Today’s organizational environment has become very competitive, increasingly uncertain and fast changing and hence, organizations need to plan and be flexible enough to accommodate the ever changing environment. Due to that constant change, organizations need to adapt so as to strategically exploit emerging opportunities to ensure survival and success. Strategy implementation is a process of implementing policies, programs and action plans that allows a firm to utilize its resources to take advantage of opportunities in the competitive environment. The implementation of the strategy in the CBOs depends on various factors which include; weather conditions, funds, organization structure, interests of members and communication. The study examined the factors affecting strategy implementation in Seme Sub County. To do this, the study obtained for views from 23 registered CBOs which are implementing strategic plans, on the factors influencing strategy implementation. Data was collected from the chairpersons of the CBOs using semi structured questionnaires which consisted of structured open and closed ended questions designed to get specific responses. It was established that there were three factors that explained 55.215% of the total variance of factors influencing strategy implementation. They include: human resource contribution factor, the information factor and culture and resource factor. Human resource contribution had the variables coordination and implementation of activities, monitoring, planning, coordination and sharing of the responsibilities, provision of leadership and direction provided by the management committee and implementation of the strategy. Culture and resource factor because it has two variable talking about culture and adequacy of factors. Information factor, talked about communication being done through organized meetings, information being passed through word of mouth and information being passed through memos to all members. The study recommends that the organisations should optimize the contribution of human resource in the strategy implementation by enhancing coordination and implementation of activities, improving monitoring, planning, provision of leadership and direction by the management committee and Implementation of the strategy. These were the human resource factors that this study found to contribute to strategy implementation. The study also recommends that the organisations should optimize the resources used in strategy implementation or acquire more resources. The study also recommends the organisations adopt culture that supports strategy implementation. These were found to have a positive influence on strategy implementation. Lastly, the study recommends that there needs to be improved communication to coordinate the strategy implementation process. This can be done through meetings, emails, memos or notices. The study was also limited to Seme Sub County and as such the study did not explore strategy implementation in other parts of the county. The study suggests that in future a study needs to be done to assess the relationship between the factors and performance of the strategies. The study suggests that future researchers should do a follow up study in future to assess whether there are new developing factors affecting strategy implementation or to assess the state of the current factors in future.

A person’s intention to act entrepreneurially is a strong predictor of entrepreneurial action such as going into self-employment. In the quest to explain causation for entrepreneurial intentions, the present study examined the relationship between socio-cultural factors and intentions to become entrepreneurs in the context of public undergraduate university students in Kenya. Specifically, intentions to become an entrepreneur were predicted using three of Hofstede’s grid for culture namely; individualism, masculinity and uncertainty avoidance. Other variables included gender; entrepreneurial disposition; entrepreneurial perceptions, ethnicity and exposure to entrepreneurship education. The broad objective was to examine the effect of culture and gender on students’ entrepreneurial intentions. Review of the extant literature was done and a conceptual framework developed along with the research hypotheses. A positivism paradigm using descriptive cross-sectional research design was used. The population comprised all public undergraduate university students who were in their fourth year of study between January and March 2013. Proportionate stratified random sampling was used. The sample size was 2192 respondents selected from the seven public universities. Primary data was collected using structured questionnaires measured on likert type interval scales. The study yielded a 70.8 percent response rate. Descriptive statistics comprising means and standard deviations were used to analyse the data. Hypotheses were tested using Pearson product moment correlations, ANOVA and regression analysis. The findings indicated that students do not consider gender when evaluating alternative career options. Confirming the researcher’s expectations and previous study results, significance of entrepreneurship education on entrepreneurial intentions was supported. In congruence with previous studies, the study found support for a positive effect of entrepreneurial perceptions on students entrepreneurial intentions. In addition, the relationship between entrepreneurial disposition and entrepreneurial intentions was supported by the research findings. On the basis of the results of this thesis, it was concluded that culture has a direct and indirect effect on entrepreneurial intentions and that there are no differences in any entrepreneurial related variables between either gender or ethnicity. Based on the study findings, it also became apparent that entrepreneurial intentions were predominantly dependent on perceptions of desirability and feasibility by the acting individual as well as dispositional traits that arms an individual in readiness to act entrepreneurially; and that entrepreneurship can be fostered through the current learning process adopted in our public universities curriculum as this relationship was empirically supported.

