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Implementation of a Blockchain based model for Health Information Exchange in Maternal Healthcare
Full text linkMedical facilities in Kenya have adopted Electronic Health Records systems but lack a robust and secure system for sharing
sensitive and confidential health records. These efforts do not provide comprehensive data integrity and non-repudiation of
patient medical history as the patient seeks care from one provider to another. This situation is even dire and most detrimental to
the most vulnerable of citizens, in expectant mothers, children and marginalized groups. These shared electronic health records
which includes provision of historical health information, is critical to facilitate making of informed medical decisions.
Therefore, a blockchain based solution would reliably address these concerns and result in access to better quality maternal
healthcare services in Kenya. The study focused on developing a Blockchain based model for secure Maternal Health
Information Exchange. The solution targeted inter health facilities information interchange while ensuring data protection and
access to information. The study utilized a mixed method approach entailing design thinking methodolog
EFFECT OF FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT PRACTICES ON THE SUSTAINABILITY OF NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS IN NAIROBI COUNTY, KENYA
Full text linkThe Non-Governmental organizations are major players in the economic developments and
social wellbeing within the host countries. In Kenya, the NGOs contribution was highly
recognized by the government. Despite the increase in funding for NGOs, concerns were raised
on lack of sustainability and the effect that the drastic reduction would have on the quality of life
on the affected communities. This study aimed at establishing the effect of financial management
practices on the sustainability of Non- Governmental Organizations in Nairobi County. It
examined the effect of budgetary practices, the effect of working capital management practices,
the adoption of integrated financial management information systems and the effect of internal
control practices on the sustainability of NGOs in Nairobi County. Further, the study examined
the moderating effect of NGO regulations on the effect of financial management practices on the
sustainability of NGOs in Nairobi County. The study was guided by the theory of the budgeting
process, the resource-based view theory, the operating cycle theory, and the theory of economic
regulation. It was anchored on a positivist paradigm philosophy. The study employed descriptive
research design. A sample of 286 out of a target population of 1000 senior program managers
and chief executive officers was obtained using stratified random sampling. A pilot study was
conducted on 15 senior program managers and chief executive officers from NGOs within the
Nairobi County who did not form part of the sample population. This allowed for the assessment
of the reliability and content validity of the data collection instruments which were found to be
satisfactory. Reliability was tested using the Cronbach coefficient. Primary data was collected
from sampled officers using structured questionnaires, while secondary data was obtained from
the audited financial statements of the NGOs and publications by the NGO coordination board.
172 questionnaires were found to be satisfactorily completed for analysis yielding a 60.14%
response rate. The data collected was summarized and presented in tables and charts. Statistical
Package for Social Scientists (SPSS) was used for data handling and analysis. The descriptive
statistics included frequencies, percentages, means, modes and standard deviations. Inferential
statistics included hypothesis testing using Chi Square test for independence to test whether the
rating was dependent on the age of the NGOs, modelling using correlational and linear
regression analysis and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). For regression analysis, the normality
of the response variable (NGO sustainability) data was confirmed using the Shapiro-Wilks test,
while other diagnostic tests included Variance Inflation Factors (VIFs) and Pearson‟s Correlation
analysis to assess collinearity, coefficients of determination, t and F statistics. The explanatory
variables (financial management practices) were found to have pronounced multicollinearity,
thus necessitating partial regression analysis to investigate the effects of financial management
practices on NGO sustainability. In assessing sustainability of NGOs, the current ratio, the donor
dependency level, and the survival ratio were computed. The study showed that budgetary
practices have significant effects on NGO sustainability specifically, donor dependency level and
survival rate. However, enhanced regulations by the NGO coordination board would result to a
more decreased donor dependency level and a more increased survival rate. Working capital
management practices have significant effects on the NGO sustainability specifically current
ratio and survival rate. The NGO regulation raised the rate at which adoption of IFMIS
influenced current and survival rate. Lastly, internal control practices were found to have
significant effects on all indicators of NGO sustainability, current ratio, donor dependency level
and survival rate. NGO regulation was found to reduce the rate at which improved internal
control practices influence the indicators of NGO sustainability. The study recommended that
NGOs in Nairobi County should improve the working capital management practices through
improved grant receipt scheduling and liquidation of expenditure which leads to improved cashflows.
