Justus Ogembo, Associate Professor of Education, travels to Italy

On March 11, 2015, I travelled to Verona, Italy, to present a paper at a conference held at the University of Verona and participate in a subsequent two-day workshop. This event, sponsored by National Science Foundation (NSF), and organized by Professors Giovanni Bennardo of Northern Illinois University and Anna Paini of the University of Verona, brought together scholars from across the world who had conducted fieldwork in diverse communities around the world on `Cultural Models of Nature’ during the summer of 2014 with a grant from the NSF; hence, the theme of the event, “Local Knowledge: Fieldwork Experience.” The event lasted from 12th to 15th March. I returned on March 16th. My air ticket to and from this venue was made possible by generous support from the Center for International Education, Department of Anthropology, and Department of Education. I am eternally grateful

Are presumptive taxes a good option for taxing self-employed professionals in developing countries?

Research on tax evasion by the so called ‘hard-to-tax’ in low and middle-income countries has largely focussed on farmers and SMEs; professionals are rarely considered in any discussion about the ‘informal sector’. Yet, considering their earnings, the absolute amount involved in evasion among professionals is probably higher than farmers and SMEs and they can cause serious damage to the tax systems of these countries. Researchers on tax in developing countries has almost exclusively focussed on multinational enterprises and challenges in the international tax system; but there is a growing realisation that domestic resource mobilisation is important and requires urgent attention. This paper makes use of qualitative data on tax evasion by lawyers and dentists in Kenya to argue that although presumptive tax regimes almost always exclude professional income, they can be a useful partial solution for taxing selfemployed professionals if they are well thought-out, meticulously designed and rigorously monitored

Health technology assessment in Sub-Saharan Africa : a cross-national study of Kenya and South Africa

;Bibliography: leaves 365-403.This thesis is concerned with the applications and use of health technology in Sub-Saharan Africa, and particularly in Kenya and South Africa. The focus is on technology planning, deployment, use, management and assessment in the public health sector. The objectives of the study are three-fold: (1) to investigate the problems that arise in the planning, deployment, use, management and assessment of technology in the health services of these countries; (2) to describe how these problems affect the delivery of health services; and (3) to provide suggestions, recommendations and a policy framework to alleviate the problems

Art in ethno-medicine : a case study of Juogi (Mysticism among the Luo people) in South Nyanza district of western Kenya

Includes abstract.Includes bibliographical references.This ethnographic study is intended to give voice to the feeling of those who value and depend on indigenous medicine and to examine how it has worked for the Luo. In this thesis we investigate how one acquired the skills of becoming a medicine man or woman. We examine how the medicine man or woman uses art to carry out the healing practices. We also look at how the qualification was manifested on the part of the practitioner. Special emphasis is made on language as an art, used by the patient and the doctor. Such components of art and language as myths, legends, folk tales, metaphors and songs of the Luo are looked into especially with a view to evaluating their contribution towards causes of illness and healing

Prevalence, Predictors, and Same Day Treatment of Positive VIA Enhanced by Digital Cervicography and Histopathology Results in a Cervical Cancer Prevention Program in Cameroon

BACKGROUND: In 2007, the Cameroon Baptist Convention Health Services (CBCHS) implemented a screen-and-treat cervical cancer prevention program using visual inspection with acetic acid enhanced by digital cervicography (VIA-DC). METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed 46,048 medical records of women who received care through the CBCHS Women\u27s Health Program from 2007 through 2014 to determine the prevalence and predictors of positive VIA-DC, rates of same day treatment, and cohort prevalence of invasive cervical cancer (ICC). RESULTS: Of the 44,979 women who were screened for cervical cancer, 9.0% were VIA-DC-positive, 66.8% were VIA-DC-negative, 22.0% were VIA-DC-inadequate (normal ectocervix, but portions of the transformation zone were obscured), and 2.2% were VIA-DC-uncertain (cervical abnormalities confounding VIA-DC interpretation). Risk factors significantly associated with VIA-DC-positive screen were HIV-positivity, young age at sexual debut, higher lifetime number of sexual partners, low education status and higher gravidity. In 2014, 31.1% of women eligible for cryotherapy underwent same day treatment. Among the 32,788 women screened from 2007 through 2013, 201 cases of ICC were identified corresponding to a cohort prevalence of 613 per 100,000. CONCLUSIONS: High rate of VIA-DC-positive screens suggests a significant burden of potential cervical cancer cases and highlights the need for expansion of cervical cancer screening and prevention throughout the 10 regions of Cameroon. VIA-DC-inadequate rates were also high, especially in older women, and additional screening methods are needed to confirm whether these results are truly negative. In comparison to similar screening programs in sub-Saharan Africa there was low utilization of same day cryotherapy treatment. Further studies are required to characterize possible program specific barriers to treatment, for example cultural demands, health system challenges and cost of procedure. The prevalence of ICC among women who presented for screening was high and requires further investigation

Deliberative democracy in legislative committees: interpreting public deliberation in Kenya's subnational legislatures

