Editon Consortium Journal of Arts, Humanities and Social Studies

The relationship between school location and student participation in decision making in Kenya

Betty Jeruto Tikoko, Everlyn Omondi — Mon, 31 Jan 2022 00:00:00 +0000

The study investigated the relationship between school location and student participation in decision making in boarding secondary schools in Nakuru County, Kenya. This study was therefore deemed necessary based on this gap in research. The study targeted the students and teachers in boarding secondary schools in Nakuru County, Kenya. The random sampling method arrived at 220 students and 30 teachers in 15 boarding secondary schools in the county stratified further to 6 rural and 5 urban schools were selected to respond to the student participation in the decision-making questionnaire. A null hypothesis was formulated. The t-test statistic was used to test the difference in mean. The p-value at .0366 led to the rejection of the null hypothesis .05 level of significance. The study found a relationship between school location and student participation in decision making in boarding secondary schools in Kenya. Rural schools are disadvantaged in terms of access to governance than their urban counterparts. Since the means for urban schools (2.22) was higher than that of rural schools (2.18), it was established that students in urban schools and greater access to decision making avenues than students in rural schools.

Movement, settlement and land-use by the Akamba of Machakos County up to c.1895 in Kenya

Lydia K Muendo, Edwin Gimode — Thu, 10 Feb 2022 00:00:00 +0000

This article is an introduction to the environmental history of Machakos County. It creates a background to an investigation of the impact of colonial rule on the County’s environmental history. The theoretical perspective of political ecology was applied in the understanding of the relationship between the Machakos Akamba and their environment in the pre-colonial period in this article. Political institutions developed by the Akamba were patterned according to land-use systems. Data for the article was drawn from both primary and secondary sources. Primary sources included archival records at the Kenya National Archives and oral interviews. Secondary data was collected using both unpublished and published works. Descriptive data analysis using qualitative methods of content analysis was applied. In analysing the pre-colonial history of the Akamba the study concluded that the community remained in contact with other communities, especially the Maasai and Kikuyu and later with the Swahili and Arab traders. The entry of colonial rule altered these relations. This led to changes in the social organisation and adaptation to environmental conditions through the acceleration of trade, migration and raiding activities. As the community was still adapting, colonial rule halted the re-organisation process of the community’s socio-political and economic systems. The study’s recommendations are directed to an examination of the establishment of colonial rule in Machakos County and its impact on environmental change and adaptation.

Path to world class University: The African perspective

Simon Kipchumba — Thu, 10 Feb 2022 00:00:00 +0000

The aim of this study was to explore the reasons behind the dismal performance by top ranking of universities in Africa compared to their global counterparts, with an aim of finding ways to improve the performance by African universities. The study sampled the top 15 universities in the world and compared them against the top 15 African universities. The study identified shared characteristics in top universities that catapult them to the top positions. Thus the study was descriptive and comparative in nature. The sampled universities were analysed on the basis of shared characteristics which included the type of university (comprehensive or programme specific, type and number of programmes offered by the universities, common courses across the universities as well as the correlation between the type and number of courses offered and the university’s webometrics ranking. The study used the webometrics ranking. The study identified shared characteristics in top universities that catapult them to the top positions. The analysis of these characteristics allowed the study to make recommendations on how African universities can enhance their webometrics ranking to compete favorably against their global counterparts.

Aspects of continuity and change in leatherwork indigenous industry among the Tugen of Baringo County in 1895-1963 in Kenya

Sarah J Kiptala, Paul Opondo, John Changach — Fri, 28 Jan 2022 00:00:00 +0000

The study examined the approaches that were employed by the Tugen in their knowledge, skills and attitudes acquisition before and during the colonial period of Kenya. The study examined two distinctive epochs from which the understanding of how leatherwork in Tugen land was conducted. The work relied on oral traditions as a primary source. Secondary sources were utilised, such as unpublished works like articles, books, and thesis. Archival sources from Kenya National Archives were extensively used to supplement the sources from primary and secondary. The study described the distribution, methods, techniques, and procedures used in leatherwork. It further assessed the types and uses of leather products. This study established the forces that led to the dismantling of the industry during the early periods of colonial rules, such as taxation, forced labour, settler farming, and western education. Leatherwork in the 1930s underwent re-organisations in the form of labour innovativeness, cultural transformation, marketing strategies etc. These were analysed to ascertain the forces behind the persistence of the industry. The Tugen devised ways of survival to compete favourably with the British colonisers, which led to the Tugen transformation of the leather industry from 1945. The main problem that this study advanced is that Tugenland, like other African societies, is regarded by some people as having not had any form of industry or organisation before the arrival of the colonialists. This paper raised an argument against this position. The study has recorded the Tugen leather industry for posterity purposes.

Congestion, conflicts and urban politics; Understanding the 2017 post-election violence in Nairobi slums

Philip K Ondere — Wed, 30 Mar 2022 00:00:00 +0000

This article examines the violence that marred the 2017 General elections. Within the post-colonial theoretical context, the article explores the more localized narratives that drive violent skirmishes with specific reference to Nairobi’s sub-spaces, such as the Kawangware slum. Further, the article seeks to explain why the sub-space is vulnerable to violent skirmishes (often ethnic) that accompany divisive elections and the implications of these conflicts for the future of urban politics in Nairobi’s post-colonial space. The overall survey approach and delivery process of this article drew heavily on goodwill data and information from various respondents, majorly slum dwellers, who were randomly sampled. The questionnaires were designed to capture qualitative data on aspects of identity politics, people’s political attitudes and perceptions that drive them to engage in violence before, during and even after elections. In analysing the causes of violence during the electioneering period, it was concluded that political maturity is measured by the degree of public participation and, to be precise, their engagement in political processes. On the other hand, Nairobi’s post-colonial space is plagued with a myriad of challenges, key among them poverty, unemployment and crime. This has precipitated identity politics as a blueprint for preferred politicians, thus making the electoral process a protracted one, exacerbating political uncertainty and endless unrests characterized by violence. This study recommends that urban violence be examined in view of the interactional effects between emerging issues and the existing power holders and governmental agents representing them.