Cancer of the cervix is the leading cause of cancer related deaths among women in Kenya. Cervical cytology screening programs have been shown to significantly reduce mortality and morbidity associated with cancer of the cervix. Since 90% of pregnant women in Kenya attend antenatal clinic (ANC) at least once, the ANC offers an excellent opportunity for cervical cytology screening. Objective: To determine the prevalence of abnormal cervical cytology among pregnant women attending ANC at Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH). Design: Cross-sectional descriptive study. Setting: Kenyatta National Hospital antenatal clinic. Study population: Pregnant women attending the first (booking) antenatal visit from February 2008 to August 2008. Methods: A Papanicolaou (pap) smear was taken for each consenting participant during the first antenatal visit. A cervex™ brush was used to collect the cervical smears. The specimens were analyzed and reported on a standardized laboratory form. The social demographic profiles of the participants were obtained using a structured questionnaire. HIV serostatus was obtained from the participants' routine antenatal profiles. Results: A total of 171 women attending their first ANC visit were recruited. The mean maternal age was 28.5 years with a range of 18 to 42. The mean gestation at the booking visit was 28 weeks with 57.9% of the participants initiating ANC in the 3rd trimester. Only 10.5% had had previous screening for abnormal cervical cytology. One hundred and sixty-six (97.1%) pap smear specimens were satisfactory for evaluation. Five (2.9%) were unsatisfactory for evaluation. The prevalence of Squamous intra-epithelial lesions was 5.8% (3.5% LSIL, 2.3% HSIL). Thirty one percent were inflammatory, 1.2% had Trichomonas vaginalis, 7% had bacterial vaginosis (diagnosed by the presence of clue cells) and 10.5% had Candida spp. Forty nine percent of the pap smears were reported normal. HIV sero-positive status and abnormal vaginal discharge were significantly associated with the presence of any pap smear abnormality (p value <0.05). 11 Conclusion The prevalence of abnormal cervical cytology was 5.8%. Positive HIV sero-status and presence of abnormal vaginal discharge were noted to be associated with a higher risk of pap smear abnormalities. The rate of previous screening for cervical cytology was low. Only 10.5% of the participants had had a pap smear done in the past. Cervical cytology screening should be included in routine antenatal care in our hospitals. This would be in line with the WHO model on focused antenatal care which recommends cervical cytology screening on the first antenatal visit. Antenatal care givers should actively promote and provide counseling and testing for HIV as this was observed to increase the risk of abnormal cervical cytology. Antenatal mothers with vaginal discharge should be evaluated to rule out reproductive tract infections.

COVID-19 began as a health emergency and rapidly deteriorated into an economic, financial, and social crisis. It has impacted every sector of the economy and has harmed the majority of the population in various aspects. The purpose of this study was to ascertain the stock market reaction to COVID-19 by examining companies listed in the Nairobi securities exchange. To accomplish the research objectives, the research concentrated on price reaction through the use of daily stock returns. The research was based on the EMH hypothesis, which states that an efficient market quickly absorbs and reacts to new information, it also considers the behavioural finance theory in the human reaction. The research employed an event-based technique. The event period was 61 trade days, including the event day, from 29th January to 27th April 2020, with the event day being 12th March 2020, the day the first case of COVID19 in Kenya was confirmed. The research used the NSE 20-share index as the market return benchmark. According to the study's findings, the market reaction was negative following the incident, but there were positive abnormal returns in the days preceding the disclosure. As indicated by the negative cumulative returns that are statistically significant, it was established that COVID-19 had a detrimental effect on stock returns. The CAAR has a pvalue of (.000), which is less than the 5% level of significance. The greatest influence was detected during the event period, which lasted several days before and after COVID-19. According to the study's conclusion, COVID-19 are extremely relevant information events that are followed by big negative anomalous returns. According to the data, share prices suffered a significant decline. This rebuts the EMH's claim that markets are inefficient. In practice, the findings show that when investors make investment decisions, they should consider elements other than economics. An investor makes an investment decision based on the available information. The information flow in the capital market is affected by the state of the environment, whether economic or otherwise. While the non-economic environment is not inextricably linked to capital market processes, it cannot be separated from them. Stock prices are affected by a variety of market events. These phenomena manifest themselves in a variety of ways. Although the COVID-19 pandemic is a onetime event that does not occur annually, a pandemic can hit at any time, causing havoc on the stock market. It is advised that businesses, shareholders, regulatory bodies, and governments work cooperatively during times of crisis to expedite the market's recovery.

