Process In Kenya Research Articles

Critique of the Teachers’ Performance Appraisal and Development Tool of Evaluation in Kenya with Reference to the Socratic Pedagogy

Teachers’ appraisal is key to enhancing their professionalism, which translates to effective curriculum implementation. This paper sought to evaluate the Teachers Performance Appraisal and Development (TPAD) process in Kenya with a view to identifying its challenges and suggesting ways of enhancing it. The study took a philosophical approach, subjecting the teachers’ appraisal process to criticism in light of the Socratic Pedagogical theory. The study established eleven errors that riddle the teachers’ appraisal process. These are the errors of strictness, leniency, central tendency, halo effect, recency of events, failure by participants to identify professional development gaps, failure by participants to attend the appraisal meetings, subjectivity nature of the TPAD appraisal process, alienation of some participants from the appraisal process and passive participation of some participants.The study utilized the six tenets of Socratic Pedagogy (participatory, dialectical, conversational, inquisitive, rational and practical tenets), interpreted to constitute the soul of the TPAD appraisal process, to fix the aforementioned errors. Therefore, the study recommended that the TPAD online system be reconfigured so that the appraisal process could be in tandem with the soul of the appraisal process.

Reviewing the constitution-making process in Kenya: The failure of the 2005 constituent process

Abstract Kenya began its democratic era after its declaration of independence and the adoption of its first constitution in 1963. However, this supreme norm of the country would undergo countless reforms by the political elites from the very beginning, mostly to satisfy the partisan demands of the political leaders of the moment. These reforms succeeded in transforming the initially democratic model into an authoritarian, one-party system. After two decades of corruption and abuses of power, political changes in the country, and a wave of democratization after the fall of the Berlin Wall fueled the popular clamor for constitutional change. This article analyses the development of the constitution-making process, which began with the first constitutional amendments introduced to the constitution of the independence, as well as the main factors that led to the rejection of a new draft constitution in the ratification referendum held on November 21, 2005. A key element contributing to the failure of the whole process is the strong influence of political forces in the process, all using partisan methods to achieve perceived political advantages.

Land administration domain model profile for Kenya

Developing a Land Administration Domain Model (LADM) profile for a country is an important process. This enables sound management of land and facilitates complete Land Administration covering cadaster, registry, valuation, taxation and land use. By considering the current processes in that country, their legal or customary framework, an ideal model can be developed. Kenya has four requirements that were identified and addressed as key considerations. The ISO LADM packages and sub package were considered necessary, while most classes were adopted with additional attributes, code lists and multiplicities. Expert opinion on the model was solicited to inform and validate the model. The model presents a starting point for modernizing and completing the land administration process in Kenya. The modernization includes data exchange and interoperability, data and system integration, deployment model, workflows, capacity development and change management .

Exploring Co-Regulation as a Solution to Automated Disinformation in Kenya

This paper discusses automated disinformation on social media in Kenya and its impact on democracy. Automated disinformation refers to disinformation that is exacerbated by the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and related emerging technologies, including algorithms and bots. The paper considers the electoral process in Kenya as a case study to highlight the threats that automated disinformation poses to the democratic process and proposes co-regulation as the way forward. Specifically, it reviews the impacts of automated disinformation on democracy including the negative effect on the availability of reliable and accurate information to enlighten the social media users’ political choices and the effect on the exercise of political will, public opinion, and democracy. The objective of this research is to provide policy recommendations to the relevant stakeholders on tackling the challenge of widespread automated disinformation perpetuated by social media users in Kenya whilst respecting fundamental human rights and promoting democracy. The author discusses the regulatory framework applicable to the information disorder phenomenon including those relevant to the exercise of the freedom of expression and access to information, noting that these rights play a significant role in strengthening democracy. This paper also considers the nascent regulation of AI and undertakes an analysis of how effective regulation can counter the widespread automated disinformation on social media platforms.

A youth-centred approach to improving engagement in HIV services: human-centred design methods and outcomes in a research trial in Kisumu County, Kenya

IntroductionInnovative interventions are needed to improve HIV outcomes among adolescents and young adults (AYAs) living with HIV. Engaging AYAs in intervention development could increase effectiveness and youth acceptance, yet research...