The availability and popularity of pharmaceuticals (including antimalarial drugs) in the developing world has increasingly been a subject of scientific interest. However, we have a paucity of studies on how people in different socio-cultural contexts have incorporated these phamaceuticals into their health seeking practices. This study explored the socio-cultural interpretation and appopriation of pharmaceuticals in two malarious villages in Kisii County. Specifically, the study sought to understand the actual antimalarial drug intake and the reasoning that drives behaviours surrounding their use. The study also investigated the Abagusii people's situated ideas and notions of antimalarials - the most commonly used pharmaceuticals in the area. The change of first-line treatment guidelines for malaria by the Kenyan government was also examined in the context of local realities in which antimalarial drugs are made available and used. The study was conducted in Mosocho and Raganga villages of Kisii County. The study design was longitudinal and involved cross-sectional data collection at different times over a period of 12 months. Both qualitative and quantitative data collection techniques were applied. These mixed methods included: village census and mapping, free listing, structured interviews, in-depth interviews, focus group discussions and longitudinal household malaria case studies. Descriptive statitical analysis was done using SPSS software package for questionnare data and qualitiative data was manually processed and analyzed through thematic analysis. The study findings revealed that the therapetic field in Mosocho and Raganga villages is characterized by medical pluralism. It also showed that both formal and informal sale of Western pharmaceuticals are common in the community and that local populations generally prefer to subordinate their local notions of meaning to those of biomedical explanation. The study findings showed that medical ‘knowledge’ or presentation about malaria had become part of a popular representation of malaria in the community. The connection with mosquitoes (chiumbu) was consistent in the two villages. The study revealed that lay people in the community, while aware of the change in malaria treatment guidelines, have nevertheless limited knowledge on the factors that motivated the government to make such changes. Health workers too, as expected, understood the reasons for the change but ironically were still prescribing SP drugs as a first line antimalarial drug. This unexpected behaviour from health providers poses a big challenge to effective implementation of the new policy guidelines as prescribed by the government. In conclusion, it is noted that the existence of plural medical systems in society requires constant renegotiations and new relational dynamics among the various health avenues that need to be taken into consideration by public health practitioners. The study recommends that future introduction of new treatment drugs should be sensitive to context-based ethnographic realities for effective up-take of these drugs.

Low soil fertility and pests are the major constraints to Navy bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L. ) production in Kenya. A study consisting of two experiments was therefore conducted in Mwea and Kabete during the 2009 short rains and 2010. The overall objective of the study was to develop integrated nutrient management options for improving productivity of canning Navy bean. The specific objectives were: (i) to determine the effect of varying combinations of organic and inorganic fertilizers on the growth and yield of canning Navy bean; (ii) to determine the interactive effects of fertilizer application and pesticide sprays on the growth and yield of canning Navy bean; and (iii) to determine the cost-effectiveness of the various fertilizer and chemical spray options in the production of canning navy bean. In the first experiment, the treatments comprised: a control with no fertilizer application, NPK (17:17:17) fertilizer at rates of 50 kg/ha, 100 kg/ha and 200 kg/ha, chicken and cattle manure each at 4 t/ha and 8 t/ha, and combinations of the three rates of fertilizer with the two rates of chicken and cattle manure respectively. The treatments were laid out in a randomized complete block design with three replications. In the second experiment, the treatments comprised fertilizer applications and pesticide sprays. The fertilizer treatments were full dose farmyard manure (8 t/ha), half dose farmyard manure (4 t/ha) plus half dose NPK (100 kg/ha), full dose NPK (200 kg/ha), Rhizobium inoculation, and a control (no fertilizer), while the pesticide treatments were fungicide spray (OrtivaR ), insecticide spray (ActaraR), fungicide spray (OrtivaR ) plus insecticide spray (ActaraR ) and a control (no spray). The experimental design was a randomized complete block design laid out in a split plot arrangement with three replications. In both experiments Mexican 142 variety was used. The data collected in the two experiments included: plant count, shoot biomass, root biomass, nodule number, number of pods, grain yield and 100 seed weight. Data generated were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) and treatment means compared using Genstat statistical programme. A partial economic analysis was done for the various fertilizer and chemical spray options in the production. In the first experiment, combinations of 100 kg/ha NPK and above with chicken manure and farm yard manure each at the rate of 4 or 8 t/ha generally had significantly higher nodule number, root biomass, shoot biomass and grain yield than the untreated control and other treatments. Each of these fertilizer combinations as well as application of 200 kg/ha NPK had cost-to-benefit ratio of about 1:2. In the second experiment, all the pesticide spray treatments had significantly higher grain yield in plots supplied with 4 t/ha farm yard manure plus 100 kg/ha NPK than in unsprayed plots. Combined fungicide and insecticide sprays had higher grain yield than insecticide or fungicide alone treatment. In the Rhizobium treated plots only a combination of fungicide and insecticide significantly increased grain yield relative to the unsprayed control. Fertilizer application increased the number of nodules but pesticide application had no effect. Fertilizer application increased grain yield significantly relative to the non-fertilizer control in pesticide sprayed plots, but had no effect in unsprayed plots. Applications of 200 kg/ha NPK and half dose farmyard manure (4 t/ha) plus half dose NPK (100 Kg/ha) in combination with insecticide or insecticide/fungicide sprays were the most costeffective treatment regimes with cost-benefit ratio of about 1:2. In conclusion, pesticide sprays, Rhizobium inoculation, application of 200 kg/ha NPK and combined moderate doses of organic and inorganic fertilizers have the potential to improve Navy bean productivity in central Kenya.

