Research Brown Bag Sessions

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The Contents and discontents of devolution: measuring the "devolution performance" of the counties of Kenya
(Strathmore University, 2018-05-23) Sperling, David
The session addresses various aspects related to devolution in Kenya, giving examples of the substantive issues involved, in contrast to many superficial assessments that tend to appear in the media. After distinguishing between basic general research and applied research, the presentation examines some specific properties or attributes of the counties of Kenya and explains how one might go about measuring the success or failure of devolution by gathering empirical evidence about one or more of those properties.
Decentralized energy solutions for East Africa and the role of research - Energy efficiency potential in the Kenyan tea processing sector
(Strathmore University, 2018-07-18) Izael, Da Silva; Karisa, Robert; Ronoh, Geoffrey;
Tea is one of the largest contributors to the Kenyan economy, accounting for over 20% of the country’s export revenue, and yet over 60% is grown by small scale holders. Although the country is among the top global tea exporters, it risks losing business due to increasing production costs. Energy comes second after labor, accounting for over 20% of the total production cost. It is therefore important to manage energy and the consequent cost in order to keep the product globally competitive. Strathmore Energy Research Centre (SERC) carried out a study in 30 tea factories that included investment grade energy auditing as well as training factory personnel. The industry heavily relies on thermal and electrical energy. Thermal energy is used in the form of steam produced using firewood. Electrical energy mostly comes from the grid, emergency diesel generators while a handful of factories also use hydro-power plants complemented by the grid. On average, a factory’s energy mix consists of 91.7% thermal, 7.8% electrical and only 0.5% diesel. However, the cost of thermal energy averages 41.7%, electricity 55.3% and diesel 3%. This study identifies a number of energy efficiency opportunities that ensure maximal use and conservation of all forms of energy across various factories in the country.
Digitising academic certificates using blockchain to curb fraud: the case of a Kenyan university
(Strathmore University, 2018-10-03) Otolo, Richard; Maingi, Eunice
The prevalence of fake academic certificates in the country is worrying. This has come to light in the media during the vetting process during the recruitment of candidates for key public sector positions. The fraudulent use of fake qualifications is a fact that educational institutions and employers have to face. To curb the trend, institutions have taken measures that usually involve a third party to verify the authenticity of educational certificates. The main weaknesses of this approach is that the time taken to verify certificates is too long. Additionally, using an intermediary introduces aspects such as extra costs and the potential inaccessibility to institutions in all geographies. This project proposes to set up a system that not only makes it easy to maintain records of academic achievement but also make the fast and effective verification of a certificate’s authenticity possible. The system will rely on distributed digital ledger technology (blockchain) to accomplish this goal. A blockchain contains records of transactions that are replicated across many systems. The records are cryptographically guaranteed to be immutable. This research intends to leverage these and other features of distributed ledgers in order to develop a system that can address the issue of fake certificates
Customary law marriages in Kenya – current legal status and evaluation of value system entailed
(Strathmore University, 2019) Dr Wathuta, Jane; Deche, Fadhili
This paper seeks to highlight the broad distinguishing features of certain types of customary marriages in Kenya. It outlines their current legal status, and identifies and evaluates the value system they entail. These marriage practices span the pre-colonial, colonial and post-independence periods, and are regulated by the 2010 Constitution, the Marriage Act of 2014, and the Judicature Act (2016 version). Customary lawmarriages tend to be narrowly identified with their potential or actual polygamous nature, and the obligatory payment of bride price as a condition for their cultural (and legal) validity. Recent legal developments, furthermore, require their formal notification and registration, on given conditions, which, although advantageous in certain aspects, also compounds some existing dilemmas and raises new ones. Using secondary data, this paper identifies and studies the various components of the customary marriage system in Kenya. The underlying values are then evaluated, using a philosophical and social science evidence base that brings to the fore the individual and public good resulting from the institution of marriage. The current statutory requirements should be understood as going beyond the legalisation and possible instrumentalisation of customary law marriages. Instead, the implicit acknowledgement of the value system entailed could be regarded as a step in the direction of safeguarding the integrity of legitimate customary perspectives regarding marriage, thereby contributing to the individual and public good.