Factors influencing institutionalization of health technology assessment in Kenya

BackgroundThere is a global interest in institutionalizing health technology assessment (HTA) as an approach for explicit healthcare priority-setting. Institutionalization of HTA refers to the process of conducting and utilizing HTA as a normative practice for guiding resource allocation decisions within the health system. In this study, we aimed to examine the factors that were influencing institutionalization of HTA in Kenya.MethodsWe conducted a qualitative case study using document reviews and in-depth interviews with 30 participants involved in the HTA institutionalization process in Kenya. We used a thematic approach to analyze the data.ResultsWe found that institutionalization of HTA in Kenya was being supported by factors such as establishment of organizational structures for HTA; availability of legal frameworks and policies on HTA; increasing availability of awareness creation and capacity-building initiatives for HTA; policymakers’ interests in universal health coverage and optimal allocation of resources; technocrats’ interests in evidence-based processes; presence of international collaboration for HTA; and lastly, involvement of bilateral agencies. On the other hand, institutionalization of HTA was being undermined by limited availability of skilled human resources, financial resources, and information resources for HTA; lack of HTA guidelines and decision-making frameworks; limited HTA awareness among subnational stakeholders; and industries’ interests in safeguarding their revenue.ConclusionsKenya’s Ministry of Health can facilitate institutionalization of HTA by adopting a systemic approach that involves: - (a) introducing long-term capacity-building initiatives to strengthen human and technical capacity for HTA; (b) earmarking national health budgets to ensure adequate financial resources for HTA; (c) introducing a cost database and promoting timely data collection to ensure availability of data for HTA; (d) developing context specific HTA guidelines and decision-making frameworks to facilitate HTA processes; (e) conducting deeper advocacy to strengthen HTA awareness among subnational stakeholders; and (f) managing stakeholders’ interests to minimize opposition to institutionalization of HTA.

Importance of citizen participation in the election process in Kenya

After the repeal of Section 2A of the former constitution in 1992, which led to the pluralization of the country's politics, the stakes of all subsequent general elections have required the contribution of every individual to achieve a desired outcome. This has manifested itself during campaigns and the inclusion of different groups, such as women, men, youth, and persons living with disabilities. The thematic areas that highlight the significance of citizen participation in an election have been identified in this paper. These areas include avoiding post-election conflicts and violence, representing the citizens' ideas and aspirations, promoting inclusivity and eliminating marginalization, enhancing the legitimacy of the election, selecting office bearers, and serving as a catalyst for the nation's development. The paper emphasizes that in order to make meaningful strides towards cherishing and achieving national unity and tranquility, it is imperative to provide every person with an equal chance without prejudice.

Sentiment Analysis Model for Public Participation Forums in County Governments

Public participation is important because it helps to close the gap between the public, private sector and the government. However, a successful devolution process in Kenya is hampered by a lack of/inadequate public participation in county governments. Communications gaps are one of the arguments made for this development. The main objective of the study was to develop a sentiment analysis model for use in public participation forums in County Governments in Kenya. The study was conducted through the design thinking process. The population of interest of this study comprised of county management and staff also area residents in Nakuru, Busia and Baringo counties who have participated in public participation forums before. The Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers (BERT) approach was used to create the cloud NLP package and obtain user sentiment magnitudes for the sentiment analysis model. Following that, cross validation was utilized to assess the performance indicators during the design stage, and users took part in the model's assessment. The overall conclusion of validation is that the model performed as expected and recorded instrumental results in increasing effective public participation in county governments in Kenya and strengthen the devolution process. This study recommends that the model can be cascaded to all the counties in Kenya to improve the efficiency of public participation.

