Towards the legal protection of married women: Combating and criminalising marital rape in Kenya

This dissertation addresses the most neglected form of sexual violence in Kenya - marital rape. Drawing from prevailing statistics and testimonies by survivors, it confirms the existence of marital rape in Kenya and delves deeper into the prevailing social and legal dynamics that condone it. On examining the existing legal framework governing sexual violence in Kenya, the finding is that there is no law that explicitly criminalises marital rape. Marital rape is a human rights issue as it curtails women‟s enjoyment of their right to equality and dignity. This dissertation argues that Kenya has a duty to honour her State obligations under international human rights law to respect, protect and fulfill human rights. The dissertation concludes that by not criminalising marital rape, Kenya has failed to satisfy her treaty obligations under International Human Rights Law. The dissertation further draws insights from other jurisdictions‟ legal responses to marital rape through a comparative study of South Africa, India and Australia. The main recommendation of this dissertation is that Kenya should explicitly criminalise marital rape in order to respect, protect and fulfill her human rights obligations pertinent to women. Moreover, it is recommended that a comprehensive response to marital rape requires the State to embrace both legal and extra-legal reforms that will not only criminalise but ultimately combat marital rape in the long term

The Position of African Women within the Realm of Culture, Patriarchy and the Law: A Case of Kenya

The world is on a quest to achieve United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 5 (SDG5), which seeks to promote gender equality and empowerment of women and girls. Women have been oppressed overtime in most societies. Statistics continue to project increasing rates of various acts of gender based violence such as domestic violence, sexual violence, cultural and economic abuse and so on. These acts of abuse are accelerated by several factors pertinent to our social systems such as culture, patriarchy and the Law. Using Kenya as a case study, this paper examines how these three factors contribute to differential gender treatment. The purpose is to inform on the extent to which the welfare of African women has been compromised by the law, culture and patriarchy, to find relevant long-term solutions to curb further degradation of women in Africa and subsequently, achieve SDG5

A Rethinking of the Organizational Cultural Practices and Mentorship as Barriers of Female Teachers Ascending to Principalship in Kenya

The focus of this study was to examine the organizational cultural practices and mentorship as barriers that female school principals encounter in Kenya as they ascend to principalship. The study objectives were: To establish the influence of organizational cultural practices on upward mobility of secondary school female teachers, and to ascertain the influence of mentorship on female upward mobility to management positions. The target population for this study was 825 (N) persons, from which a sample size 376(n) respondents comprising of;  76 female principals, 78 male principals, 178 deputy female principals, 22 sub-county education officers, and 22 Quality Assurance and Standards Officers were picked and used in the study.  The study used questionnaires and interview guides to collect requisite data and both descriptive and inferential statistics were used in data analysis. The study established that: Organizational cultural practices played a critical role in locking female teachers out of management positions and absence of mentors in school organizations was found to be detrimental to women empowerment. The study recommends that school organizations should: embrace gender mainstreaming which will counter biased organizational cultures, put mechanisms in place to ensure that mentoring is anchored within their frameworks. Keywords: Organizational cultural practices, Principalship, Mentorshi

Way Forward for Teacher Professional Development in Kenya: Utilization of Performance Appraisal Reports

Performance appraisal in the education sector has attracted scholarly interests globally. This is because critical feedback obtained from performance appraisal reports could be used to inform professional development needs of teachers. The purpose of this study was to establish the extent to which performance appraisal reports informed professional development of teachers in public secondary schools in Kenya. The study objectives were to establish the extent to which performance appraisal reports are used to inform identified teacher professional development gaps and find out the challenges encountered in the utilization of performance appraisal reports in informing teacher professional development. Mixed methods research design was used. The target population comprised 70 Principals, 210 Heads of Departments and 210 teachers giving a total of 490 respondents. Stratified and simple random sampling techniques were used to select a sample size of 98 respondents. Questionnaires and interview schedule were used to collect data. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze quantitative data while qualitative data were analyzed thematically. The study established that performance appraisal reports were not being used to inform teacher professional development activities. This was occasioned by inadequate head teacher and heads of department capacity on their role in teacher appraisal and professional development and limited resources to put in professional development interventions at the school level. The study recommended adoption of enhanced mechanisms to obtain appraisal reports, collate them and identify areas of professional development intervention

Scoping Study of Early Learning in Kenya

The importance of having a firm foundation in early learning cannot be over emphasized. It is at the early learning stage that the foundation is laid for future learning and development and early learning  programs normally have a significant impact on future education outcomes. If children lack a firm foundation, it is likely that learning in later years will not be effective

UNIVERSITY MANAGERS PARTICIPATION IN DISTANCE EDUCATION: THE ROLE OF DISTANCE EDUCATION SUPPORT FACILITIES

Universities continue to develop new methods of teaching in order to reach many people who cannot access education through the conventional methods; and to attain equity and increase access in higher education for development. Education is a key pillar in development. As Kenya works towards the attainment of Vision 2030 a lot has to be done in education to increase equity and access to allow many people to participate in the development. A lot of resources have been committed to development and implementation of DE materials and facilities but adoption of DE continues to be minimal at the Kenyan Public universities. This paper explores the role DE support facilities plays in the participation of university managers in DE activities in Kenya’s Public Universities. To study this role, the following indicators were analysed: computer availability to the managers and staff; access to personal computer; internet availability; number of internet connection points; and availability of ICT help desk. The study sort to establish the extent to which availability of personal computers availability of internet, number of internet connection points, availability of computers for teaching influence managers’ participation in DE; and to assess the availability of ICT help desks. The research employed cross-sectional descriptive survey design; and multi-stage stratified sampling design. The findings indicated that availing necessary support facilities is crucial if adoption of DE is to be increased in the public universities in Kenya. This study recommends that the university management avails the necessary support facilities to ensure participation in distance education activities. The management should work towards identifying strategies that can improve managers’ participation at different levels. The study also recommends training to enhance attitude transformation