Domain engineering for weather information services
(Strathmore University, 2019-01-23) Tuheirwe-Mukasa, Doreen
Weather is one of the key factors that affect the livelihood of people everywhere and in the various socio-economic sectors. Accessibility to reliable weather information is therefore vital for decision-making. A domain model is built using domain knowledge. The process of creating a domain model involves domain analysis to identify, capture and organise domain knowledge. Identifying and capturing domain knowledge is domain exploration. Domain analysis can only proceed after a thorough domain exploration. To this end, we set out to understand the flow of weather information to stakeholders, in a typical tropical setting, in order to ascertain the domain requirements for an efficient weather information dissemination system. We restricted our scope to Uganda, a tropical country. We used a focus group and survey approach to investigate the needs of Ugandan farmers. We benchmark our experiences against existing recommended techniques for knowledge acquisition in domain modelling. We proceed with a domain engineering investigative approach to elicit requirements necessary for the weather information dissemination system. We particularly examine and present information that is useful for building farmer profiles, as well as understanding the agricultural activities they undertake, dissemination channels for accessing weather information, and reliance on indigenous knowledge forecasts.
Concealed firearm detection on video surveillance using skeletal tracking and computer vision techniques
(Strathmore University, 2019-01-30) Muchiri, Henry
Crimes involving the use of illegal firearms have been on the rise worldwide. These illegal firearms are carried in a concealed manner under a person’s clothing and specifically on the hip area for easy access. To counter this threat, security providers have adopted various detection techniques such as metal detectors, image sensors and behavioural analysis by trained officers. These techniques, however, are primarily oriented to detecting metal, require the person being screened to be stationary and cooperative and are employed at entrances of enclosed facilities such as airports, buildings, and shopping malls, among others. There remains a need for a concealed firearm detector which can detect firearms remotely, in open places such as streets and walkways as people go about their business. This study leverages computer vision and human motion tracking techniques to develop a machine learning model with the ability to distinguish between armed and unarmed subjects based on their motion characteristics. This is informed by studies on behavioural analysis of persons carrying concealed firearms which have found motion as a key indicator. Simulated videos of 26 individuals walking with a firearm concealed on the hip were recorded using a time of flight depth camera. The recorded data consisted of 3D spatial-temporal depth data of tracked joints on the human body. Relevant features were extracted from the data and used to train various machine learning models which include Support Vector Machines (SVM), Naïve Bayes, K-Nearest Neighbour, J48 and Random Forest. Experiments were conducted to tune and evaluate the model’s performance. Preliminary results are impressive with the K-nearest neighbours algorithm producing the best results of 93.11% correct classification rate, 86.22% Kappa coefficient and under 7% false positive rate. These results indicate the viability of the approach to detect concealed firearms remotely while persons are in motion. This approach can be integrated into existing CCTV networks on streets and walkways, hence enabling the remote screening of people while they move about doing their business. In addition, remote screening will ensure the safety of security personnel who presently must be in close proximity with those they are screening.
Developing the challenge-based learning programme
(Strathmore University -, 2019-02-06) Kimutai, Andrew
The IT industry is a progressively evolving sector. Companies have to constantly innovate to keep their technologies up-to-date. This is hampered by a shortage of skilled personnel due to the slow uptake of ever-evolving technology by academic syllabi, which means most graduates lack relevant skills required by industry to innovate and solve complex local problems (challenges). Therefore, companies have to continuously invest in training, locally and abroad, which is expensive. In addition, multinational vendor companies face software product implementation challenges due to inadequate local capacity. It is for these reasons that Strathmore University, through @iLabAfrica Research Centre, has developed the Challenge-Based Learning Programme, to provide a steady stream of well-equipped and certified local capacity. The programme is implemented through a collaboration between industry and academia. It targets graduates from any discipline and takes a practical, challenge-based, problem-solving approach, with some additional theory classes to impart best practices and soft skills. A maximum of 60 students will be admitted per cohort per year, with at least 15 challenges being addressed in total – each team of 4 students takes only one non-trivial business challenge. Each team will be assigned an academic and industry mentor. After 3 months of theory classes, the trainees will be teamed up to tackle specific challenges facing a local company for a period of 6 to 9 months. The programme concludes with the implementation and institutionalisation of each solution developed by each team in a local company. The programme provides a sustainable pipeline of skills for local enterprises and encourages certification of local talent on international technologies. Consequently, the Challenge based Training promotes innovation using current and new technologies to solve complex local problems.
