COVID-19 has forced policy-makers to impose measures affecting citizens' fundamental rights without public consultation. This study examines citizens’ perceptions of such measures in four countries, focusing on how moral foundations and socio-demographic factors shape differing views. A survey was conducted in April-October 2021 in The Netherlands (NL), Italy (IT), Indonesia (ID) and Kenya (KE), with questions on citizens’ agreement with containment measures, plus the Moral Foundation Theory questionnaire. Univariable and multivariable multinomial logistic regression analysis was performed to examine associations between agreement levels and moral foundations/socio-demographic factors. Agreement with the government approach was at 47% in NL, 21% in IT, 58% in ID and 26% in KE. Most participants agreed with a full lockdown in NL (61.3%), IT (58.8%) and ID (82.5%) but not in KE (36.1%). Being religious increased the probability of agreeing with most containment measures. The moral foundations of care, fairness, and sanctity-purity were positively associated with the likelihood of agreeing with all measures but restricting hospital visits. Containment measures were perceived differently based on country, morals, and background. More focus is needed on the potential influence of socio-cultural contexts and overlooked dynamics when designing and communicating these measures.

In 2012, the East African Community Medicines Regulatory Harmonization (EAC-MRH) initiative was established to improve access to safe, effective, and high-quality medical products to patients in the East African region. The East African Community (EAC) Partner States, the Republic ofBurundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic ofRwanda, United Republicof Tanzania, Republic ofKenya, Republic ofSouth Sudan, and the Republic ofUganda, have a population of 290 million inhabitants. The timely access to medical products for this population was to be achieved through harmonisation of regulatory requirements, joint assessments, joint inspections of manufacturing sites, and the strengthening of regulatory systems. The aims of this study were (1) to investigate ways in which the regional initiative could be a well-coordinated and functioning regional assessment and inspection process on which national registration decisions can rely; (2) to investigate whether a sustainable semi-autonomous regional agency could provide regulatory guidance and coordination for the entire region; and (3) to propose a new and improved model for the EAC-MRH. Three established questionnaires were used to collect and analyse data on the EAC national regulatory authorities (NRAs) and EAC-MRH initiative 2020-2023: (1) The Optimising Efficiencies in Regulatory Agencies (OpERA) questionnaire was completed by senior officials in the seven authorities that were leading the medicine registration departments about their own respective NRA. The heads of authorities of these NRAs further validated the completed questionnaire, which documented the general organisation of the authorities in terms of their structure, organisation, resources, review process, and timelines. (2) The Process Effectiveness and Efficiency Rating (PEER) questionnaire was completed by the seven authorities to obtain the views of the individual medicines regulatory authorities of the EAC-MRH initiative to identify the strengths and challenges regarding the performance of the joint assessment of the EAC-MRH initiative. (3) The PEER questionnaire, modified for the pharmaceutical industry, was completed by the heads of regulatory units in the pharmaceutical companies that had used the EAC-MRH process for the review and approval of their applications. The number of applications received for joint reviews increased from nine applications in 2015 to 44 applications in 2023, and the median review time reduced from 553 calendar days in 2015 to 259 calendar days in 2023. A key benefit for pharmaceutical companies using the work-sharing initiative to apply for marketing authorisation was the reduced burden associated with the need to prepare only one application for submission and eventual access to several markets simultaneously. The EAC-MRH initiative can only be effective and efficient if the NRAs in the region are operating at an optimal level. Therefore, proposals were made to address the gaps identified in the regulatory review processes of the EAC NRAs and to improve effectiveness and efficiency. Importantly, a centralised submission and tracking process was proposed as the new and improved model for the EAC-MRH initiative.