Presidential Veto in the Law-Making Process: The Case of Kenya's Amendatory Recommendations

AbstractThis article contends that the interpretation of article 115 of the Constitution of Kenya as providing for amendatory recommendations as a form of presidential veto to legislative bills is a departure from the common negative veto to bills which was the form envisaged by the drafters of the Constitution. Moreover, it is argued that the interpretation that article 115 of the Constitution allows the president to make positive legislative recommendations which can only be overridden by two-thirds of members of the legislature has transformed the president into the most decisive player in the legislative process in Kenya. The overarching contention of this article is that allowing the president to make positive legislative recommendations that can only be overridden by two-thirds of members of the legislature goes against the goal of tempering presidential powers, which was one of the animating goals that informed the quest for constitutional change in Kenya.

Ethical Awareness of University Students in Online English Language and Linguistics Classes During COVID-19 Era in Kenya

The advent of Corona Virus Disease (Covid-19) has disrupted the teaching, learning, and research process in Kenya in an unprecedented manner. Many of these learning institutions resorted to online teaching-learning processes due to the Covid-19 pandemic. A number of the education institutions installed or reactivated their already existing learning management system (LMS) to continue with remote learning. Data was collected using questionnaire and a regression test was run that shows low level of ethical awareness by e-learning students. The study used pluralism as a theoretical framework and this showed that there is need to raise the students’ ethical awareness and change the model from looking for students who ‘cheat’ to empower them as moral agents to make the correct ethical choices

Factors Influencing the Compliance with Decent Work in Coffee Production and Primary Processing in Kenya

Factors Influencing the Compliance with Decent Work in Coffee Production and Primary Processing in Kenya

Decision-making process for introduction of maternal vaccines in Kenya, 2017\u20132018

BackgroundMaternal immunization is a key strategy for reducing morbidity and mortality associated with infectious diseases in mothers and their newborns. Recent developments in the science and safety of maternal vaccinations have made possible development of new maternal vaccines ready for introduction in low- and middle-income countries. Decisions at the policy level remain the entry point for maternal immunization programs. We describe the policy and decision-making process in Kenya for the introduction of new vaccines, with particular emphasis on maternal vaccines, and identify opportunities to improve vaccine policy formulation and implementation process.MethodsWe conducted 29 formal interviews with government officials and policy makers, including high-level officials at the Kenya National Immunization Technical Advisory Group, and Ministry of Health officials at national and county levels. All interviews were recorded and transcribed. We analyzed the qualitative data using NVivo 11.0 software.ResultsAll key informants understood the vaccine policy formulation and implementation processes, although national officials appeared more informed compared to county officials. County officials reported feeling left out of policy development. The recent health system decentralization had both positive and negative impacts on the policy process; however, the negative impacts outweighed the positive impacts. Other factors outside vaccine policy environment such as rumours, sociocultural practices, and anti-vaccine campaigns influenced the policy development and implementation process.ConclusionsPublic policy development process is complex and multifaceted by its nature. As Kenya prepares for introduction of other maternal vaccines, it is important that the identified policy gaps and challenges are addressed.

Media, Elections, and Ethnopolitics in Kenya: In the 2017 Elections Reportage, Ethnicity still Mattered

This study examined the value of ethnopolitics during media reporting of the 2017 electoral process in Kenya. The study relied on the political economy of media theory by Vincent Mosco the propaganda theory by Herman and Chomsky and the theory of agenda-setting by McCombs and Shaw. The study used descriptive research design with the population of the study drawn from Nakuru Town Sub-County. Our research relied on observation schedules to obtain data from the televised political analyses shows and propaganda political videos clip. Interview schedules were used for media practitioners (editors, reporters and media sellers) and politicians (MPs and MCAs), while unstructured questionnaires were used for the media consumers (audience). All qualitative data were processed and analysed using the critical interpretative approach, while the quantitative data were presented descriptively in tables, graphs, charts and percentages generated using SPSS software. The study findings indicated that during the 2017 electoral process in Kenya, political players used ethnopolitics to capture extensive media coverage. Similarly, there was a direct influence of ethnopolitics and ethnopolitical journalism on the media consumer knowledge and ethnopolitics normalisation. The study recommends that media, being the most influential cultural institution and player in the political economy, self-regulates to minimise ethnopolitics dissemination. The output of this study adds to the existing knowledge in communication and media studies and the political economy of mass media. The findings should be able to inform policy formulation among the mass media industry and media regulatory bodies in Kenya. Keywords: ethnicity, ethnopolitics, ethnopolitical oligarchy, political economy of communication

Framing universal health coverage in Kenya: an interpretive analysis of the 2004 Bill on National Social Health Insurance.