Further
ENABLING SECURE MATERNAL HEALTH INFORMATION EXCHANGE USING BLOCKCHAIN.
Full text linkMedical facilities in Kenya have made efforts to adopt Electronic Health Records systems
at various levels and for different use cases. However, there lacks a robust and secure
system for sharing sensitive and confidential health records curtails the potential benefits
that can be gained by shared electronic health records especially the antenatal care process.
Current methods do not provide comprehensive data integrity and non-repudiation of
patient medical history as the patient seeks care from one provider to another. This situation
is even dire and most detrimental to the most vulnerable of citizens, in expectant mothers,
children and marginalized groups. These shared electronic health records that include
provision of historical health information is critical to facilitate the making of informed
medical decisions. There is need to solve these concerns on the confidentiality of patients‟
records adequately by introducing data encryption and patient mediated record access. As a
result, thereof, a blockchain-based solution would reliably address these concerns and result
in access to better quality maternal healthcare services in Kenya. This study focused on
developing a Blockchain based model for secure Maternal Health Information Exchange.
The solutions targeted inter health facilities information interchange while ensuring data
protection and access to information. This study-utilized design thinking methodology to
guide the research process. For empathize stage, a purposive sampling was undertaken, and
discourse analysis was done to design the model. The ideate stage arrived at a model that
was developed into a prototype. The results were evaluated and validated using a goalbased
evaluation methodology with a formative-assessment test regime with the aim of
improving the weaknesses of the current information exchange within the Antenatal Care
(ANC) process. The results of the validation significantly approve the use of the blockchain
model within the Antenatal Care (ANC) domain. The results also aided and improved
information exchange and will guide future research in blockchain for healthcare provision
and improve the body of knowledge in Information Communication Technologies. As a
generalisation and extension into other domains, the research concluded that blockchainbased
model is important in medical institutions that value historical transactions,
specifically, the Antenatal Care (ANC) process. As a recommendation for further study, the
research can be extended to integrate blockchain model applications for purposes of
providing data exchange in the areas of health such postnatal, family planning follow-ups,
outpatient sections and specialists‟ consultation clinics within the field of health
Devolution as a panacea to deeply divided multi-ethnic (national) states: The continuing Kenyan experiment
Full text linkThe multiple designers of Kenya’s 2010 Constitution intended that devolution should
address the many years of economic exclusion that many Kenyan communities had suffered.
While this paper concedes that the design of the 2010 Constitution to a large extent
achieves this role, the same constitution fails at engendering national multi-ethnic unity.
This paper uses three broad approaches to assess Kenya’s devolution experiment under
Kenya’s 2010 Constitution and ethnic unity: the first is Daniel Posner’s Institutional
Politics approach, the second is Donald Horowitz’s Constitutional Ethnic Federalism
approach, and the final one is Yash Pal Ghai’s Constitutional Autonomy approach. The
author argues that limiting our focus to these three approaches as applied in this paper,
there is no constitutional design that can easily achieve the lofty objective of national
multi-ethnic unity in Kenya. This is because Kenya has had deeply ethnicised politics
and social relations that are tied to ethnic political patrons and elites who are always at
the forefront of constitutional design outcomes. This explains why even with the 2010
Constitution’s attempt to weaken the imperial presidency, many Kenyans still perceive
ascendancy to the presidency as the zenith of social, economic, and political actualisation.