The purpose of this study was to find out the effect of internal controls on the financial performance of deposit taking Savings and Credit Cooperative Societies (SACCOs) in Kenya. This study is significant because SACCOs make a critical contribution to the economic development of this nation through funds and savings mobilization. However, these SACCOs face a number of challenges, key among them being the issues of management which is largely occasioned by the existence of poor or weak internal controls. Financial performance of these institutions is thus seriously impacted as a result of the existence or lack thereof of the necessary internal controls that would lead to effective financial management within the SACCOs. The findings of this study conducted on 122 deposit taking SACCOs in Kenya relied on both primary and secondary data which was obtained from the annual reports of the SACCOs. Regression analysis was mainly used to reveal that the financial performance of SACCOs in Kenya is largely influenced by the level of internal controls instituted by the management of these institutions. If the SACCOs improve the effectiveness of their internal controls, then the financial performance of these SACCOs improves drastically. The regression analysis conducted established that the independent variables have a positive strong correlation with the dependent variable. Each of the independent variables namely, the control environment, risk assessment, control activities and monitoring mechanisms contribute positively to the financial performance of SACCOs in Kenya. It is also evident from the study that without the presence of strong internal controls within these institutions, the SACCOs would be performing poorly with the risk of eventual collapse as a result of poor financial performance.

One of the challenges presented by a dynamic environment is increased competition. Competition is indeed a very complex phenomenon that is manifested not only in other industry players but also in form of customers, suppliers, potential entrants and substitute products. It is therefore necessary for a firm to understand the underlying sources of competitive pressure in its industry in order to formulate appropriate strategies to respond to competitive forces. Competitive strategy specifies the distinctive approach which the firm intends to use in order to succeed in each of the strategic business area. Competitive strategy gives a company an advantage over its rival in attracting customers and defending against competitive forces. The objectives of this study were to determine the dimensions of competition faced by television media stations in Kenya and also establish the competitive strategies that television media stations has adopted to cope with the challenges of increased competition in the television broadcast media industry in Kenya. The researcher used cross- sectional survey in the study. The target population of interest in this study was the fully operational television channels in Kenya. There are currently over 16 fully operational television channels in Kenya. The researcher applied proportionate stratified sampling during data collection to select the managers from the study population. Proportionate stratified sampling was appropriate since it identifies sub groups in the population and in their proportions and selected from each subgroup a sample. A sample size of 14 was targeted and data was collected using a questionnaire that allowed for uniformity of responses of questions. Besides, secondary data was collected from documentations from these companies. Data collected was processed through computer software SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Studies) and presented in the report in form of tables and graphs. The study found out that the competitive strategies used by television media stations were cost leadership and differentiation. The strategies according to the study findings have placed the companies in a favorable position relative to the competition. These strategies have also made television media stations to not only achieve high levels of efficiency and effectiveness, but to also gain and sustain competitive advantage. The study also found out that the dimensions of competition for television media stations were threats of new entrants, threat of substitutes, power of suppliers, bargaining power of buyers and intensity of rivalry.