Developed countries (e.g., USA, Germany, and France) have the unfair advantage over developing countries (e.g., Republic of the Congo, Republic of Kenya, and Sri Lanka) in imposing climate rules that enforce the use of expensive renewable energy based on flawed climate models with inflated CO2 concentrations. This review attempts to bring attention to this irregular practice by amassing empirical data from field measurements on CO2 that contradict climate models. The content is presented in two parts, (1) the “PhanDA” model and (2) the CO2─1,000 ppm limit. The “PhanDA” model-derived CO2 value by Judd et al. (2024) for the Present is ~220 ppm, which does not match the measured value of 420 ppm at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii for the Present in the Keeling Curve. During the past 50 years, the Keeling Curve shows a rapidly increasing CO2 trend, whereas the PhanDA model shows a rapidly decreasing trend. Equally important, the PhanDA model is inapplicable for the Mesozoic era ((252 Ma-66 Ma), which represents 35% of the Phanerozoic eon (539 Ma-0). There is no correlation between Temperature and CO2 during the Mesozoic, which is the underpinning of the model. Therefore, the PhanDA model and the associated assertion on the importance of CO2 on Climate Change are problematic. During a Trump-Musk Conversation on X (2024), Elon Musk claimed that when Atmospheric CO2 goes past 1,000 ppm from the current value of nearly 400 ppm at a rate of 2 ppm per year increase, it would cause headaches and nausea in humans. This is a consequential claim to human health. In addressing this vital issue, a rigorous examination of 80,302 empirical data points from 25 countries on CO2 concentration values available from direct measurements and from publications related to classrooms, conference rooms, dwellings, and aircraft cabins was carried out. This robust dataset (i.e., 46 figures and 13 tables) suggests that humans are able to function normally without adverse health effects even when CO2 concentration levels reach between 2,000 and 6,000 ppm. Further, the U.S. Government (USDA, 2024) does not consider the CO2─1,000 6limit as a health threat. In fact, the CO2 5,000 ppm is the U.S. Government’s Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL) of the daily workplace exposure. For basic physiological reasons, the concentration of CO2 in ambient air is almost irrelevant as long as it is much smaller than about 40,000 ppm, where it is in equilibrium with the optimum CO2 concentration of human blood. According to NRC (2007), 20,000 ppm is an appropriate sub chronic NOAEL (No Observed Adverse Effect Level) for headaches. Therefore, the notion that headaches supposedly associated with the 1.000 ppm limit of CO2 is a fallacy. There is no need for concern about indoor CO2 levels in classrooms, conference rooms, dwellings, and aircraft cabins.

In underdeveloped communities, achieving Sustainable Development Goal 9 (SDG9) poses significant challenges. Underdeveloped communities lack essential services such as water purification, electricity, sanitation, health facilities and many more. Inclusivity in development stands out as one of the key drivers of SDG9. It is then quite unfortunate that underdeveloped communities have been excluded in almost all aspects of development and advancement. However gloomy the situation might look, most of the challenges faced by underdeveloped communities can be overcome if engineers are to leverage Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) technologies in coming up with innovative solutions for sustainable development. In 4IR technologies lie a lot of opportunities to change lives in underdeveloped communities thereby contributing significantly to the attainment of SDG9 by the year 2030. The integration of 4IR technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), and Renewable Energy solutions offer engineers the tools to address complex challenges and create more efficient, inclusive, and sustainable infrastructure systems. This paper explored academic literature, policy documents, and reports from reputable sources such as the United Nations (UN), and relevant engineering journal articles. Findings underscore the pivotal role that engineers should play in leveraging 4IR technologies in order to advance SDG9 through the upliftment of underdeveloped communities. A case in point where engineers have leveraged 4IR technologies in order to improve the livelihoods of the backward communities is the use of mobile money platforms in place of brick and mortar banks. Examples are, Ecocash in Zimbabwe, and Mpesa in Kenya Africa. These platforms have enabled people in underdeveloped communities to access banking facilities through their mobile phones. These banking platforms do not rely on brick and mortar facilities. They are solely based on 4IR technologies.

