Chuka University Digital Repository
Chuka University Repository is a Digital Hub for Knowledge Output From Chuka University.
Communities in DSpace
Select a community to browse its collections.
Recent Submissions
An assessment of christians’ perception of christian marriage in the catholic church, our lady of visitation deanery, diocese of Embu, Kenya
(Chuka University, 2025) Mbogo, Gladwell Karimi
Marriage is one of the most important social institutions in the society. In the Catholic Church, it holds a profound religious and social significance. The Catholic Church teaches that marriage is one of the seven sacraments. It emphasizes on monogamy and indissolubility of marriage. There is lack of comprehensive research examining Christian’s practice of Christian marriage within Our Lady of Visitation Deanery. This study sought to assess Christians’ perception of Christian marriage in the Catholic Church, Our Lady of Visitation Deanery, Diocese of Embu, Kenya. The study was guided by the following objectives; to examine the role of the church teachings in shaping perception of Christian marriage, to evaluate factors influencing Christians’ perception of Christian marriage, to determine strategies for expanding the perception and practice of Christian marriage and to analyze the impact of societal changes on Christian marriage practices in Our Lady of Visitation Deanery. This study adopted structural functionalism theory to provide a better understanding of marriage as a social institution that fulfils key societal functions such as preservation of marital norms and values. A descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. The target population was 5020 people. A sample of 357 respondents including the Clergy, married couples, members preparing to marry and unmarried members were selected through stratified random sampling and purposive sampling techniques. The researcher used questionnaires, interview schedule and focus group discussions to gather information. Quantitative data was analyzed using SPSS version 29 to generate descriptive statistics and inferential statistics, while qualitative data from the Clergy and unmarried members was analyzed thematically using coding, categorization and identifying of emerging patterns to interpret meanings and relevance to the research. Key findings of the study showed that most Christians in our Lady of visitation deanery value Church marriage as a sacred covenant that symbolizes faith, love and divine blessing. The study concluded that although church teachings shape Christians perception of church marriage, there is a gap between doctrinal teachings and practice of marriage. It recommended strengthening marriage catechesis and premarital counselling, continuous marriage formation, integration of culture and faith and Community sensitization in order to enhance the practice of church marriage. This study contributes to the growing body of knowledge on social-anthropological aspect of religion by showing how religion interacts with culture in shaping marriage practices and family relations.
Correlates of quality training of private security Guards and crime prevention in Nairobi county, Kenya
(Chuka University, 2025) Koros, Malit Hillary
Crime rates in Kenya, particularly in Nairobi, have been steadily increasing, surpassing those in other cities in the world. To combat this, private security personnel have been hired to safeguard both private and public areas. Despite this, crime continues to rise in Nairobi County. While the National Police Service ensures rigorous training for all officers at the Kenya Police Training College, private security agencies do not own well-equipped training schools with facilities such as classrooms for theory lessons and fields for practical and physical training. Thus, training varies by company, leading to inconsistent quality. The impact of these training variations on crime prevention remains unclear. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate how quality of training relates with crime prevention among private security providers in Nairobi County. The study objectives were to; assess the relationship between quality of training programs, the quality of training content and quality of content delivery strategies of private security guards and crime prevention in Nairobi County in Kenya. Human Capital and Routine Activity Theories guided the study. The target population were 2,817 security officers and instructors from 55 licensed private security firms in Nairobi County, along with employees from regulatory bodies and associations. A sample of 350 respondents were surveyed, including 283 security officers, 55 instructors, and 12 key informants who were employees from the Private Security Regulatory Authority (PSRA), Private Security Industry Association (PSIA), and Kenya Security Industry Association (KSIA). Instructors and regulatory body and associations employees were purposively selected, while security officers were chosen through simple random sampling. The study utilized both descriptive and correlational research designs, integrating quantitative analysis of crime data with qualitative insights gathered from questionnaires and interviews. Data collected for the study was analysed using Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 25.0, and the results were presented in terms of frequencies, percentages, and correlations. The analysis revealed that the quality of training programs has no significant relationship with crime prevention in Nairobi County, a finding that also applied to training content and delivery strategies. The study recommends that various stakeholders, including policymakers and decision-makers, develop effective strategies for enhancing crime prevention through improved guard training, while also addressing underlying social and environmental factors. These findings contribute to a deeper understanding of how guard training impacts crime prevention and offer actionable insights for key stakeholders, including the Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government, the Private Security Regulatory Authority (PSRA), the Private Security Industry Association (PSIA), and the Kenya Security Industry Association (KSIA).