abstract

Particulate matter (PM) of 10 micron (μm) or less in diameter, (PM10) is a component of inhalable dust. These particles are indicators of air pollution and one of the major human health and environmental concern. Their harmful health effects, ranges from minor irritation to chronic infections in the respiratory system. Furthermore, their toxicities depend on the chemical composition. The PM10 levels vary greatly due to the influence of meteorological factors and their removal from the atmosphere is most challenging especially when they consist of secondary particles. There has been health concern among communities over possible exposure to elevated levels of PM10 of the cement industries. The study was therefore conducted to assess PM10 levels around the cement industries in Athi River Municipality, Machakos County in Kenya. The PM10 levels were collected from five sites in the morning and afternoon for three hours at each site, for three consecutive days during the rainy (April-June and in October) and dry (January-March and in September) seasons of 2019. They were collected using a 47 mm polytetrafluoroethylene filter membrane fitted in an air sampler (Model: Ecotec microvolt-1100). All filter membranes were conditioned for 24-hours prior to pre-weighing and post-weighing using unibloc shimadzu AUW220D analytical balance. Meteorological measurements were further recorded during collection of PM10 levels. The analysis of PM10 levels and elemental composition were carried out using the gravimetric and energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) techniques, respectively. The results showed that mean ± standard deviation (SD) PM10 levels ranged from 43.2±10.7 to 592.6±133.5 μg/m3 across the five sites regardless of the period of the day and the season. In descending order, the industrial site “A” had mean PM10 level (μg/m3) of 592.6±133.5 and 271.6±46.6; industrial site “B” had 401.2±70.1 and 216.0±28.3; commercial site had 370.4±49.0 and 160.5±38.6; residential areas “B” had 333.3±37.1 and 179.0±10.7 and “A” had 246.9±21.4 and 129.6±18.5 in the morning and afternoon, respectively during the dry season. During the rainy season, similar trends were observed with industrial site “A” having a mean PM10 level (μg/m3) of 302.5±56.6 and 166.7±37.1; industrial site “B” had 277.8±32.1 and 154.3±28.3; commercial site had 246.9±46.6 and 86.4±21.4 residential areas “B” had 197.5±38.5 and 74.1±18.5 and “A” had 111.1±18.5 and 43.2±10.7, in the morning and afternoon, respectively. The study showed that industrial sites had the highest PM10 levels, followed by the commercial sites and the least levels were from residential sites. The substantial PM10 levels in these sites were mainly attributable to emissions from cement industries. The levels were significantly higher (p< 0.05) in the morning than afternoons in both seasons and considerably high (p < 0.05) during the dry compared to the rainy season. The meteorological factors had a high influence (p < 0.05) on these levels where, negative correlations of R= -0.752 and R= -0.783 were observed between wind speed and temperature, respectively, and PM10 levels during the dry season. Conversely, a positive correlation of R = 0.906 was obtained between relative humidity and PM10 levels. Similar trend in the correlation values of R = -0.374, R = -0.506 and R = 0.826 were observed between wind speed, temperature and relative humidity, respectively, and PM10 levels in the rainy season. The mean PM10 values for residential site ‘’B” situated downwind of the cement industries were also consistently high notwithstanding the period of the day and season when compared to those of the residential site “A” situated upwind. The PM10 levels at the five sites had variations in the percentage composition of Cu, Sb, Si, Al, Ca, Fe, Zn, Cr, Pb, Cd and Ni. Nonetheless, Si, Cd, Al, Ca and Fe, components of cement, were prominent elements detected across these sampling sites irrespective of the seasons. The high levels of PM10 with toxic components found in this study implies that suitable interventions and policies should be put in place to control these levels and safeguard human health and environment.