Energy-efficient resource utilization algorithms in cloud data-centre servers
(Strathmore University, 2019-02-13) Kenga, Derdus
The use of cloud computing has increased exponentially in recent years to satisfy computing needs in both big and small organisations. However, cloud data-centres consume enormous amounts of energy. This raises their operating costs, reduces profits, increases Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of datacentre infrastructure and increases carbon dioxide emissions. The main cause of energy wastage in data-centres is low levels of server utilization, leading to wastage of idle energy. The fact that servers are energy un-proportional compounds this problem. Low levels of server utilization lead to resource wastage. The current techniques for addressing the problem of resource under-utilization for energy savings are VM consolidation and DVFS. However, these techniques have failed. For instance, VM consolidation does not take into account workload type energy profiles before consolidation. On the other hand, DVFS works well only on CPU-bound tasks because dynamic power ranges for other computing resources such as memory are narrower.
Promoting women ICT start-ups to accelerate women’s economic empowerment: a case of Strathmore University’s @iBizAfrica
(Strathmore University, 2019-02-20) Weru, Tracy
For a very long time, the technology sector has been considered a male-dominated field. It is only in recent times that women have gained recognition as formidable players in this field. Recognising this, technology companies are beginning to bring more women on board to close the persistent human resource gender gap. Despite these efforts, women remain a minority for several reasons, especially lack of support from people in the field. Today's female entrepreneurs are still up against major obstacles like lack of funding, lack of networks, lack of mentors, and difficulties in establishing a balance between work and family, among others. Against this backdrop industry and academia have a unique opportunity to work together in bringing more women into the technology sector and harnessing their unique capabilities. This paper focuses on the Women in Tech incubator launched by Strathmore University’s @iBizAfrica and Standard Chartered Bank.
Mining fuzzy-temporal gradual patterns
(Strathmore University, 2019-02-27) Owuor, Dickson
Gradual patterns allow for retrieval of the correlations between attributes through rules such as “the more the exercise, the less the stress.” However, it may be the case that there is a lag between changes in some attributes and their impact on others. Current methods do not take this into account. In this paper, we extend existing methods to handle these situations in order to retrieve patterns such as: “the more the exercise increases, the more the stress decreases one month later”. We also extend our gradual rules to include fuzzy temporal constraints such as “the more the exercise increases, the more the stress decreases almost one month later”. For this kind of patterns, we designed three algorithms that were implemented and tested on real data.
Evaluating the need for coal in Kenya's electricity generation mix
(Strathmore University, 2019-03-13) Odera, Sarah
In this paper, we will compare three government-led electricity generation capacity expansion plans for Kenya, highlighting the ramifications of assumptions made in the energy planning processes to energy planning conclusions and strategy. Energy planning in Kenya has been strongly influenced by the need for economic development in the country as proposed by the Vision 2030, which aims to transform Kenya into an upper middle-income economy. This has led to proposals for nuclear and coal power in the country’s Least-Cost Power Development Plans. However, another capacity expansion plan developed by a consultant on behalf of the government decries the decision to build nuclear power and states that the decision to utilise coal should also be re-examined. We therefore compare the methodology and assumptions in these three plans with the aim of determining whether nuclear and coal power are necessary for Kenya’s electricity generation mix. Such comparison is timely and useful for regional policy-makers as it precipitates a multi-faceted picture of the key underlying challenges affecting the Kenyan electricity sector. Our comparative analysis strongly suggests updating demand forecast methods. Finally, the economic viability of coal and nuclear power do not suggest inclusion in Kenya’s expanded electricity generation mix.
Institutional balance in the East African Community
(Strathmore University, 2019-03-20) Ouma, Partricia
The East African Community faces several challenges, including poor governance, an inadequate legal and institutional framework, and poor public participation. A major cause of this predicament are institutional imbalances, brought about by an institutional design that vests most powers in the Summit and the Council (the executive organs of the Community). This leaves the Legislative Assembly, a so-called representative of the public voice, with limited control over acts of the Community. The outcome has been a lack of understanding, support and ownership of the integration process by the subjects whose integration is sought. It is therefore important to examine the institutional interventions needed to create a balance of powers between the executive and legislative organs of the Community in order to ensure effective integration.