The paper, therefore, concludes that the Posner and Horowitz approaches above have
merits and demerits and have also been variously applied under the 2010 Kenyan
Constitution. The Ghai approach has neither been contemplated nor applied in the 2010
Kenyan Constitution. It emerges that even if the demerits under the Posner, Horowitz,
and Ghai approaches were eradicated, which might be quite difficult or even impossible,
and yet the zero-sum competitive politics for the presidency persists, the politicisation of
ethnicity and the conflicts that stem from this will persist
DIGITAL FINANCIAL INNOVATION SERVICES AND THEIR IMPACT ON THE PERFORMANCE OF COMMERCIAL BANKS IN KENYA
Full text linkThe study aimed at investigating the impact of digital financial services on the financial
performance of Commercial Banks in Kenya using secondary dataset generated from the
Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) and the Communication Authority of Kenya (CAK) for a
period of five years (2015-2019). To achieve this objective, the study used a multiple
regression and Pearson correlations. The study using the Pearson correlations found
negative correlations between mobile money (registered mobile money accounts, active
mobile money agents and mobile money deposits and withdrawals), digital payments
(P2P transfers) and performance of commercial banks. However, the study found
positive and significant relationship between customer deposits, Gross non-performing
loans and performance of commercial banks in Kenya. The study therefore concludes that
digital financial services offered by Fintech companies have a negative impact on the
performance of Commercial banks in Kenya and recommends that commercial banks
should continuously develop more digital financial services and collaborate more with
Fintech companies to improve on their performance. The originality of this study will be
of benefit to managers of Commercial banks
EFFECT OF CENTRAL BANK RISK MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES COMPLIANCE ON FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE OF COMMERCIAL BANKS IN KENYA
Full text linkBanking failures coupled with declining profitability have been experienced in the
Kenyan banking sector for a couple of years. This comes even after the Central Bank
of Kenya has made concerted efforts to address the problem by introducing the risk
management guidelines in 2005. Since the introduction of these guidelines, a total of
seven bank failures have been recorded. Additionally, in its report on the financial
position and performance of the Kenyan banking sector for 2016/2017, banks
profitability recorded a decline compared to the previous year. This situation raises
the issue of whether these guidelines have had any effect on enhancing bank
performance. The objective of this study was to determine the effectiveness of central
bank risk management guidelines on the financial performance of commercial banks
in Kenya. The specific objectives of the study were to establish the effect of the board
and senior management oversight, policies and procedures, internal controls system,
risk monitoring and management information system, and capital and liquidity limits
on financial performance of commercial banks in Kenya. The study further sought to
establish the moderating effect of bank size on the relationship between central bank
risk management guidelines and financial performance of commercial banks in
Kenya. This study was guided by three theories: Stakeholder theory, Institutional
theory, and systems theory. A descriptive research design was used for the study and
the study‘s target population comprised of all the 42 commercial banks licensed by
the central bank to operate in Kenya. Sampling was not required since the study
adopted a census of all the banks. Both secondary and primary data were collected
and subsequently analysed with the facilitation of the Statistical Package for Social
Sciences. The analysis encompassed both descriptive and inferential statistics. The
study found that compliance with risk management guidelines on board and senior
management oversight, capital and liquidity limits, policies and procedures, and risk
monitoring and management information system, did not have statistically significant
effect on the financial performance of commercial banks in Kenya. However,
compliance with the internal controls guidelines had a statistically significant effect
on financial performance of the banks. The study further revealed that bank size had a
significant moderating effect on the relationship between CBK‘s risk management
guidelines compliance and financial performance of commercial banks in Kenya. It
was concluded that bank size is a crucial factor in reference to how the compliance of
commercial banks to the risk management guidelines laid down by the CBK affected
the former‘s financial performance. The study recommended that, for the Central
Bank of Kenya to formulate risk management guidelines that take consideration on
bank size in terms of bank‘s overall financial strength, complexity of the institution‘s
operations, scope of the institution‘s activities, size of the institution, and bank‘s years
in operation. The findings of this study are beneficial to the Central Bank of Kenya in
informing the review of the guidelines, management of commercial banks in making
decisions and other scholars in the same area of study to provide literature
The Case of Kickstarter Crowdfunding Platform
Full text linkThe study aimed at investigating the factors that lead to successful crowdfunding campaigns in Kenya.