The study sought to examine the relationship between adoption of marketing concept and growth of SACCOs in Kenya. The study was guided by the following research objective: To establish the relationship between adoption of marketing concept and growth of SACCOs in Kenya. The study employed a descriptive research design. The study targeted 108 respondents, but only 86 of them responded. The study used primary data which was collected using semi-structured questionnaire. The collected data was entered into the computer using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) where it was analyzed. Both quantitative and qualitative data was generated. Descriptive statistics was used to analyze quantitative data by using frequencies and percentages presented in tables, charts and graphs. Qualitative data from open ended questions was thematically presented in narrative form and tables. From the analysis, the following findings were made: most SACCOs use the regular communication to customers approach in satisfying the customers‟ orientation as compared to other strategies. Other key strategies used included regular identification of members‟/customers‟ needs, aggressively creating awareness about products/services offered, creating customer value and charging affordable interest rates on products and services. Analysis of exogenous factors that affected market orientation was indicated as being significantly used by the SACCOs in improving market orientation and this is complemented by regular monitoring of competitors action and prompt mitigation of their effects. It was also indicated that marketing concepts adopted by the respective SACCOs did influence their growth to some extent. From the findings the following conclusions were made: based on the SACCO‟s satisfaction of customer orientation, it may be concluded that different SACCOs have different ways of satisfying the needs of their customers. However, the key issues raised include identifying customers‟ needs regularly, aligning their functions to customers‟ needs, satisfying the needs of their customers and offering a wide range of products/services that meet members/customer's needs. With these marketing strategies, SACCOs have been able to improve their overall growth. However, this growth though meeting customer needs is affected by to lack of proper training of staff members on customer service, poor facilities and lack of automation among others. To improve the market orientation among SACCOS, there are key practices applied. These include monitoring of all actions of competitors and promptly mitigating their effects, doing scientific analysis of all exogenous factors that may influence their marketing practices. The study recommended the following from the findings of the study: To increase the growth of SACCOs through the marketing concept there is need for an improvement in the customer communication, automation of various functions and services, training of staff on customer service, improvement of Sacco facilities and relocation of offices, providing more product/service offerings meeting current and future member needs and rebranding current products/services, setting up a research and planning department and investing in thorough market research. This will greatly improve the marketing concept which will in turn contribute in the growth of the SACCOs.