Modelling the dynamics of e-health systems assimilation by healthcare providers in Kenya
(Strathmore University, 2019-03-27) Shabaya, Patrick
Research has linked the increase in the implementation and assimilation of e-Health systems by healthcare providers to the provision of high-quality and cost-effective healthcare services. However, the technology assimilation process is problematic and incoherent. Furthermore, most e-Health providers, especially in developing economies are not adequately assimilating their e-Health systems. Understanding how and why organisations assimilate these technologies will help those responsible for implementing e-Health systems develop appropriate interventions to enhance their assimilation. The objective of this study is to apply the system synthesis method in developing and validating a system dynamics model for the assimilation of e-Health systems by healthcare providers in the context of a developing economy such as Kenya. System dynamics is an approach used by researchers to gain decision insights into complex dynamic systems by inferring system behaviour from the structure of the system. Interim results from the case study confirm low assimilation of e-Health systems in Kenya. Technical, organisational and environmental factors, including relative advantage, top management support, system functionality, IT knowledge of users and poor system infrastructure, are among the notable factors that interact to influence the assimilation of e-Health systems.
Business process management curriculum development with the design science research methodology
(Strathmore University, 2019-04-09) Wamicha, Elizabeth
The immense economic growth that Kenya has experienced in recent times has made it necessary for organisations in the country to institute well-defined business processes by developing business process management (BPM) initiatives. There is also an increasing move towards the automation of business processes through the implementation of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. Furthermore, Kenya hopes to position itself as a global hub for business process outsourcing. This has given rise to the need for business process analyst (BPA) role. BPAs are essential to driving the implementation of both BPM initiatives and ERP systems. The first motivation for this study, therefore, was to investigate the status of BPM and the role of the BPA in organisations in Kenya. The study specifically investigated BPA competency-building interventions required to drive BPM maturity and ERP systems implementation projects. Since no BPM curriculum existed in higher education institutions (HEI) in Kenya at the commencement of the study, the second motivation of the study was to investigate how these BPA competency-building interventions could be adapted into a BPM curriculum. The pragmatic research paradigm, consisting of a hybrid inductive deductive approach was used and a novel BPM curriculum was designed. The curriculum incorporated the 4I framework of organisational learning and activity systems in its design and implementation. The results of the evaluation of the curriculum show that students found it useful for building critical BPA competencies such as business analysis, business requirements elicitation and business process improvement.
Bank risk and deposit insurance
(Strathmore University, 2019-04-16) Madigu, Godfrey
The increased number of bank failures in recent years has emphasized the need to assess bank risk. The prediction of these bank failures through the development of an effective early warning system can allow for sufficient allocation of resources by supervisors and regulators hence it is important to determine the factors that affect early warning systems in the identification of weak banks. The aim of the study is to determine how a reliable, efficient, and sustainable deposit insurance scheme should carry out surveillance in order to efficiently predict the probability of bank failure and therefore maintain a stable banking industry. I assessed the effectiveness of the CAMELS framework use in Kenya by testing the statistical adequacy of the variables used and comparing trends across the period under review to check whether the framework does signal weakening banks beforehand. The study used PCA to determine which principal component factors are able to account for the variance in the data. These factors were further used to build the PCA-CAMELS factor linear discriminant model and logit model. The two models were then used to predict the failure or non- failure of banks given the selected PCA factors over the years 2010 to 2015
City for rent
(Strathmore University, 2019-04-23) Wanza - Kipkemoi, Mary; Kimundi, Gillian
The housing market in Nairobi is characterised by a mosaic of players and housing typologies determined by varying levels of access to land and affordability. The legacy of colonial segregation since the establishment of Nairobi in 1899 as a transport and administrative centre for the Kenya-Uganda railway is also still evident, with majority of the planned housing being on the higher-altitude western areas that were designated as European zones. The market is dominated by build-to-rent tenements or semi- permanent, iron-sheet-constructed, single-roomed housing, which account for approximately 69.5% of housing for households in Nairobi and are mainly situated in the dense eastern area of the city. Various attempts have been made to address the poor access to housing and general quality of living conditions in urban areas in Kenya. These attempts often bear little or unsustainable results, raising questions about the effectiveness of the interventions or rigour in understanding the underlying causes. A gap therefore persists in understanding affordable and scalable solutions to improving the housing reality in Nairobi. Suggestions of a policy shift from middle income home ownership to regulated low income build-to-rent models have been made. This study examines the modes of financing, constraints in formal financing and perceptions of investors in the housing sector in Nairobi. Its purpose it two-fold. First, it seeks to understand the source of financing for housing developments in Nairobi since the classic financing mortgage model falls short by 95%. Second, it aims to contribute to the discourse on housing finance in terms of innovative financing for social housing as well as policy direction in private supply of low-income quality housing.