Girls’ sexual and reproductive health is linked to numerous human rights such as the right to education, dignity, information, life, health, privacy, right against torture and discrimination as declared in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenants on Human Rights and the Kenyan Constitution (Republic of Kenya, 2010). Despite these legal linkages, reproductive health challenges such as unexpected pregnancies, HIV Aids, and risky abortion among teenagers still persist and are connected to inadequate information about sexuality and reproduction. Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) is acknowledged as a critical component in any curriculum. Despite this assertion, little attention has been given on how to enhance sex education to enhance girls’ dignity which is at stake. The study largely utilized secondary data, current methodical and meta-analysis of literature assessments were utilized for cross-validating the reviewed outcomes. Objectively, in this review, standard CSE facets are explicated, and fundamentals integral to this mode of education like curriculum designing, implementation, monitoring, evaluation in addition to theoretical viewpoints concerning CSE are delineated. The study established that Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) which is stage fitting, life skills grounded, scientifically correct, gender and culture-sensitive offers youths’ information and skills for the purpose of making knowledgeable choices in regard to their sexual relations. Conclusively, CSE is a noble commitment to improving the well-being of teens and youths. It is also a quest towards transformative learning that offers students vital skills and knowledge that will assist them in circumnavigating their associations and their wider lives collectively. It is recommended that a robust framework to guide operative CSE as a panacea to youth sexuality challenges and a general agreement to deliver CSE from a unified educational standpoint, public health, and rights dimension be initiated. This review will significantly serve as a basis for more research in the area of CSE and policy enhancement.

Vegetative desiccation tolerance has evolved within the genera Craterostigma and Lindernia. A centre of endemism and diversification for these plants appears to occur in ancient tropical montane rainforests of east Africa in Kenya and Tanzania. Lindernia subracemosa, a desiccation-sensitive relative of Craterostigma plantagineum, occurs in these rainforests and experiences adequate rainfall and thus does not require desiccation tolerance. However, sharing this inselberg habitat, another species, Lindernia brevidens, does retain vegetative desiccation tolerance and is also related to the resurrection plant C. plantagineum found in South Africa. Leaf material was collected from all three species at different stages of hydration: fully hydrated (ca. 90% relative water content), half-dry (ca. 45% relative water content) and fully desiccated (ca. 5% relative water content). Cell wall monosaccharide datasets were collected from all three species. Comprehensive microarray polymer profiling (CoMPP) was performed using ca. 27 plant cell-wall-specific antibodies and carbohydrate-binding module probes. Some differences in pectin, xyloglucan and extension epitopes were observed between the selected species. Overall, cell wall compositions were similar, suggesting that wall modifications in response to vegetative desiccation involve subtle cell wall remodelling that is not reflected by the compositional analysis and that the plants and their walls are constitutively protected against desiccation.

Abstract In the 1980s, Artemia franciscana from San Francisco Bay (SFB) was introduced into Kenyan saltworks, where it has colonized and established stable populations. However, little is known about its biology, particularly with respect to its parental SFB population. This study compared the salinity tolerances of Kenyan (KEN) population, their SFB progenitors and those of Great Salt Lake (GSL) populations. Growth and survival of these A. franciscana populations were evaluated under varying salinity levels in a laboratory set up. A. franciscana nauplii were cultured at a rate of 1 nauplii/mL in 36 Erlenmeyer flasks and fed microalgae (Chaetoceros sp.) at 1.5 × 106 cells/animal/day for 8 days. Survival was evaluated daily and survivors were fixed in individual vials with Lugol solution. The total length of each fixed A. franciscana nauplii specimen was measured under a compound microscope. All populations were susceptible to salinities greater than 100 g/L. Compared with the parental SFB population, the KEN population exhibited significantly reduced survival and growth at 140 g/L, suggesting a narrower salinity tolerance range. These findings underscore the need for further studies focusing on other physiological parameters, abiotic factors and genetic characterization to confirm whether the KEN population is experiencing ecological adaptation. This will contribute to the optimization of Artemia practices in various salinity environments as a result of climate change.