Exposure to pesticides, heavy metals and other chemical residues cause harmful effects; they can cause injury to human health as well as to the environment. Humans take up these chemicals through skin absorption, respiration and ingestion of contaminated food. Among all foods, fish is one of the main sources of chemical contaminants although fish products account only for about 10% of diet or less. The present study was conducted in Kiambu and Machakos counties with objectives of determining the concentration levels of pesticides and heavy metals in edible parts of fish from inland fish farms, The dietary intake of pesticide and heavy metal was also estimated and compared with acceptable daily intakes of the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines so as to assess their potential health hazard. A total of two hundred and thirty tilapia fish samples (n= 230) were collected from Kiambu and Machakos counties in the months of September and October 2011. Following wet digestion, the levels of lead and cadmium were determined in muscle, liver, gonad and brain of tilapia fish using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS) fitted with cadmium and lead lamps set at their respective wavelengths. To evaluate organochlorine concentration, fish samples were extracted, cleaned and analyzed using Gas Liquid Chromatography (GLC) fitted with Electron Capture Detector (ECD). The data was subjected to descriptive statistics and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) to test levels of significance at 95% confidence limit using Statistical Analysis Software (SAS) 9.0 version. Significance was noted at P< 0.005. In Kiambu county, mean lead levels (x ± s.d) in brain, liver, gonad and muscle were 31.31 ± 28.27, 17.33 ± 20.64, 16.62 ± 15.42 and 3.78 ± 2.22 ppm respectively against `the benchmark value of 0.5ppm.The average cadmium levels (x ± s.d) in the brain, liver, gonad and muscle were 7.25± 6.59, 5.35 ± 6.12, 3.35 ± 4.16 and 1.66 ± 2.48 ppm respectively against the benchmark level of 0.05ppm.However, only positive samples were considered. Out of the total number of samples analyzed, only 40% were positive for lead and cadmium in Kiambu county and 34 % in Machakos County. In Machakos county, mean lead levels (x ± s.d) in the brain, liver, gonad and muscle were 30.40±20.56, 7.88 ±7.25, 13.29±14.28 and 12.22±22.96 ppm respectively against the benchmark level of 0.5ppm.The average cadmium levels (x ± s.d) were 3.91±5.84, 2.90±3.58, 1.25±1.38 and 1.12±1.13ppm respectively against the benchmark level of 0.05ppm. The Organochlorines exhibiting the highest concentration (x ± s.d) were o,p ‘-DDT with a mean of 2.098±4.097 µg Kg-1followed by p’p-DDD 1.684±3.666 µg Kg-1 in the brain tissues. This was followed by p’p-DDD in muscle at 0.916±1.287 µg Kg-1 and pp-DDT at 0.916±1.916 µg Kg-1. Machakos County had p,p’-DDT at a concentration of 0.158 µg Kg-1 ,p,p’-DDD had 0.097 µg Kg-1 and p’-DDT had a concentration of 0.016±0.016 . Statistically, there was no significant difference in the tissues analyzed for the concentration of Pb in the two counties since pr/t/>0.05. Cadmium concentration in the gonad had a significant difference between Kiambu and Machakos County since pr/t/=0.05.The brain, liver and muscle did not show any significant difference in the concentration of Cadmium between the two counties since pr/t/ >0.05 . The results of the current study indicate the presence of relatively high levels of lead and cadmium above permissible limits in fish from the study areas and recommend controlling industrial and agriculture effluents into surface water and proper sitting of ponds to minimize the risk of contamination of farmed fish by pesticides and heavy metal. However it was noted that the number of samples that were positive with regard to the presence of all residues was small compared to the total number of samples analyzed.

Adolescence is a time of considerable physical and emotional changes, and cancer diagnosis during this time can have a profound impact on a child's psychological and physical developmentand complicates the experiences typical to this life phase. Unfortunately, much of the focus in most of the oncological care settings is on disease management and hence adolescent cancer patients’ readiness and psychosocial and emotional experiences often remain largely overlooked

The prevalence of infertility in Kenya is one of the highest in Africa; it is an important aspect of reproductive health. At Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH), over 30% of gynecological consultations are related to infertility, which attests to its burden in the country. However, the effect of infertility on the quality of life (QoL) of women and the prevalence of intimate partner violence (IPV) are poorly documented.

