https://repository.maseno.ac.ke/handle/123456789/972 2026-05-15T09:39:24Z https://repository.maseno.ac.ke/handle/123456789/6451 An assessment of the implementation of the national policy on older persons' objective to facilitate reasonable care and assistance by families and the state in Kisumu city, Kenya ODHIAMBO, Charles Gundo Population aging, also called the “graying of the planet” is increasing in developing countries. The UN Report on aging (2023) demand for long term care is soaring in many countries as the population of older persons increases. UNFPA (2022) highlights Kenya’s 2019 census that points to the expected trebling of the number of older people to 10.3% by 2050. The life expectancy in Kenya between 2019 and 2023 rose from 66.70 to 67.47 while total fertility rate declined from a high of 8.1 in 1977-78 to 3.4 children per woman in 2022. This rapid population aging is happening on the backdrop of limited economic and social resources. Current trends indicate that many older African adults are now permanent residents in cities. Most studies on older peoples’ experiences in urban contexts are in richer countries. The National Policy on Older Persons in Kenya explicitly includes the objective to facilitate the provision of reasonable care and assistance to older persons by both family and the state. This is grounded in the Constitution of Kenya (2010), particularly Article 57, which obligates the state together with families to ensure older persons can participate in society, pursue personal development, live with dignity, and receive protection and reasonable care. The main aim of this study was to interrogate the National Policy on Older Persons objective of facilitating the provision of reasonable care and assistance to older persons by both family and the state. in Kisumu city, Kenya. The specific objectives of the study were to assess the care needs of the elderly population; to examine family and non-family-based strategies of gerontological care; and to assess elderly care challenges of NPOPA in Kisumu City as experienced by the elderly. This study used a pragmatic philosophical paradigm based on experiences, context and solutions. Structural functionalism was adopted as the theoretical framework and mixed methods as the research design. Narrative interviewing was applied to collect qualitative data. For quantitative data, descriptive cross-sectional survey was preferred. The study focused on the older population (70+ years). Sample determination was based on Krejcie and Morgan table and the 2019 Kenya Population and Housing Census data. Using multi stage sampling, Northern, Kaloleni and Bandari sub-locations were chosen in Kisumu Central Sub-County, Central Division and 270 persons aged 70 and above traced with the help of village elders. Using Krejcie and Morgan table, 165 were randomly selected for this research. Key informant interviews with national and county government officers were done. Descriptive data analysis was used to generate means, percentages and frequencies of the data on the quantitative side. On the qualitative side, both thematic and narrative analyses were deployed to draw themes and narratives from the findings. The study found that the state offers minimal care services to the elderly beyond cash transfers, which were helpful but inadequate, and that family-based care-giving for the elderly has changed more towards transactional than obligatory. There is need to adjust policy to the new realities. The study recommended devolving management of elderly care services for better reach and context, mainstreaming ‘active ageing’ as a major policy for government and further studies to establish what happened to respondents beyond age 80 as many were untraceable in the study area, and also to do comparative and longitudinal studies to enrich findings. Master's Thesis 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z https://repository.maseno.ac.ke/handle/123456789/5769 Influence of leaders’ personalities on foreign policy decision making: the case of Kenya – international criminal court relations between 2013 and 2017 AGOLA, Silvester Douglas This study is on foreign policy decision making which has consistently been viewed through state – centric lens; with state interests advanced as the key influence on foreign policy decision making. This argument has held true for state relations with international legal regimes. However, nascent studies have depicted that leaders involved in decision making are pivotal in influencing the foreign policies of their states, hence bringing their personality into focus. Despite these scholarly revelations, Kenyan relation with The International Criminal Court (ICC) continues to be viewed from a state - centric perspective, with sovereignty struggles, erosion of immunity of Kenyan leaders, and the potential of the ICC to upset peace processes in Kenya, advanced as the main reason for the antagonistic Kenyan foreign policy towards the ICC. What has been obscured from this debate is how the personalities of Kenyan leaders’have influenced Kenya’s antagonistic foreign policy towards the ICC. This study delved into the discussions on how and why leaders’ personalities influence states’ foreign policy decision making, using the case of Kenyan relations with the ICC. The study explored how three personality traits of Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto, influenced Kenya’s antagonistic foreign policy towards the ICC between 2013 and 2017. The study was guided by Leadership Trait Analysis approach advanced by Harmann (1980), and set out four specific objectives; to explore how nationalism of the two Kenyan leaders’ influenced Kenya’s antagonistic foreign policy towards ICC; to explore how Kenyan leaders’ belief in ability to control events influenced Kenya’s antagonistic foreign policy towards ICC; to explore how Kenyan leaders’ need for power influenced Kenya’s antagonistic foreign policy towards ICC, and to explore how and why the interplay of Kenyan leaders’ nationalism, belief in ability to control events and need for power influenced Kenya’s antagonistic foreign relations towards the ICC. The study is premised on multiple case research design, since it treats the two leaders as different cases, and utilizes quantitative content analysis of speeches and interviews of the two