Trade in the modern world has evolved due to the liberalization and integration of the world into one unit. This has led to the practice of trade in multilateral, regional, and bilateral frameworks where states advance their diplomatic interests through negotiations, networking, regulations, and participation. Foreign trade is influenced by key regional factors like comparative advantage, level of investment, and domestic absorption rate. The study investigated the regional factors influencing bilateral trade between Kenya and South Africa, which are among the top economies in Africa and control a significant GDP within their regional trading blocs. The two nations enjoy trade under various global and regional arrangements like the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), the African Union (AU), and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Trade between Kenya and South Africa has been uneven for the last three decades, with South Africa reaping more from exports compared to Kenya. The objective of the study was to examine the regional factors influencing bilateral trade between Kenya and South Africa. The significance of the study was to add to the knowledge pool and guide policy formulation between the two states. The study focused on the nexus between regional factors and economic diplomacy between the two states from 1994 to 2023. The standard theory and Keynesian theory were used to inform the conceptual foundation for the study. The study adopted purposive sampling and simple random sampling techniques to draw a sample size of 333 participants from the study area (Republic of Kenya and South Africa High Commission in Kenya). Primary data from interviews and questionnaires and secondary data from internet materials, journal articles, and books were adopted. Data was analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software, and results were presented thematically and through verbatim quotations. The findings were presented via frequency distribution tables and percentages. The study established that comparative advantage, level of investment, and domestic absorption rate were the key regional factors affecting bilateral trade between Kenya and South Africa. The study found that South Africa has a higher competitive advantage in international trade over Kenya, characterized by a low influence of comparative advantage, a low level of investment, and a high domestic consumption rate. The study recommended that Kenya place emphasis on addressing the key regional factors by leveraging endowment factors, establishing laws to attract more FDI, and increasing technical training to improve production and ensure surpluses for export.

Access to safe drinking water is a global challenge, with approximately one-quarter of the world's population lacking such access. Kenya, like many Sub-Saharan African countries, grapples with water insecurity, leading to the establishment of water kiosks as a solution. However, such kiosks often face financial setbacks. This study examined the influence of technical designs and governance factors on the financial sustainability of community-managed borehole water kiosk services in Kisumu County, Kenya. The specific objectives were threefold. The first objective was to analyse the influence of water kiosks’ technical design and layout. The second was to examine the influence of borehole water committee governance. The final specific objective was to assess the influence of household participation in governance. A mixed-methods research design was employed, combining qualitative data from three focus group discussions with 31 water kiosk operators and quantitative data from questionnaires administered to 460 user households. Descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression were used to analyse quantitative data, while thematic analysis was used to analyse qualitative data. In the first objective, it was established that borehole kiosks that opened twice in a day (odds ratio = 3.58; p =.050) had statistical significance, while water kiosks discharging water with moderate pressure (odds ratio = 0.64; p =.070) had a statistically marginally significant influence on financial sustainability. For the second objective, the user households’ knowledge of the water committee members (odds ratio = 0.54; p =.002) and the frequency of water committee members’ meetings (odds ratio = 0.02; p =.026) were also established as statistically significant in influencing the financial sustainability of community-managed water kiosks. Finally, for the third objective, the household contributions towards the establishment of the borehole water kiosk (odds ratio = 0.01; p =.001) were established to significantly influence financial sustainability. Results from qualitative analysis triangulated these findings from statistical analysis. For instance, during the focus group discussions, the kiosk operators were equally concerned about the frequent breakdown of borehole water kiosks. Therefore, efficient service delivery and water quality maintenance are essential for financial sustainability. Furthermore, membership fees play a crucial role in providing financial support. Policymakers and stakeholders should consider these findings to develop subsequent strategies that ensure reliable access to safe drinking water not just in Kenya but across similar developing countries.

In this study, the microbiological quality of traditionally fermented milk from Northern Uganda and Western Kenya was analysed. Six samples of typical traditionally fermented milk were collected randomly from traditional cattle keepers in Karamojong (UG 1) and Acholi (UG 2) in Northern Uganda and Kalenjin in Western Kenya (KE). The microbial quality of the collected samples was assessed through the use of conventional methods for total aerobic mesophilic bacteria, total coliform, lactic acid bacteria, Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria monocytogenes, yeasts, and mould counts. The mean aerobic mesophilic bacterial counts were 5.14 × 109 coliform forming units (cfu)/mL. The mean counts for mesophilic lactobacilli ranged from 106 to 108 cfu/mL. The mean thermophilic lactobacilli count ranged from 107 to 109 cfu/mL, while the mean thermophilic lactococci counts ranged from 106 to 109 cfu/mL. On the other hand, the Streptococci counts were between 106 and 108 cfu/mL. The mean count for the non-sorbitol E. coli was 3.87 × 103 cfu/mL. These results suggest that although the pH of the traditional yoghurt in this study was low, the acidity was not sufficient to inhibit growth of microorganisms in the product. Although it is difficult to avoid the microbial contamination of milk during milking, it is of the utmost importance to maintain a very high level of hygiene in dairy farming practices, and the correct cleaning of teats during milking is very important for good udder health and optimum milk quality, and to ensure safety. The results regarding microbial contamination pose public health concerns, and therefore the appropriate government agencies must pay attention to ensure that the environment in which yoghurt is produced is in the best condition to reduce contamination.