Disputes have become a common problem afflicting the construction industry and they have the tendency to cause undesirable effects if not effectively resolved. Such effective resolution requires timely and economical resolution, with final outcomes that are satisfactory to the disputants involved. Arbitration has for a while been the preferred resolution method. However, it has recently been the subject of discussion both in industry and academia because of incessant delays, high costs and increasingly unacceptable awards. Although studies have attempted to identify the various causes of ineffective arbitration, they have not only been descriptive but also relied on anecdotes and subjective opinions. Consequently, the studies’ findings have little explanatory power, making it difficult to confront the underlying causes of arbitral ineffectiveness. The aim of this comparative case study was to develop a framework for effective arbitration of construction disputes in Kenya. A review of the related literature brought out ten determinants of arbitral effectiveness, including award favourability, perceived award fairness, perceived procedural fairness, perceived quality of the decision-making process, perceived quality of treatment, perceived adequacy of the size of the tribunal, approaches to the presentation of evidence, competence of the tribunal, distribution of control and complexity of the dispute. These factors were conceptualised into a structural model. Qualitative data collection and analysis were then undertaken to establish the relationships among the factors. Thirteen semi-structured interviews of participants in five construction disputes in Kenya helped to explain the factors influencing the effectiveness of construction arbitration, which formed the basis upon which the framework was developed. Pattern-matching analysis helped to reveal that out of the ten identified factors, only award favourability was found to directly influence arbitral effectiveness. Four other factors including the approaches to the presentation of evidence, the competence of the tribunal, distribution of control and complexity of the dispute also influenced arbitral effectiveness among the cases, but through award favourability. In this study, the researcher makes a distinct contribution to knowledge by demonstrating that award favourability and the control model of procedural justice are the components of organisational justice that did influenced arbitral effectiveness in the cases studied. Thus, disputants in the cases were more interested in material gains than in maintaining and sustaining their business relations, explaining why the awards were challenged, hence straining their relationships. This instrumental nature suggests that these disputants were less interested in fairness of the process and its outcome, explaining why the influence of award fairness, procedural fairness and interactional justice on arbitral effectiveness was not supported. Despite the ineffectiveness of the cases, participants maintained that they would still refer future construction disputes to arbitration, mainly because of its procedural and interactional justice. Finally, a schematic framework was synthesised from the data analysis results. The framework requires implementation of institutional, legal and policy interventions for effective construction arbitration. The proposed interventions include a review of the training curricula to impart soft skills on effective construction arbitration, review of the arbitration rules, standing panels to match arbitrators to the various case complexities and the need for arbitrators to proactively manage their cases. There is also a need for disputants to customise the dispute resolution clauses during the contract drafting stage to incorporate desired xxqualifications of the arbitrators to minimise mismatches between case complexities and competence. During contract execution, there is a need proactively gather and document evidence that is likely to be useful to enhance evidence presentation. The need for disputants to conduct themselves well and for the tribunals to use their powers in instilling discipline and for the tribunals to make their awards timely, based on evidence cannot be over emphasised. If implemented, these interventions can assist in enhancing the effectiveness of construction arbitration by minimising delays, unnecessary costs and improving award acceptability. The researcher recommends further quantitative research to test the structural model on other cases and to generalise the findings.Keywords: arbitration, effectiveness, disputes, construction, organisational justice

The main purpose of the study is to determine the investment strategies used by Kenya Power and Lighting Company within the power distribution sector. Adequate investment in capacity and efficient working of transmission and distribution systems in developing economies with high growth of electricity demand are important objectives. The literature review available on investment strategies within the power distribution sector have been captured and the theoretical underpinnings of investment strategies. In many developing countries, the electricity system is too weak to meet growing demand and the availability and reliability of generating capacity is inadequate. Protracted mismanagement, political interference, subsidized pricing, and corruption all undermine the ability of developing electricity supply industries to finance and deliver service or attract new private investment. Spot market pricing is a sufficient condition for an efficient level of investment. Data was collected using interview guides administered to senior managers within the company. This involved sample selection and description, research design, population and sampling design, data collection methods, tools and procedures, and data analysis and reporting. The data was obtained from the various management team members belonging to different departments analyzed and compared against each other in order to get more revelation on the issues under study. The study recommends that electricity sub sector, costs should be reduced and electricity tariff setting harmonized and enhancing information asymmetry between policy makers, deliberate measures to improve penetration of renewable technologies, regulators, providers and consumers. The study suggest further research on Investment Strategies by Kenya Power and Lighting Company within the Power distribution sector to supplement the findings of this study by providing information on evaluation of Kenya Power and Lighting Company within the Power distribution sector.