leaders, specifically with regard to the ICC. The data was sourced from select local and international news media houses, archived on their websites. The research undertook purposive sampling, targeting words spoken by each leader. The words formed the content which was analyzed using Profiler Plus software developed by Levine & Young (2014) using a coding procedure developed by Harman (2005). The result of the analysis was measured against a norming group of leaders developed by Hermann (2005) to determine if the leaders are high or low in the selected personality trait, and draw deduction on motive for the antagonistic Kenya – ICC relations between 2013 and 2017. Content analysis results revealed that the leaders were low in all the three traits explored. This explained how and why: the leaders built a team spirit among their group and followers with clarity of objective against the ICC, allowed the African Union and other African leaders to take responsibility for pursuing foreign policy actions against the ICC on behalf of Kenya, preferred the use of summits and conferences in dealing with local opposition to their antagonistic foreign policy towards the ICC, had no clear cut foreign policy towards the ICC, and were described as having shifty foreign policy goals on the ICC question. The study asserted that Kenyan leaders’ personalities influenced the country’s foreign policy towards the ICC. This called for a paradigm shift of analysis and discussions on the strained Kenyan relations with the ICC. Within the realm of International Relations, the study contributes to the continuing debate on state compliance and non – compliance with international legal regimes and treaties. The study recommends that the ICC should pay attention on personality of the leaders it seeks to prosecute, and forecast the impact that their personality traits will have on their cases at the ICC 2023-01-01T00:00:00Z https://repository.maseno.ac.ke/handle/123456789/5683 Governing emerging technologies of global significance in the developing countries: the case for synthetic biology regulation in Kenya ODHIAMBO Alphonce Kasera, Alphonce Kasera Technologies with transnational impact can no longer be relegated as ‘mundane artefacts’ in International Relations (IR). Two recent events validate this assertion. In 2014 world found itself in stress and confusion due to unprecedented Ebola attack. Very recently the novel COVID-19 threatened the very existence of mankind. In both events synthetic biology (SynBio) techniques saved the world, by enabling scientists to study and imitate the genetic make-up of the viruses and create a vaccine. Despite such immense value of SynBio, the field remains dominated by developed nations. Additionally, effective global governance of SynBio requires proper regulation in all countries including developing countries like Kenya. Against this backdrop, and motivated by the fact that despite the Government of Kenya (GoK) commissioning a synthetic biology (SynBio) project in 2020 in line with her Vision 2030, it remains blurred the extent to which Kenya’s current biotechnology regulatory frameworks are sufficient to the regulation of SynBio, this study explored Kenya’s biotechnology regulatory environment. Study specific objectives explored: Kenya’s biotechnology-related policy frameworks; biotechnology-related legislations; the extent to which the theme of Science, Technology and Innovation (ST&I) is embedded into selected national development plans (NDPs) and; key expert stakeholders’ perceptions and expectations on the adoption of SynBio technologies in Kenya. A conceptual framework derived from the concept of national power as used in International Relations and the theory of adaptive anticipatory governance guided the collection, analysis and interpretation of findings. Exploratory sequential mixed-method design was utilized. Study locations were Nairobi, Kisumu, Kakamega, and Kisii Counties and on Zoom, Google Meet and Gmail platforms. Study population composed 83 purposively sampled experts stratified into academia, research, industry, medical, and policy, governance and regulatory and media & communication sectors. Data collection was done through documentary analysis of 6 policies, 8 legislations, and 5 NDPs; survey questionnaires, 4 Focus Group Discussions (FGDs), and 22 key informant interviews (KIs). Quantitative data was analyzed through simple descriptive statistics while qualitative through thematic analysis. The study established, a) while the biotechnology development policy 2006 and Biosafety Act 2009 are the main policy and legislations, respectively, governing biotechnology in Kenya, their scopes do not however cover biosecurity, ethical, social and economic issues that come handy with SynBio regulation; b) Kenya Vision 2030 and the Big Four Agenda place ST&I at the core of national development, but the ST&I theme is not emphasized in other NPDs and the place of biotechnology in these two key NDPs and other relevant NDPs is not properly spelt out; c) there is above average national capacity to adopt and implement SynBio in terms of requisite human expertise (90%); further, key regulatory and research institutions were rated above average: NACOSTI-86%; NBA-60%; KALRO-67% and KEMRI-60% except for NEMA-46%. These findings lead to the conclusion that Kenya has a robust biotechnology regulatory system but to optimally gain from SynBio technologies, the biotech governance frameworks will have to be tailor-made to cover the unique SynBio regulatory issues. The study thus recommends to the GoK and concerned stakeholders to ensure the establishment of clearly spelt-out SynBio policy, legislation and an overarching NDP. The findings of this study thus revealed the extent to which current biotech governance in Kenya can regulate SynBio. Such evidence is relevant to IR debates insofar as it will inform debates around global governance of SynBio. The evidence is also locally relevant as it showcases to policy makers and other concerned stakeholders the underlying limitations to utilizing SynBio as an engine to revitalizing Kenya’s bio-economy, and consequently assert herself as a regional SynBio powerhouse. Such include political economy challenges emanating from an almost fully donor-funded approach which permeates current biotechnology development in Kenya. 2023-01-01T00:00:00Z