Effect of School Heads’ Inspirational Motivation Leadership Practices on Students Academic Achievement in Public High Schools in Kumasi Metropolitan, Ghana

Inspirational motivation leadership behaviour among school heads is critical in shaping students behaviour in a school context. This has aroused scholarly interest globally. The objective of this study was to assess the effect of school heads’ inspirational motivation leadership practices on students’ academic achievement in public high schools in Kumasi metropolitan, Ghana.  The study adopted the transformational leadership theory espoused by James McGregor Burns (1978) and supported by Bass (1985). The convergent parallel design, a strand of the mixed methods approach was engaged for this study. The target population was 17370, and consisted of 19 heads of schools, 2122 teachers, and 15229 students. This study on the basis of Slovin’s sample calculation formula, sampled 424 teachers and 552 students from the 19 schools selected. The study further employed Kothari’s proportional representation method to determine sample size for teachers and students for each school. The study used random sampling technique to sample students and teachers from the schools. Data were collected with questionnaire and interviews. Experts in Educational Management were requested to address the content validity of the data collection instruments for the study.  Cronbach’s Alpha test showed that the instruments were reliable.  Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the quantitative data. In descriptive statistics, frequency, weighted average, standard deviation, and percentages were used. Ordinary least square (OLS) regression analysis was employed to determine the effect of the independent variables on the dependent variable. The study controlled for factors that could influence students’ academic achievement, these included  sex of student, family structure of student, average age of teachers in a school, sex of teachers for a school, average educational attainment of teachers in a school, average teachers’ rank in a school, and  average number of years teachers have spent in a school.  Analysed quantitative data was presented in tables. Qualitative data were analysed thematically and presented in narratives and in verbatim forms. The study used 5% significance level. The study concluded that inspirational motivation leadership behaviours of school heads had significant positive effect on students’ academic achievement. The study recommends that school heads should adopt this transformational leadership practice to ensure improvement in students’ academic achievement. Keywords:  Inspirational motivation, Transformational leadership, School head. DOI: 10.7176/JEP/11-14-09 Publication date:May 31st 202

Curcumin-related hybrid compounds as potential antimalarial agents : design, synthesis, mechanistic investigations, biological evaluation and pharmacokinetic studies

Includes bibliographical references.Malaria remains one of the most devastating tropical diseases, with staggering infection and mortality statistics. Over 200 million clinical cases of malaria (resulting in 1 - 3 million deaths) are reported annually. Africa bears the greatest burden of this disease. with the vast majority of malaria cases (>85%). and malaria-related deaths (>90%). being reported in sub-Saharan Africa. The main challenge to malaria control has been the development of clinically significant resistance Of the parasite to most known antimalarial drugs. This suggests that the development of new, highly efficadous drugs and/or treatment regimens for the management of malaria remains a key priority. This study applied molecular hybridization as a strategy in the development of novel potential antimalarial agents. The aim was to try and identify novel hybrid compounds containing scaffolds that are structurally related to the natural product curcumin, and which exhibit in vitro and in vivo antimalarial activity. Part of the study involved investigations into the pharmacokinetics and possible antimalarial mechanisms of action of selected target compounds

Pharmacokinetics of Chloramphenicol in Sheep after Intramuscular Administration

This study was carried out to determine the pharmacokinetics of chloramphenicol in eight sheep injected intramuscularly with chloramphenicol sodium succinate (25 mg/kg body weight). The animals were bled at pre-determined time intervals and serum chloramphenicol concentrations monitored using chloramphenicol-ELISA for a period of 30 days post drug administration. Pharmacokinetic evaluation was carried out using a non-compartment analysis. The mean Cmax values obtained in the eight sheep was 134±34 mg/ml and the time required to reach Cmax (tmax) was 10±0.05 minutes. The mean elimination half-life obtained was 36.37±3.7 h and the mean residence time was 2.83±0.27 h. These findings show that chloramphenicol was absorbed and distributed rapidly from the injection site. At two weeks post drug administration, the drug levels had declined to below the limit of detection of the assay (0.1 ng/ml).Keywords: Chloramphenicol, pharmacokinetics, sheep, ELISAEast and Central African Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences Vol. 12 (2009) 3-

Principals’ leadership styles: Critical components to the security management in selected secondary schools in Mandera county, Kenya.

Introduction: Leadership styles of school principals plays a significant role in making the school a safe haven for students. This is because principals interact with the school community more often, and hence understand the school environment better. Purpose: Determine the critical leadership style in the security management in Mandera County, Kenya Methodology: The correlational study design was used as the framework that anchored the study. The survey targeted a population of 424 teachers, 46 principals, 460 BOM members and 13,387 students in Mandera County which makes a total population of 14,317. The sample size was 201 teachers, 40 principals, 210 BOM members and 373 students and thus narrowing the sample size to 824 respondents. The respondents were stratified, proportionately and randomly sampled. Questionnaires for teachers, semi- structured interview guides for principals and BOM members, and focus groups were adopted as instruments of collecting information. Before the main study, the researcher conducted a pilot study in schools that had characteristics similar to those of the sampled schools. Content validity was determined using expert judgment from specialist in the education management. Instrument reliability was established using the Cronbach alpha technique. Thematic analysis was used to analyze qualitative data, while quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics in terms of frequencies, means, and inferential statistics in terms of regression analysis. Results: The results of this research show a prediction that for each increase in the leadership styles of secondary school principals, there was a 29.7% increase in security management. Recommendation: Major recommendation is that school leadership need to adopt the correct management strategies to ensure security. Furthermore, the community where the school is located should be involved in matters of student security and safety