One billion people (32 percent) of the world’s urban population live in deplorable living conditions in informal settlements, according to estimates by the United Nations. In Kenya, they estimate to be at 56 percent (and the figure is projected to grow. There is, therefore a pressing need for action. Slum upgrading is seen as the current best practice in addressing this challenge. However, upgrading has its challenges. This study sought to investigate this strategy in Kenya to make recommendations on how its policies and programs can be better designed and implemented for maximum impact and sustainability. Studies have shown that upgrading has improved living conditions and quality of life in informal settlements. However, it has sometimes failed to achieve the intended purpose. Part of the challenge lies in the compartmentalization of upgrading interventions along sectoral lines which make it less impactful. There is a need for linked up approaches where synergies can be leveraged and tradeoffs minimized to enhance the impact and sustainability of upgrading efforts. However crosssectoral linkages in the interventions have received limited attention. This study contributes to this knowledge gap by investigating the nexus of slum upgrading interventions, specifically, interventions of tenure security, infrastructure, and livelihoods as well as their institutional dynamics. The inadequacy of these elements underpins poverty and deprivation, thus the proliferation of informal settlements in the urban space. Although there is growing literature on various aspects of these; there is limited research on their interconnections. Understanding these links and their institutional dynamics are critical for policy and implementation of upgrading programs. This study’s conceptual framework builds on existing theories on tenure, infrastructure and livelihoods to conceptualize a multi-sectoral linked up approach to upgrading comprising these three essential elements. The study was undertaken in Eldoret town located in western Kenya within East Africa. A multi-case study design comprising Huruma, Munyaka, and Kamkunji settlements and a mixed-method approach of both qualitative ( interpretivist) and quantitative (positivist) techniques were used for data collection, analysis and hypothesis testing. Findings showed a limiting sectoral approach, neglect of livelihoods but a linkage in tenure security, infrastructure, and livelihoods improvements in informal settlements upgrading. The study thus recommends a multisector integrated approach that incorporates both physical and human aspects in upgrading through a collaborative institutional framework. For upgrading practice, it recommends a Tenure-Infrastructure-Livelihoods (T-I-L) nexus model to upgrading. An approach that is multisectoral, integrated, synergistic, and addresses both physical and human deprivations of the urban poor, and is deemed to bring greater impact and sustainability of upgrading efforts. The policy implications being the need to significantly transform existing policy and legal frameworks and upgrading strategies to embrace the T-I-L nexus approach for synergy, wholeness, and optimum use of scarce resources. Globally, this contributes to the SDGs especially the global goal of making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable by 2030 and nationally, it contributes to the aspirations of Kenya’s Vision 2030 and current development agenda four, especially on affordable housing.

The Maasai community has been known to be a pastoral community from time in memorial. Today, this is fast changing. Urbanization has fast caught up with the traditional lifestyle of the Maasai community. With pastoral land diminishing on a daily basis, the livelihood of the Maasai households has thus been affected. Most of them have been found to be lost in between culture and urbanization. The purpose of this study was to establish the impact of urbanization on the livelihood of the Maasai community in Ngong Ward, Kajiado County. The study explored ways in which changing land use and tenure coupled with rapid population growth had affected the livelihood of the Maasai households in Ngong Ward, Kajiado County. Further to this, the study also sought to find out the socio-economic and environmental impacts of urbanization and also established the coping mechanisms the Maasai‟s in Ngong Ward had adopted in response to urbanization. This study used cluster sampling and systematic random sampling research design to get the sample population. The use of several research instruments which included; household questionnaires, interview schedule with key informants, observation schedule that was enhanced by the use of photography and a document analysis guide was employed. Cluster sampling and systematic random sampling approach was adopted to identify the households. In total 70 Maasai households participated in this study. The quantitative data generated by questionnaires was analyzed by the use of SPSS 17 while the qualitative data generated from the interview schedules, observation and from secondary sources of data was analyzed through content analysis. Analyzed data was then summarized into frequencies and percentages and presented in tables, bar charts and figures. Findings of the study revealed that Ngong Ward was experiencing rapid urbanization due to its proximity to Nairobi County that had seen it emerge as a dormitory for the urban labour force. Rapid urbanization has led to the increase in demand for land leading to increased land subdivisions in the ward. This has led to changing land use and land tenures that has negatively impacted on the traditional Maasai livelihood of pastoralism. Though urbanization was seen as contributing to conservation efforts within Ngong Ward vi environmental pollution was seen as the most visible negative impact of urbanization in the ward. Socio-economically urbanization was seen as having a positive contribution to the Maasai livelihood. Many Maasai households had diversified their livelihoods and had opted into new livelihoods as a result of the urban sprawl in Ngong Ward. The study recommends that there is need to undertake an integrated urban planning framework for the ward and other emerging urban towns which incorporates the aspect of urban zoning as way of protecting local communities. Prevalence of employments should be given to local communities by organizations in urban towns to help provide sustainable livelihood strategies for the local communities. While adopting the aspect of planning the government should set regulations that limit very small subdivisions in lands set aside for agro-pastoralism. In Ngong Ward there is need for an infrastructural upgrade that should take into consideration of the increasing population. The study also recommends that community participation should be integrated in all development projects that are meant to benefit the Maasai households.