The success factors of reward-based
crowdfunded
campaigns vary
in different
countries due to
differences
in cultures,
legal requirements,
social interactions, political and business environments.
With
very
minimal research
on crowdfunding
funding in Kenya,
the study therefore,
aimed at
analyzing
reward-based
crowdfunding
in Kenya
using Kickstarter
data, and identifying the crucial
factors
necessary
to run
a successful campaign. to
achieve
this objective,
the study used a multiple
regression
and Pearson
correlations.
The study found a statistically significant regression
equation hence
the
regression
model
was
considered
a
good
fit.
The
study
using
the
Pearson
correlations
analysis
found a very strong and positive statistical correlation between updates, amount pledged, backers,
and successful projects, moderate but positive statistical correlation between comments, new backers,
returning backers, and successful projects. However, there was a negative but insignificant correlation
between the goal, funding period, and successful projects. The novelty will be of great benefit to project
funders who want to run successful projects in Kenya. This is because the concept of crowdfunding
is still new in Kenya and has not been widely publicized, accepted, or researched. The results of this
study will guide potential founders on the do’s and don’ts of running a successful campaign. Finally,
the study recommends further research on the success factors of other crowdfunding models in Kenya
as the study solely focused on the reward-based model
AN ISO 27001 BASED MODEL TO DETERMINE UNIVERSITY INFORMATION SECURITY MATURITY UNDER UNCERTAINTY
Full text linkThe use of information technology and related process has permeated into organizations of all sizes. Moreover, in recent years, almost all organizations, if not all are involved in protecting their technology investment, if not for protecting cooperate image, then for ensuring provision of confidentiality, Integrity and availability of Information security ensures availability of services to stakeholders. Information security managers must be aware of their information security posture to better prepare in advance and minimise the risk of attacks. The study came up with a model based on ISO 27001 to aid universities in determining their level of maturity in information security. The study adopted specific clauses relevant to universities because of its unique organizational egocentric nature having varied categories of users and extensive research allowing it to serve as a plausible area of study compared to other organizations. The study adopted scientific approach to obtain data using simple random sampling with an online questionnaire distributed to respondents and analysed with SPSS. Secondly, design science approach was then adopted for realization of the web based model. From the output, foremost Reliability and validity of data collection for analysis was carried out which revealed a Cronbach Alpha of 0.917. The impact of Individual variable weights to university information security was then established, followed by inferential analysis showing how individually the different variables impact on the maturity model. From the regression, administrative factors impacted on overall security at .436, technological factors at -.157and physical factors .590respectively with statistic overall regression model significant at r²= .610, F (3, 116)=60.517; p <0.05. All the three factors were found to correlate significantly with the risk management mechanism and therefore taken into consideration for model design and development. Using Goal Question Metrics approach (GQM), individual variable weights were mapped to the model. To implement the model, design science approach was followed realizing a prototype of a web-based implementation available at www.matricuda.com/makupi. The functional model determined maturity in information security and produced relevant organizational specific report
Sentiment Analysis Model for Online Public Participation Forums
Full text linkPublic participation (PP) is a key constitutional principle outlined in the
Constitution of Kenya. It promotes democratic and accountable exercise of power. It
gives the citizens an opportunity to enhance self-development and service delivery
while accounting for their leaders’ actions. However, lack of/insufficient public
participation in Kenyan county governments is impeding effective devolution
process. Among the reasons advanced for this development are inadequate
communications. Still even in cases where PP has been successfully carried out,
capturing, and analysing the sentiments of the participants remain a serious
challenge. Therefore, an online PP tool with embedded sentiment analysis algorithms
specifically designed for the counties can be quite resourceful under the
circumstances. The main objective of the study was to develop a sentiment analysis
model for use in public participation forums in County Governments in Kenya. The
specific objectives are to; evaluate the difficulty in obtaining sentiments; determine