IntroductionNational violence against children (VAC) surveys in Tanzania and Kenya reported that approximately three-quarters of children in Tanzania experienced physical violence while 45.9% of women and 56.1% of men experienced...

Interpersonal communication in the corporate world is a crucial component of support in theworkplace for employed mothers who are breastfeeding and also to the organization inensuring job satisfaction and productivity. Employee retention, morale, and overallproductivity can all be affected if commu nication is impeded or inhibited. SStudies have also shown that employed breastfeeding mothers continue to struggle on how to communicate with their immediate bosses. To understand this challenge, the primary role of this research was to establish the type of interpersonal communication used between the employed breastfeeding mothers and their managers in relation to work productivity. The study used qualitative research design with semi structured interview method of data collection. Respondents of this study were ten employed breastfeeding mothers from Isuzu East Africa Kenya who have children under four years and were working and breastfeeding at the same time within the period of the study and two supervisors who have directly supervised employed nursing mothers. Respondents were selected using the random purposeful sampling. The research findings established that the respondents used face to face and mobile or telephone communication to communicate and that technology has permeated every sphere of life and has played a significant role in revolutionizing communication strategies in general. However, face-to-face interpersonal communication reigns supreme in a situation where a section of the workforce require special consideration.Key words: Interpersonal communication, support, employed breastfeeding mothers and work productivity.

Learning outcomes The learning outcomes are as follows: to explore the challenges associated with Information System Project Management; to explore how to navigate certain Information System Project Management challenges and make recommendations on how to address them; and to evaluate the application of user-centred design. Case overview/synopsis This case looks at the small to medium enterprises (SMEs) Digitisation project that was initiated by Dr Ndiege, Assistant Professor of Information Systems, and a team of faculty at the School of Science and Technology, United States International University – Africa in Kenya. Dr Ndiege is considering the project in September 2020 and its future viability. The project called for computer science students to voluntarily assist in developing an online presence for local SMEs. The idea is to help cushion them against the shocks of the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr Ndiege looks at the details of the project through the eyes of team leader Sylvie Sarabwe and her encounters on the project. She leads a team of four students in a user-centered design to develop a website for social enterprise Kraft Therapy Foundation (KTF), located in Kibera slums within Nairobi County, Kenya. Sylvie must navigate the client relationship with KTF. But she soon starts to experience the difficulties involved with navigating this process. For Sylvie, it quickly dawns on her that a user-centred design project requires both hard and the soft skills to successfully deliver the final project. By the conclusion of the case, Dr Ndiege recognises the multitude of issues that this project ultimately faces. Complexity academic level The primary target audience for this teaching case is undergraduate information technology students, especially students in software application design and project management with little or no work experience. The case is clearly structured and the length of the case lends itself to the audience. It does not contain excessive or irrelevant information. Hence, learners have more time to focus on the application questions presented. Supplementary materials Teaching notes are available for educators only. Subject code CSS 7: Management Science.

