to roll back in provision of social services. Guided by neoliberal theory, provision of social services was later to be characterized by the introduction of user charges, cost sharing initiatives and privatization to augment the role of the private sector in this regard. However, over time Kenya has witnessed the resurgence of the state, especially during the President Mwai Kibaki era (2002-2012), in the provision of these services. Since then the Government of Kenya has continuously strengthened its role in this endeavor as it were conceived at independence. The gist of this paper is to examine the oscillation of the state in provision of social welfare services in independent Kenya. It is observed that politics has weighed heavily on the provision of social welfare services even as external prescriptive pressure has undermined state functioning in this regard. Nevertheless, increased tax collection has given Kenyan state leverage to sustain provision of welfare services. However institutionalization of welfare provision still faces challenges of resources, capacity and accountability. Finally, the paper evaluates merits and demerits of each welfare regime and recommends the way forward to revitalize provision of social welfare services and augment human welfare in the country.Item Challenges Facing Corruption Prevention Activities in Public Secondary Schools in Nakuru and Nyandarua Counties Kenya(International Journal of Recent Research in Social Sciences and Humanities, 2019-09) Ngatia, Richard; Njoka, Johannes Njagi; Ndegwa, LucyThis study sought to examine the challenges facing corruption prevention activities in public secondary schools in Nakuru and Nyandarua counties Kenya.The study was informed by the Lucifer Effect Theory. The study used the correlational research design. The target population comprised of 420 principals, 840 heads of departments, 420 bursars in public secondary schools, two county directors of education and six school auditors making a total of 1688 school respondents. The study employed the formula of Cochran to get a sample of 313 respondents while the two county directors of education and six school auditors were purposively sampled, to give a sample size of 322 respondents. Data wascollected using the questionnaire constructed on a five point Likert scale. The research instruments were Pilot tested.Data was analysed using both the descriptive and inferential statistics with the aid of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences.The study established that there was no significance difference between the challenges facing principals’ in the prevention of corruption in Nyandarua and Nakuru Counties.Item Challenges Faced by Student Leaders in Managing Student Affairs in Public Universities in Kenya(International Journal of Education & Literacy Studies, 2019-01) Murage, Lucy Muthoni; Njoka, Johannes; Gachahi, MichaelEffective management of student affairs in public universities continue to pose a major challenge to university administrators and student leaders in many parts of the world including Kenya. Public universities are perpetually ravaged by rampant incidences of student unrests and strikes yet innovative approaches meant to curb such incidences have been adopted that involved student leaders in governance of institutions of higher learning. The effectiveness of these innovative approaches in university governance is not clearly documented. The rationale of the study was to analyse the challenges faced by student leaders in managing student affairs in public universities in Kenya. The study employed descriptive survey research design. Stratified random sampling was used to select student leaders from public universities in Kenya. The sample size comprised of 19 members of student governing councils, 50 class representatives and 73 clubs and society leaders, making a total of 142 respondents. Data was collected using questionnaires. Analysed data revealed that 50.4% of the student leaders experienced challenges while executing their functions. The major challenges included conflict between academic pursuits and leadership roles, lack of teamwork among student leaders and students’ ignorance of university policies and statutes. The study further established a strong and statistically significant relationship between the challenges faced by student leaders and effective student affairs services in public universities at 0.05 levels of significant with a Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.789. The study concluded that challenges experienced by student leaders may impede effective discharge of their duties and may result in poor service delivery leading to incidences of riots. The study recommends that student leaders should be assisted to solve internal problems that may affect the effective discharge of their duties as a way of addressing unrests in public universities.Item Rent-seeking and Taxation Pilfering in Kenya: Impact on Post-colonial Economy(African Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences (AJHSS), 2019) Tarus, I.Kenyans have witnessed taxation injustice since the colonial period. At the onset, colonial taxation in Kenya materialized as an instrument of submission, governance and of economic exploitation. It is through taxation that the peasantry and the working class was formed, fashioned and captured by the state. Within the post-colonial state, and in association with the comprador bourgeoisie and the political elite, their daily discourse and clichés, skulks around - ‘Whose goat have I eaten?’ Where is the place of the subaltern citizen? Who bears the burden of taxes and who benefits from public programmes? Do taxpayers have a role in the appropriation of revenue collected? How have taxation policies affected the everyday life of the subaltern citizen? The Gramscian model of the subaltern collective marginalization by the hegemonic ruling classes and Hirschman’s representation of exit, voice and loyalty perspective guides the thinking behind this article. Do hegemonic taxpayers have exit or voice options? Retrospectively, independence did not certainly alter the parasitic nature of the colonial state. Subtle and opportunistic systems continue to be exploited by both central and county governments to project regressive taxes. This article examines the basics of taxation pilfering in Kenya and argues that the postcolonial state remains predatory, hence the urgency to deconstruct the tax regime.Item A Review of the Changing Nature of Corruption in Post-independent Kenya(African Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences (AJHSS), 2019) Osamba, J.O.Corruption continues to be a major challenge to Kenya’s socio-economic and political development. Corruption has undergone a metamorphosis over the years. In the 1960s and 1970s, corruption was referred to in terms of “ten percent” whereby senior government officials allegedly used to demand a ten percent of the cost or value of any government project or tender from the successful bidders. However, since the 1990s corruption in the country has reached unprecedented high levels. This has been evident in mega corruption scandals such as the Goldenberg and the Anglo-Leasing, among others, in which the Government lost billions of Kenya shillings in fraudulent and fictitious business deals. Corruption in the country has become a culture and it permeates all aspects of life. The government over the years seems to have lost steam in the fight against corruption. The anti-corruption structures and institutions which have been established over the years have not achieved much. With the enactment of the new constitution in 2010, corruption has been devolved to the counties with the emergence of ‘eating chiefs’ in all parts of Kenya and not only in Nairobi as was previously the case. Many Kenyans seem to have accepted corruption as fait accompli. Most studies on corruption have focused on the financial and economic losses countries incur due to the menace. Very few studies have focused on the changing nature of corruption which is the focus of this article. The objectives of the article were: to trace the forms of corruption in Kenya; examine the challenges in the war on corruption in Kenya; and to suggest effective measures that could be used in dealing with corruption and its effects. The article adopted a single exploratory case study, which was predominantly qualitative, incorporating extensive use of written documents. The study findings are: First, institutions that have been created to deal with corruption in Kenya have been largely stillborn and have demonstrated ineptitudes in dealing with corruption. Secondly, the state has failed to adopt more effective measures to effectively deal with the menace. The study contributes to the current debate on corruption and its impact on African States as outlined by Transparency International in its 2016 report.