Covid-19 pandemic mitigation measures and students’ participation in schooling: A study of pre and post covid-19 period in public boarding secondary schools in Tharaka Nithi county
(Chuka University, 2025) Murungi, Leah Ntinyari
Education is a cornerstone of national development, fostering literacy, skills, and socioeconomic growth. In Kenya, the COVID-19 pandemic and associated containment measures disrupted traditional schooling, altering student participation in schooling through school closures, social distancing, suspension of co-curricular activities, and introduction of remote learning. These changes deepened existing inequalities, strained school culture, and challenged learner engagement. Understanding the extent and nature of these impacts is critical for developing resilient, inclusive education systems capable of sustaining participation in schooling during future crises. This study examined the effects of COVID-19 containment measures on secondary school students’ participation in schooling, by comparing pre-pandemic and post-pandemic schooling experiences. The study targeted a population of 1532 which comprised of 108 curriculum masters/mistresses and 1424 teachers in public boarding secondary schools in Tharaka Nithi County. Purposive sampling method was used to select 20 curriculum masters and simple random sampling was used to select 360 teachers. Data was collected by use of questionnaires for teachers and interview schedule for curriculum master. Piloting of the study was done on 20 teachers and 5 curriculum masters from Meru County. Experts from faculty of education ascertained content validity of the instruments. The questionnaire instrument tested for reliability achieved the alpha Cronbach value of 0.73 for teachers. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests for hypothesis testing. The study found that COVID19 lockdown hindered student participation in schooling because they were restricted to staying. The new learning strategies introduced were difficult to implement because it required infrastructure to enhance their implementation which were not available in many rural areas. The adjusted school culture restricted interaction and hence limited the socialization aspect of schooling. COVID 19 mitigation measures created social inequalities and worsened the already existing ones. The study recommends that the Ministry of Education and its stakeholders need to develop a multi-dimensional crisis management policy guideline on how to respond in case of pandemics. The government to addressed digital equity through prioritizing ICT infrastructure investment in all schools, especially in marginalized and rural areas. The curriculum developers need to integrate digital and online learning in school curriculum. The school managements should emphasize and strengthen co-curricular activities as part of the school calendar to enhance socialization. The Parents Association together with teachers need to develop participatory, community-oriented measures with due consideration given to the role of parents, teachers, and local community leaders.
Portfolio diversification, management fee, fund size and efficiency of money market unit trust funds in Kenya
(Chuka University, 2025) Akenga, Grace Melissa
Money Market Funds (MMF) play a significant role of mobilizing savings from investors and investing the funds in a portfolio of securities to provide returns to investors at low risk levels. Rise in market volatility, economic uncertainty, regulatory demands and geopolitical tensions have magnified risks. Therefore, fund managers need to adopt successful investments strategies and efficient operations so as to manage risks and protect investors interest. Funds that allocate their resources efficiently to form optimal portfolios can realize high returns for investors at low risk levels and low costs. On the flip side, less-than-optimal portfolios may lead to inefficient funds. Management fee prompted by portfolio diversification activities is a reward to managers but a cost to the fund and can either magnify or reduce total fund income. Fund size influences resource availability and costs, which would affect a fund’s ability to create optimal portfolios and eventually a fund’s efficiency. The main objective of this study was to investigate the interrelationships between portfolio diversification, management fee, fund size and efficiency of MMFs in Kenya. Specifically, this study sought to determine the effect of portfolio diversification on fund efficiency, the mediating role of management fee and the moderating role of fund size on the relationship between portfolio diversification and fund efficiency, to find out if there are significant differences in the mean efficiency of funds due to size, and to examine the joint effect of portfolio diversification, management fee and fund size on efficiency of MMFs in Kenya. The study was anchored on modern portfolio theory, capital asset pricing theory, agency theory and economic efficiency theory. The study adopted descriptive, causal and longitudinal research designs. Secondary data was collected from 25 MMFs over the period 2018 to 2024 yielding 122 fund year observations. Data analysis was done on STATA version 18. Descriptive statistics provided simple summaries of the population. Inferential statistics and panel data regressions were utilized for testing of statistical hypotheses. A two-stage analysis was adopted whereby in the first stage, efficiency scores were computed using Data Envelopment Analysis and in the second stage, Generalized Method of Moment model was used to determine the relationship among study variables. The findings revealed that, over the study period, the mean efficiency of MMFs was 46.8%, implying that funds were not 100% efficient. Further, portfolio diversification had a significant positive effect on fund efficiency (β=0.520, p-value<0.05). Management fee had no statistically significant mediating effect on the relationship between portfolio diversification and fund efficiency. The findings suggested that there were significant differences in the mean efficiency of MMFs due to size (F=20.446, p-value<0.05). Fund size had a statistically significant moderating effect on the relationship between portfolio diversification and efficiency (β=0.522, p-value<0.05). Portfolio diversification and fund size jointly influenced the efficiency of MMFs (β=0.543, p-value<0.05) and (β= -0.06, pvalue<0.05) respectively. The study recommends that fund managers should create well-diversified portfolios so as to maximize fund efficiency. Funds should operate an optimal size of assets under management in order to achieve efficiency in scale of operations. Policy makers should create policies that ensure the continuous monitoring of MMFs and facilitate growth and development of the money market. Fund’s trustees should regularly review and monitor the funds’ investment strategy and size of assets under management to ensure they promote efficiency.
