Browsing by Author "Otieno, Isaiah Oduor"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Dynamics in Party Politics in Kenya, 1963-2013; Beyond the Neoliberal Paradigm
    (Kenyatta University, 2016-06) Otieno, Isaiah Oduor
    Kenya attained independence in 1963 under a multi-party system. Within a year of independence party pluralism was abandoned for a single-party regime that was heralded for enhancing unity among the ethnically fragmented population. With the fall of communism in the late 1980s there emerged a new trajectory in world politics that ushered in multi-party politics in the African continent. With the re-introduction of multi-party politics in Kenya beginning 1991 it was highly expected that the transition to multi-party politics and regular elections would over time lead to qualitatively improved political institutions. To the disappointment of many citizens the return of party pluralism only resulted in the proliferation of a number of political parties. There seem to be a missing link between party pluralism and good governance. This study made a historical analysis of political party politics in Kenya between 1963 and 2013. To begin with, a historical reconstruction of the evolution of political parties in Kenya between 1919 and 1963 was undertaken. .The nature and character of party politics in the single party regime has been examined. The impact of the re-introduction of multi-party politics on party politics was also evaluated. With specific focus on KANU and ODM this study examined issues that dominate the operations of political parties in Kenya notably; structure, organization and management. Finally this study questioned the relevance of western neo-Iiberal thinking in the analysis of political parties in Africa. Anchored on the post-colonial theory, this study argued that political parties in Africa should be examined in the context of the African state as a colonial construct. This study did note that although political parties in Kenya emerged as colonial liberation movements the ruling elite in the post-independent period have used them to monopolize and maintain control of state power. The study also revealed that the re-introduction of party pluralism in Kenya never resulted in any substantial change in party politics, but only in the proliferation of political parties which were regional and ethnic in composition. It was further revealed that the political elite in Kenya continue to patronize and use political parties as tools of mobilization in their quest for the capture of state power.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Effects of the civil service retrenchment programme on women in Nakuru town, Kenya, 1970-2006
    (2013-02-06) Otieno, Isaiah Oduor; Mildred A. Jalang'o-Ndeda; Abdillahi Hassan Jama
    The civil service retrenchment programme implemented in 2000 had great social and economic implications on the lives of different social groups in Nakuru town, Kenya. Given their multiple roles as wage earners and being in charge of household domestic duties, women were affected in different ways. This study specifically investigates the effects of civil service retrenchment on women's provision of family healthcare, nutrition and education in Nakuru town. The effects of retrenchment on women's decision-making power in the household in Nakuru town have been examined. The extent to which retrenchment of the male spouse affected the woman in the household has been evaluated. The mechanisms and coping strategies adopted by women in response to loss of regular household income have also been analyzed. The study traces the factors that precipitated retrenchment in the civil service from the1970s and the modes of implementation in the year 2000. To achieve its objectives, both primary and secondary sources of data were consulted. To obtain the significant oral data, a field interview of women who were retrenched and those whose spouses were retrenched from the civil service in Nakuru town was conducted. For comparative purposes a small number of men who were retrenched were also interviewed. A sample of 100 respondents was purposively identified as follows; 96 women and men from 3 selected administrative locations of Nakuru town and 4 government officials from selected ministries. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were employed in analyzing the collected data. This study employs the social relations gender approach in its analysis and theoretical explanation of the subordination of women. In its findings, this work established that retrenchment in the civil service in Kenya was precipitated by lack of stringent and gender balanced recruitment procedures that resulted in an overstaffed service. This prompted a retrenchment exercise that was conducted without due consideration of gender. Since gender was not a consideration in its implementation, civil service retrenchment negatively affected women in their provision of family healthcare, nutrition and education of children in Nakuru Town. Loss of regular income through retrenchment was found to have eroded the woman's autonomy and decision making power. It was further established that that retrenchment of the male spouses negatively affected women in the household, who had to intensify their income generating activities to compensate for the loss of household income. Women in Nakuru town were found to have devised several copping mechanisms and survival strategies to deal with the negative effects of civil service retrenchment. Finally this study gives recommendations to the Kenya Government on how to conduct future retrenchment exercises to avoid suffering of the persons involved. This work further recommends that the government should initiate and promote gender sensitive policies and encourage affirmative action in recruitment of employees in the civil service.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    North Atlantic Treaty Organization Military Intervention and Regime Change in Libya
    (Journal of African Interdisciplinary Studies, 2023) Murungi, Isaac Muthaura; Ichani, Xavier; Otieno, Isaiah Oduor
    The purpose of this article is to examine the activities of the North Atlantic Treaty Organizations’ (NATO) military intervention and implications on regime change in Libya. The United Nations (UN) continues to sanction humanitarian intervention against states purported to violate fundamental human rights of their citizens. Some of these interventions have transcended to sanctioned regime change that have attracted intense academic discourse. We seek to contribute to this ensuing debate using the case of the NATO’s intervention in Libya, by critique of nature of crisis warranting intervention, the rationale of humanitarian intervention in the context of Libya and to evaluate the role of foreign military intervention in precipitating regime change in Libya. Anchored on the two opposing theoretical paradigms of realism and liberalism, we argue that humanitarian intervention by the NATO was motivated by the need to promote geopolitical interests of the intervenors and that the military intervention by the NATO was anticipated and orchestrated process of extending the Western democratic values in Libya. Based on existing secondary data and interviews conducted, we conclude that while it was evident that the NATO played a major military role in forestalling the Libyan insurrection, the use of force in supplanting democratically elected government was unwarranted and failed to meet the aspirations of many in Libya. Therefore, sanctioned humanitarian intervention against states purported to violate fundamental human rights of their citizens may at times fail to serve the intended goal of self-preservation of the sovereign power of the state in question. We recommend that mandates for all humanitarian interventions be clearly spell out and that interveners’ interests must not override state sovereignty and the aspiration of the people.