According to (Walmsley, 2016: 2), Kenya is ranking high in the rates of prison overcrowding owing to continued relapse into crime by the ex-offenders. The total prison population in Kenya, comprising pre-trial inmates and remand prisoners, was 57 000 as of August 2016 (Walmsley, 2016: 2). Kenya has one hundred and eight prison institutions with a design capacity of 26 757 prisoners. This translates to an occupancy level of 213 percent, which is one of the highest in the world and confirms the fact that there is overcrowding in Kenyan prisons. According to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics Report (Republic of Kenya, 2017: 272), repeat offenders accounted for 25,8 percent of the Kenyan prison population. In direct correlation with this high level of confinement, the country annually also discharges some 255 000 convicted and non-convicted inmates back into various communities across the country. This pattern indicates that offenders do not leave criminality and yet government resources are continuously being spent in trying to reform convicted offenders. This study sought to investigate the relationship between offender characteristics and recidivism in Kakamega County, Kenya. Specifically, the influence of gender, age at the time of imprisonment, educational level, employment status, accommodation, romantic relationships, children, peer relationships, prior criminal records, criminal record and alcohol consumption on recidivism were interrogated. The study adopted a survey research design in which 384 recidivists were sampled to take part in the study as respondents. Besides the recidivist, 25 Prison Officers,13 Probation Officers, 27 family members of recidivists, and 18 community members from the neighbourhoods of recidivists bringing the target sample to 467 respondents. Both probabilistic and non-probabilistic sampling techniques were used in sample selection. Data from respondents was collected using a questionnaire that was tested for validity and reliability prior to the actual data collection. Factor analysis was used to ascertain validity while Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient of reliability was used to ascertain reliability of the questionnaire. Findings revealed a significant relationship between individual characteristics and recidivism among released prisoners in Kakamega County (r=0.669; P< 0.01). Regression analysis revealed that offender characteristics were significant predictors of recidivism with an R squared value of 0.237 implying that offender characteristics account for 23.7% of the variance in recidivism among sampled offenders. From the study, it is recommended that treatment plans drawn by correctional officers should take into account the individual characteristics of released offenders since there is a strong association between individual characteristics of offenders and recidivism. Key Words: Offender Characteristics, Recidivism DOI: 10.7176/PPAR/12-1-06 Publication date: February 28 th 2022

Progress Update: Palliative Care Development Between 2017 and 2020 in Five African Countries

Urinary tract infection (UTI) develops after a pathogen adheres to the inner lining of the urinary tract. Cases of UTIs are predominantly caused by several Gram-negative bacteria and account for high morbidity in the clinical and community settings. Of greater concern are the strains carrying antimicrobial resistance (AMR)-conferring genes. The gravity of a UTI is also determined by a spectrum of other virulence factors. This study represents a pilot project to investigate the burden of AMR among uropathogens in East Africa. We examined bacterial samples isolated in 2017–2018 from in- and out-patients in Kenya (KY) and Uganda (UG) that presented with clinical symptoms of UTI. We reconstructed the evolutionary history of the strains, investigated their population structure, and performed comparative analysis their pangenome contents. We found 55 Escherichia coli and 19 Klebsiella pneumoniae strains confirmed uropathogenic following screening for the prevalence of UTI virulence genes including fimH, iutA, feoA/B/C, mrkD, and foc. We identified 18 different sequence types in E. coli population while all K. pneumoniae strains belong to ST11. The most prevalent E. coli sequence types were ST131 (26%), ST335/1193 (10%), and ST10 (6%). Diverse plasmid types were observed in both collections such as Incompatibility (IncF/IncH/IncQ1/IncX4) and Col groups. Pangenome analysis of each set revealed a total of 2862 and 3464 genes comprised the core genome of E. coli and K. pneumoniae population, respectively. Among these are acquired AMR determinants including fluoroquinolone resistance-conferring genes aac(3)-Ib-cr and other significant genes: aad, tet, sul1, sul2, and cat, which are associated with aminoglycoside, tetracycline, sulfonamide, and chloramphenicol resistance, respectively. Accessory genomes of both species collections were detected several β-lactamase genes, blaCTX-M, blaTEM and blaOXA, or blaNDM. Overall, 93% are multi-drug resistant in the E. coli collection while 100% of the K. pneumoniae strains contained genes that are associated with resistance to three or more antibiotic classes. Our findings illustrate the abundant acquired resistome and virulome repertoire in uropathogenic E. coli and K. pneumoniae, which are mainly disseminated via clonal and horizontal transfer, circulating in the East African region. We further demonstrate here that routine genomic surveillance is necessary for high-resolution bacterial epidemiology of these important AMR pathogens.