Synthesis, characterization and antibacterial activity Of selected schiff base ligands and their copper Complexes
(Chuka University, 2025) Tonui , Fredrich Kibet
Resistant strains of bacteria have emerged because of improper use of antibiotics and insufficient infection management, posing a serious danger to both public health and the global economy. Therefore, it has become essential to produce a new generation of antimicrobials to slow the spread of antibiotic resistance. This is by advancement of antimicrobial drugs that can specifically interact with a target site of a particular pathogen. The work described in this paper entails the synthesis, characterization and antibacterial evaluation of schiff base ligands and their Cu (II) complexes. The ligands, Ligand 1 ((E)-N,N-dimethyl1-4-((p-tolyimino)methyl)aniline) and Ligand 2 ((E)4(((2,4-dinitrophenyl)imino)methyl)-n-n-dimethylaniline), were obtained by microwave assisted condensation and then refluxed for 3 hours, the solid was filtered and rinsed with ethanol and left to dry. The copper complexes were prepared by treating a hot (40°C) solution of the ligands dissolved in ethanol with an aqueous solution of Cu (II) chloride followed by refluxing for 3 hours. Ultraviolet Visible spectroscopy and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy characterized each of the synthesized compounds. The percentage yield was at 78% for ligand 1, 62% for ligand 2, 76% for complex 1 and 81% for complex 2. The UV-Visible spectra showed two major absorption bands for the ligands, which shifted to higher and lower wavelengths for the complexes. The FTIR spectra show that the azomethine (-C=N-) stretch shifts from 1640.0 cm ¹ in the ligands to 1635.64 cm ¹ in complex 1 and 1614.42 cm ¹ in complex 2. Similarly, the carbonyl (-C-O-) stretch shifts from 1238.00 cm ¹ (Ligand 1) and 1160.00 cm¹ (Ligand 2) to lower values in complex 1 (1027.00 cm¹) and complex 2 (1141.00 cm¹), confirming metal-ligand interaction. The antibacterial sensitivity levels of the synthesized Schiff bases and the Cu (II) complexes was evaluated using disk diffusion method. The bacterial strains employed included; GramPositive staphylococcus aureus and Gram-negative Escherichia coli. The filter paper discs were deepen into concentration ranging from 10ug/ml-40ug/ml for every compound synthesized and then laid onto the surface of the discs. The average inhibition zone for the ligands was at 7.0 mm (ligand 1) and 6 mm (ligand 2) for gram negative bacteria and 10.5 mm (ligand 1) and 10.75 (ligand 2) for Gram positive bacteria. For the complexes 6.0 mm (complex 1) and 6.75 mm (complex 2) for gram negative bacteria and 9.5mm (Complex 1) and 8.75 mm (complex 2) for gram positive bacteria relative to standard gentamycin which showed activity at 24 mm for gram negative and 26 mm for gram positive bacteria. These results were relative to the literature work done, however the zones were slightly lower. From these results, it is concluded that the ligands and complexes were successfully synthesized and all these compounds showed promising activity against bacteria. To explore further potential of these compounds, further studies on other antimicrobial properties as antiviral, antifungal among others should be performed to evaluate similar performance.