In 2004, President Mwai Kibaki of Kenya refused to sign a popular Bill on National Social Health Insurance into law. Drawing on innovations in framing theory, this research provides a social explanation for this decision. In addition to document review, this study involved interpretive analysis of transcripts from 50 semi-structured interviews with leading actors involved in the health financing policy process in Kenya, 2014-15. The frame-critical analysis focused on how actors engaged in (1) sensemaking, (2) naming, which includes selecting and categorizing and (3) storytelling. We demonstrated that actors' abilities to make sense of the Bill were largely influenced by their own understandings of the finer features of the Bill and the array of interest groups privy to the debate. This was reinforced by a process of naming, which selects and categorizes aspects of the Bill, including the public persona of its primary sponsor, its affordability, sustainability, technical dimensions and linkages to notions of economic liberalism. Actors used these understandings and names to tell stories of ideational warfare, which involved narrative accounts of policy resistance and betrayal. This analysis illustrates the difficulty in enacting sweeping reform measures and thus provides a basis for understanding incrementalism in Kenyan health policy.

Agricultural advisory and extension service approaches and inclusion in reaching out to Kenyan rural farmers

Efficient agricultural advisory and extension service (AES) is poised to lead to improved agricultural productivity as farmers utilize information and knowledge to optimize their use of limited resources. However, the role of AES has progressively evolved due to the changing technological, economic and social context. This paper uses primary and secondary data to study the AES delivery process in Kenya. This process is interrogated from an inclusivity perspective based on the suitability of related AES approaches in reaching out to rural communities in the acquisition of services for innovation purposes. The study finds differences in AES approaches that can effectively stimulate institutional innovation in an equitable way. In addition, approaches for delivery of AES are hampered by several factors that either constrain or perpetuate inclusivity more generally. The paper enhances discussion around the importance of agricultural AES as a key function of the agricultural innovation system, especially in a rural setting.

Nature Of Media Diplomacy In Influencing Foreign Policy Decision Making Process In Kenya

The media's diplomatic function has been studied in relation to the advanced communication technologies that have led to the allocation of a more far- reaching role to the media in the conduct of diplomacy. The main research gap that this study aims at covering lies in the actual media diplomacy influence on the foreign policy decision making process at implementation phase. Despite the attention given to the media's potential to affect foreign policy decisions, their involvement is still confined to a largely instrumental role and more importantly, one that influences the process of decision making, rather than the decision outcomes. This study analysed media diplomacy influence on foreign policy decision making process in Kenya at implementation phase. The objective of this study was to examine the nature of media diplomacy in influencing foreign policy decision making process in Kenya. It is established that media plays a complementary role to diplomacy in foreign policy implementation and hence shapes the outcome of foreign policy in Kenya. The article concludes that media diplomacy can play a significant role in the foreign policy implementation. The study hence recommends that Kenya should establish a strong regional media network, an effective diplomatic strategy to bridge the gaps in foreign policy process and train diplomats on effective media relations.

Effect of food safety training on behavior change of food handlers: A case of orange-fleshed sweetpotato purée processing in Kenya