Preparing for long-term EU-AU partnership in renewable energy
(Strathmore University, 2019-05-14) Wacera Wambugu, Anne
The relevance of energy in global development is well articulated in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Among the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, Goal 7 is fully dedicated to energy. The Sustainable Energy for All initiative, together with the World Bank and the International Energy Agency (IEA), are also redesigning the framework of access to better highlight the link between energy, services and local development. In this context, the Preparing for Long-Term EU-AU Partnership in Renewable Energy (PRE-LEAP-RE) project aims to build an AU-EU renewable energy research and innovation community. The main objective is to prepare a European Joint Programme (EJP) based on experience from similar successful projects carried out in the past.
Security monitoring of IoT communication
(Strathmore University, 2019-05-21) Malombe, Victor
Internet of Things is a communication platform that interconnects different types of home devices (home IoT networks) or industrial devices (industrial IoT networks). These devices usually lack sufficient protection against network attacks, which can cause serious damages. Besides intentional attacks, malfunctioning and failures can also be immensely disruptive. Thus, IoT monitoring has become a new domain of network monitoring and management. It includes monitoring of device behaviour, data acquisition, and device settings, among others. Security monitoring focuses on detection of attacks and anomalies in communication. Traditional methods used in security monitoring have a limited scope of usage because IoT communication differs from common internet communication patterns. Thus, it is necessary to extend these methods or propose a new approach to analysing IoT monitoring metadata. With regard to extending the traditional methods, this project will aim at coming up with new Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) objects and extended Internet Protocol Flow Information Export (IPFIX) records, as well as to provide detection of selected attacks on the SIEM side. The goal of the project is to analyse different methods of IoT security monitoring and define how to protect these networks against common threats. An advanced monitoring system will be implemented into existing Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) systems.
Achieving universal electrification in Africa
(Strathmore University, 2019-05-29) Davies, Gabriel
Universal rural electrification is a worthwhile target, but requires subsidy. This is because rural electrification targets remote, spread-out customers, which raises connection costs. The lower incomes of rural populations relative to urban dwellers also makes rural electrification financially unviable. This presentation argues that private sector mini-grids have a critical role in delivering universal electrification to at least 100 million people in Africa for the least amount of public subsidy. The study demonstrates that, for these 100 million people, mini-grids are the most cost-effective means of providing electricity. It also argues that mini-grids and the main grid will ultimately integrate to form the grid of the future, which means that mini-grids are not a dead end or a stop-gap measure. And, finally, the presentation shows that mini-grids facilitate private utilities, enabling them to serve rural customers better and faster.
Creating Africa’s Utilities of the Future
(Strathmore University, 2019-06-11) Dr. Shirley, Rebekah
Power utilities in most African countries face critical challenges in delivering universal, affordable, reliable energy service to their customers. The sector remains poorly researched, with limited data available for building high resolution models. It is also capital-constrained and hamstrung by a relatively low demand base with lower abilities to pay. System inefficiency is rife, market competitiveness is low, and grid extent is limited. This results in very large rural and under-grid populations that remain underserved. But the world is undergoing its fourth industrial revolution, which is ushering in the digital age. Are African utilities ready to leverage these digital innovations in serving customers? What new technologies can help African utilities catapult into fast, clean, affordable electricity service provision? How can the utility of the future be achieved?

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