This article drew from prominent Kenyan novelist-writer, Ngúgí wa Thiong’o’s personal history on the World Wars and their legacies in Africa and on the affairs of Africans, with a focus on East Africa, and especially his country of Kenya. Ngúgí, whose birth in 1938 and childhood years were on the cusp of the World War II (WWII), reveals that the likes of his father who dodged conscription into Britain’s Carrier Corps in the first War, and the conscription of his two elder brothers—one of whom died in service while the other returned home alive—for military service in WWII constitute significant and relevance issues for careful exploration on the subject matter of both World Wars and their legacies on the African continent. So are the various actors whose advent as actors in the affairs of Africans and others in East Africa is directly linked to World Wars I and II. Those would include the likes of Carey Francis, who came on in 1940 as the principal of the exclusive all-boys Alliance High where a generation of Kenyans that included Ngúgí received British-style public school education, Evelyn Baring, the then colonial governor-general of Kenya who superintended the imposition of the State of Emergency in Kenya, in the period 1952–1959, and even Idi Amin, a rank and file African enlistee in the King’s African Rifles (KAR) in the aftermath of the World War II. Amin and his ilk were deeply involved in the highly repressive British-led campaign during the State of Emergency in Kenya that led to the death of many of their fellow Africans. It is also noteworthy that as a soldier and subsequently, Amin became a central actor in the politics of post-independence Uganda sequel to his overthrow of Milton Obote’s government in a 1971 military coup d’état. The spiraling violence that Amin’s advent enhanced in Uganda’s body politic remains a recurrent feature of governance in that East African state. The analytical reconstruct that emerged in the article is illuminated with elements of C. Wright Mills’ age-old and all-time relevant original theory-rich methodological construct, “the sociological imagination” as the theoretical framework.

As many regions in sub-Saharan Africa, the border region of Kenya (KE) and Uganda (UG) has faced a declining soil fertility for decades, resulting from soil erosion, intensely managed agricultural soils due to population pressure and small inputs of mineral and organic fertilizers. With limited financial means, farmers need measures and/or technologies that effectively reduce nutrient losses or increase inputs at a low cost. In this study, four such measures are in focus, namely erosion reduction practices, vermicomposting of animal manure, collection of human urine in jerry cans and, collection of human excreta in urine-diverting dry toilets. Current soil nutrient balances in five districts in the Sio-Malaba-Malakisi River Basin and the potential of these measures to reduce the soil nutrient deficit are studied using the method of material flow analysis and the software STAN. Furthermore, crop-nutrient-response functions are used to determine their potential impact on maize harvests. Overall, results reveal that there exists a non-negligible and exploitable potential of local resources to reduce the soil nutrient deficit, improve harvests and in turn food security of the smallholder farmers in the region. Soil nutrient deficits could be reduced by 20–30%, 23–42% and 9–15% for nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K), respectively. Subsequently, maize harvests could be increased by 8–40%, depending on the applied technology and area. This research provides useful insights for agricultural extension workers, politicians and researchers alike, highlighting that simple and easily available technologies can harness similar amounts of nutrients as more complex and expensive ones if all specific technology-constraints are adequately incorporated in the analyses.

As SDG7-related interventions seek to transform access to clean energy, this paper presents an analysis of both a previous transformative intervention (Lighting Africa) and a theoretical approach to understanding how such transformations can be achieved in the Global South (socio-technical innovation system, STIS, building). The paper makes four contributions. First, it tests the extent to which the STIS-building concept is useful in understanding and conceptualising how Lighting Africa transformed the market for solar lanterns in Kenya from an estimated market size of 29,000 lamps in 2009 to one where 680,000 Lighting Africa certified lamps were sold in Kenya by the end of the Programme in 2013. Second, it presents the most in-depth analysis of Lighting Africa that we are aware of to date. Third, it presents a conceptual framework that illustrates the Lighting Africa approach, providing a framework for future policy interventions aiming to transform access to clean energy technologies in the Global South. Fourth, it reflects on weaknesses in the STIS approach. In particular, these include a need to better attend to: the gendered implications of interventions (and social justice more broadly); implications of different scales of technologies; value accumulation and the extent to which interventions benefit indigenous actors and local economies; and the political and economic implications of any intervention and its distribution of benefits.

Comparative analysis of triple-negative breast cancer transcriptomics of Kenyan, African American and Caucasian Women