This dissertation was a study of the nature of Dholuo neologisms. The research problem focused on the comprehension process of Dholuo neologisms. The analysis was carried out within the framework of Relevance Theory. The data used in the study was drawn from native speakers of Kisumu-South Nyanza variety of Dholuo. Some of the data were also drawn from Ramogi FM, a radio station that broadcast in Dholuo. The research activities and findings are discussed in the four chapters of this research. Chapter one gives a general background on Dholuo and in addition, includes a detailed description of the research problem, objectives of the study, rationale, theoretical framework and the methodology. Chapter two concentrated on the morphological structure of Dholuo neologisms with an emphasis on the word formation processes involved in the formation of Dholuo neologism. The study demonstrated that derivation and compounding are involved in the formation of Dholuo neologisms. Also found to be involved in the formation of Dholuo neologisms are semantic extension and borrowing. The relationship between context and meanings of Dholuo neologisms was investigated in chapter three. It was observed that meanings of Dholuo neologisms are determined by the context brought to bear during their interpretation. The role of ad hoc concept of broadening in the interpretation of Dholuo neologisms was also analyzed in chapter three. Relevance Theory was used in the analysis. It was demonstrated that understanding Dholuo neologisms involves expanding the linguistically specified denotation of the logical form so as to include a wide range of other related concepts. In chapter four, it was concluded that broadening as ad hoc concept construction, brings out the meaning of Dholuo neologisms.

Phylogenetic reconstruction is essential to many decisions in the medical and agricultural sciences. However, a common drawback in many of these studies is the failure of different datasets to recover the same phylogeny, using the same individuals. Such incongruence result mainly from factors inherent in the evolutionary process itself such as homoplasy or evolutionary ‘noise’, not adequately treated in many analysis programs available. The current study evaluated the usefulness of ascertainment bias (increase in microsatellite allele size range with evolutionary distance from focal taxon) as well as RNA secondary structure morphology in reconstructing accurate phylogenetic relationships. Two domesticated animal systems, one with an unresolved and often controversial evolutionary history, (the camel) and another with a well resolved phylogeny at the species level (cattle), were used to test the reliability of the two methods, and as a spinoff, to revisit the camel’s unresolved history. Published camel and cattle microsatellite genotype data were used to test the utility of ascertainment bias, while cattle mitochondrial cytochrome b sequence data were obtained from a public repository at the National Centre for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). Allele frequency statistics, number of alleles and the allelic size ranges were estimated for each taxonomic group using Microsat toolkit. The means of the number of alleles and size ranges were determined, treating populations separately. The average of means, which is the mean of the means generated, was computed and compared with the mean of all, when the populations were combined. Secondary structures were predicted using MFOLD version 3.5, both at the default temperature (37oC) and at 25oC. The degree of congruence between predicted structures in different taxonomic groups were compared, based on shapes, sizes (in bases) and positioning of hairpins, and lengths of helices. The predicted secondary structure morphologies compared in a manner reflecting evolutionary distances of major Bovine lineages. Whereas individuals within species were the most congruent followed by those between species within the genus, the most distant ones also differed the most, reinforcing their usefulness in resolving enigmatic phylogenies. However, in both test systems used in this study (Camelini and Bovini), ascertainment bias did not exhibit the uniformity required of a good phylogenetic probe. In many cases and for many loci, the principle (reduced allele size range proportional to evolutionary distance from the focal taxon) was not obeyed especially in the Bovini. This confirms that ascertainment bias may reflect phylogenetic trends in some systems but not others. The results of this study contradicted two major evolutionary, migration and domestication theories. The data suggested that first, unlike the current tenet that cattle (Bos taurus and Bos indicus) descended from the Auroch in Eurasia and then B. indicus migrated into Africa, and that Bos javanicus (banteng) and the Auroch shared a common ancestor, it is evident that B. indicus may have evolved independently from the Auroch in North Africa, making the indicine-taurine clade paraphyletic with respect to banteng. Second, this study suggested that the one humped and two humped camels did not simultaneously radiate from their common ancestor (Paracamelus) in western Asia, rather, it showed the dromedary to recently emerge from the Bactrian. These are interesting paleontological questions needing further examination from whole genome scans, as the current study relied on single genes.