Sweetpotato purée processing is new to Kenya and a rapidly growing value addition activity among informal, small, and medium-sized food enterprises (SMEs) in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Inadequate knowledge of food safety and poor hygiene practices by food handlers, low level of compliance with Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs), and microbial contamination are major food safety challenges in orange-fleshed sweetpotato (OFSP) purée processing in Kenya. The extent of food safety training in enhancing food safety in rural-based SMEs and food processing environments has not been fully investigated. This study aimed at evaluating the impact of food safety training on food safety knowledge and hygiene practices of food handlers and in control of microbial contamination in OFSP purée processing in Kenya. Pre- and post-food safety training assessments were conducted to determine food handler's (N = 14) knowledge and practices on food safety. Food, water, and swab samples (n = 62) from the processing environment were collected before and two months after the training and analyzed for food hygiene indicator microorganisms. The findings indicate a significant (p < 0.05) improvement in overall food safety knowledge and practices of food handlers after the training. Poor knowledge scores were exhibited on aspects of cross-contamination, cleaning, and sanitation but these significantly (p < 0.05) improved after the training. Similarly, microbial counts on food equipment surfaces, installations, personnel hands, and in the final product (OFSP purée) significantly (p < 0.05) declined to acceptable levels after the food safety training. Total counts, yeasts and molds, S. aureus, Enterobacteriaceae, and total coliforms counts in the packaged OFSP purée were 2.6, 1.8, 1.5, 1.9, and 1.2 LOG CFU/g respectively hence suitable for its current application as an ingredient in baked products. The findings from this study indicate food safety training as an appropriate tool for improving food handler's knowledge and hygiene practices as well as enhancing microbial safety and quality of processed foods in SMEs if necessary food safety support resources are provided.

Influence of Procurement Process on the Performance of Public Entities (A Case Study of Nairobi County Government)

Globally public procurement plays a pivotal role in the provision of goods, works and services in every economy. Enhancement in the performance of the public procurement system is key ingredient for ensuring value for money is achieved in order to safeguard public funds particularly in the implementation of economic pillars such as the “Big Four Agenda” and Vision 2030. This is the case because 60% of Kenyan budget is spent through procurement contracts. This study sought to investigate the influence of user departments on the performance of procurement process in Kenya. Specific objectives of the study included: To examine the role of specification writing on the performance of public entities in Kenya, To investigate the influence of procurement plan on the performance of public entities in Kenya, To assess the effect of tender evaluation on the performance of public entities in Kenya and To determine the influence of receiving procedure on the performance the public entities in Kenya. The study will be guided by the following theories: resource based theory, systems theory, Expectancy theory and institutional Theory. Descriptive research design as well as quantitative research design were adopted using both qualitative and quantitative approaches. The target population was 1000 employees of Nairobi County government. The study adopted stratified random sampling to select the sample size of 100 respondents. Data was collected using questionnaires and oral interview . Descriptive statistics was employed aided by statistical package for social sciences version 21 to compute the percentages. Inferential statistics using regression and correlation analysis was applied to assist in examining the relationship between variables.

Causes and types of conflicts during electioneering process in Kenya with reference to Kisumu County

Causes and types of conflicts during electioneering process in Kenya with reference to Kisumu County

Emergence of Ethnopolitical Journalism in Kenya: Lessons from the 2017 Televised Political Analyses Shows

This paper critiques ethnopolitical journalism in televised political analyses of the 2017 electoral process in Kenya. Ethnopolitical journalism is a reporting model characterised by a focus on ethnicity when analysing and describing political situations; leading to ethnic identity formation in the society that places mass media at economic vantage point. Motivated by mediatized ethnicity, Kenyans find themselves perpetually under normalised ethnopolitics and ethnopolitical journalism is a major strategy in the mainstream media. Fourteen televised political analysis shows; from major television channels were examined. The analysis targeted prioritised and dominant topics of discussion, the composition of the panels; the most discussed presidential candidates and the moderator’s leads toward a particular direction during the analyses. The findings show that in all the televised political analysis shows, all members of the panel are drawn from the five ethnic groups. Moreover, all priority topics target the two supposedly major political sides (NASA and Jubilee); whose principals and deputies come from the five ethnic groups. It was also noted that every discussion from different Television channels are narrowed deliberately by the moderator to discuss about Raila Odinga and Uhuru Kenyatta, thus, ignoring all other presidential candidates, their political parties and areas considered their strongholds. These findings reveal the media’s deliberate choices of house styles and reporting models during the electoral periods in Kenya. The study concludes that media has been the high priest of ethnicity normalization culture that has shaped the political mindset of Africa to the extent of undermining its transformative leadership. The findings add to the research critical of media practice and political economy of mass media reporting during electioneering periods.