the challenges faced in the design of an effective sentiment analysis model for public
participation forums; design a sentiment model for public participation forums in
county governments and evaluate the performance of sentiment analysis model for
public participation forums in county governments. The study was conducted
through the design thinking process. The population of interest of this study
comprised of county management and staff also area residents in Nakuru, Busia and
Baringo counties who have participated in public participation forums before. A
sample size of 106 respondents comprising 23 county administrators and 83
residents were purposively sampled for the project. The findings indicate that there
exists a statistically significant difference in public participation amongst the three
counties (Baringo, Busia and Nakuru) at the 0.05 alpha level, F (2, 500) = 100.296,
p< 0.05. The results of regression analysis revealed that human-based factors
significantly influence public participation (β=0.520; p<0.05) while technological
factors affect public participation significantly (β=0.449; p<0.05). These findings
were incorporated in the model design
ROLE OF PROBLEMATIC INTERNET USAGE IN THE RISK OF SELECTED ADDICTIONS AMONG UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN UNIVERSITIES IN KENYA
Full text linkInternet connectivity and usage have increased tremendously over the last few years.
Although the connectivity in institutions of learning is meant for accessing important
information and academic purposes, university students use internet for other purposes
such as social interactions, shopping, entertainment and gaming. The growth of internet
could have adverse negative influence on the users. It is a matter of concern because it
has the potential to lead to addiction risks and to change the behaviour of people. The
focus of this study was to investigate the role of problematic internet usage on the risk of
selected addictions among undergraduate students in universities in Kenya. The
objectives of the study were: to investigate the role of problematic internet usage on the
risk of addiction to online gambling, online pornography, online sexual violence and
online drug and substance abuse among undergraduate students in universities in Kenya.
The study utilized Behaviourist Theory and Social Learning Theory. Ex-post fact
research design was used for this study. The target population for the study was 97284
comprising all the undergraduate students in four universities and the accessible
population was 2
nd
and 3
rd
year students comprising of 18911. The sample size
comprised of 391 undergraduate students, 16 student peer counsellors and four (4)
student counsellors making 411 participants. Data was collected by use of a
questionnaire, an in-depth interview schedule and focus group discussion. The
questionnaire was administered to undergraduate students, in-depth interview schedule
was used on the student counsellors and focus group discussion was conducted among
student peer counsellors. Each focus group discussion comprised of four participants.
Purposive sampling was used to select the universities of study. Purposive and simple
random sampling were used to select the respondents. One university from the County of
Tharaka Nithi with similar characteristics with the sampled universities was purposively
selected for piloting to ensure reliability of the research instruments. The pre-test was
administered to and the instruments were modified accordingly. Content validity was
determined through the opinion of the supervisors. Descriptive statistics of frequencies,
percentages and means were used to analyse data. Chi square was used to test the null
hypotheses while t-test was used to compare the study variables. Quantitative data was
analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 23. Qualitative
data was coded and thematically analysed. According to the study findings, problematic
internet usage was a significant factor to the risk of selected addictions. The reliability
coefficient of problematic internet usage was 0.829, online gambling was 0.875, online
pornography was 0.715, online sexual violence was 0.759 and online drug and substance
abuse was 0.750. From the study findings, it was established that undergraduate students
who engaged in problematic internet usage were predisposed to the risk of addiction to
online gambling, online pornography, online sexual violence and online drug and
substance abuse. The research recommends that the government and university
management prevent development of problematic internet usage by undergraduate
students in order to minimize the risk of addictions by controlling internet content and
educating students on responsible internet usage. Student peer counsellors can create
awareness among their peers while undergraduate students can employ disciplinary
measures in using the internet to prevent the risk of addictions. The study has added new
knowledge and formed a framework for future research