Increasingly, there are questions about the value of representative democracy. Some argue that it does not sufficiently enable citizens to express their concerns and engage government in decision-making. Consequently, there is growing demand for increased public deliberation in legislative decision-making processes. However, how legislators, legislative staff and the public make meaning of the process and conceptualisation of public deliberation has not sufficiently been studied. The thesis examines public deliberation as an emerging practice to which legislatures in Africa aspire to but often fall short. The thesis examines interpretive understandings of public deliberation with specific pre- and post-colonial contextual considerations for legislatures in Africa, and Kenya more specifically. The thesis establishes that the meanings people assign to public deliberation are informed by their ‘ideational’ background and the pursuit of thick discursive claims does not always adopt Western centric forum-based conceptions; however, that does not make the practices less deliberative. Pragmatic definitions of deliberation create greater scope to study contextualisation and evolution of deliberative practices. The thesis establishes that the emerging practices of public deliberation in Kenya’s subnational legislatures is often a performative exercise, done for show, that fails to achieve both its intention and prescribed benefits. The thesis concludes by making propositions for practical institutional reforms that can address the challenges of designing successful public deliberation in legislatures. The thesis proposes that legislatures should institute procedural reforms that create new spaces for enacting public deliberation which signal equal power between legislators and the public during public deliberation. Additionally, procedural reforms should address the various stages of public deliberation to ensure that practices are effective and do not unconsciously entrench executive power over the legislature at the cost of accountability. Moreover, procedural reforms should be accompanied by a reexamination and clear delineation of the roles of legislative staff in facilitating public deliberation. Finally, clear communication on what the public should expect from each stage of public deliberation in the legislature should form a key part of institutional reforms

The Centrality of Blue Economy Resources in the Kenya-Somalia Maritime Border Dispute

This study examined the centrality of blue economy resources in the Kenya-Somalia maritime border dispute. The study begins by conceptualising blue economy resources and then maps the blue economy resource deposits along the disputed zone. The third section analyses the primary blue economy resources driving the Kenya-Somalia Maritime Border Dispute. In the fourth section, this study analyses the interest of local actors in the Kenya-Somalia Maritime Border Dispute. Eventually, the study concludes by evaluating the role of geopolitical actors in the Kenya-Somalia Maritime dispute. The study was qualitative and made use of interviews to collect descriptive data. The target population consisted of government officials in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, government representatives, and personnel from international and regional development organisations. Both purposive and snowballing sampling techniques were employed to identify informants. This study observed that blue economy resources in the Indian Ocean have become an increasing interest among the two states. The discovery of hydrocarbon deposits and the prospects of commercialising deep-sea fishing and other mineral deposits in the region have seen increased national interest from both parties. Thus, Kenya and Somalia have expressed interest in exploring and exploiting the resources in the disputed maritime zone for economic reasons, perpetuating the dispute between them. The dispute has undermined good neighbourliness amid suspicion between the two states since 2014. Since the blue economy is considered a catalyst of economic growth, exploitation of the same has attracted both local and geopolitical actors who have been indirectly drawn into the dispute. This study recommends that Kenya and Somalia should work together and cooperate on the management of blue economy resources in the disputed resource-rich area, which will enable the states to share oil, gas, and hydrocarbon resources through cooperation ventures. Similarly, local and geopolitical actors remain non-partisan in the dispute

Novel Epstein-Barr virus-like particles incorporating gH/gL-EBNA1 or gB-LMP2 induce high neutralizing antibody titers and EBV-specific T-cell responses in immunized mice

Previous Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) prophylactic vaccines based on the major surface glycoprotein gp350/220 as an immunogen have failed to block viral infection in humans, suggesting a need to target other viral envelope glycoproteins. In this study, we reasoned that incorporating gH/gL or gB, critical glycoproteins for viral fusion and entry, on the surface of a virus-like particle (VLP) would be more immunogenic than gp350/220 for generating effective neutralizing antibodies to prevent viral infection of both epithelial and B cell lines. To boost the humoral response and trigger cell-mediated immunity, EBV nuclear antigen 1 (EBNA1) and latent membrane protein 2 (LMP2), intracellular latency proteins expressed in all EBV-infected cells, were also included as critical components of the polyvalent EBV VLP. gH/gL-EBNA1 and gB-LMP2 VLPs were efficiently produced in Chinese hamster ovary cells, an FDA-approved vehicle for mass-production of biologics. Immunization with gH/gL-EBNA1 and gB-LMP2 VLPs without adjuvant generated both high neutralizing antibody titers in vitro and EBV-specific T-cell responses in BALB/c mice. These data demonstrate that will be invaluable not only in preventing EBV infection, but importantly, in preventing and treating the 200,000 cases of EBV-associated cancers that occur globally every year

Challenges in Managing Diffusion of Telemedicine Technology in South Africa

Abstract. Technological progresses in the information, communication and telecommunication (ICT) industries and innovations telemedia industry have made telemedicine an increasingly viable health care delivery choice for emerging economies like South Africa. Simply stated telemedicine is the use of ICT technologies in conjunction with telemedia systems to provide health care services when distance separates the health professionals and patients. The study examines the constraints of utilisation of telemedicine in the broader health care delivery value chain. This paper discusses the challenges of managing diffusion of telemedicine technology in the rural areas of South Africa. Specific telemedicine project installations are discussed and recommendations provided to guide policy makers and health planners in South Africa