http://repository.mut.ac.ke:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/2 2026-04-07T13:08:31Z http://repository.mut.ac.ke:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/6358 The Forgotten: An Information Ecosystem Assessment for People with Disabilities in South Sudan Ndavula, John O.; Gbinzaramba, E.; Dau, A. D.; Gubay, M.; Tusiime, W. T.; Beremauro, R.; Murumba, S. Decades of conflict in South Sudan pre-and post-independence in 2011, poverty and poor access to services have increased the rate of disability and rendered People with Disabilities more marginalised and excluded because of the many attitudinal, environmental, and institutional barriers they face. The situation is worsened by lack of concerted efforts- at a policy level- to include them in socio-economic and political processes. There is a paucity of information detailing the experiences of People with Disabilities living in South Sudan as truly little research has looked at disability in the country. Despite their unique needs and specific vulnerabilities, these are often submerged under the category of ‘most vulnerable’. Organisations working with and representing People with Disabilities are often absent from humanitarian programming and the needs of People with Disabilities are thus not included in response action. To ensure that Internews’ Rooted in Trust 2.0 (RiT 2.0) Information Ecosystem Assessments (IEAs) are inclusive of People with Disabilities, this study assessed access to information and information flows among People with Disabilities in Central Equatoria and Northern Bahr ElGhazal states in South Sudan. The study utilised the IEA approach, which explores both the supply side and the demand side of the information ecosystem. The principles of the IEA methodology employed in this mini-IEA included a human-centred research design and a participatory approach. A qualitative approach was used to explore personal and social experiences, meanings, and practices of People with Disabilities in Central Equatoria and Northern Bahr El-Ghazal states in South Sudan. The IEA was conducted through purposive sampling comprising 13 key informant interviews (KIIs), six focus group discussions (FGDs), and desk research. Desk research was conducted between November 2022 and December 2022. Data from KIIs and FGDs was collected from December 2022 to January 2023 in Central Equatoria and Northern Bahr El-Ghazal states in South Sudan. The data was transcribed and analysed thematically. The themes studied focused on information consumption, habits, health, and preferences, as well as beliefs about the reliability of information from diverse sources. 2023-03-01T00:00:00Z http://repository.mut.ac.ke:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/6146 Harnessing our ICT Skill Set and Research Efforts for Sustainable Development Muketha, Geoffrey M. For some time now, ICTs have become ubiquitous, making them a common place phenomenon in modern society. Almost all electronics are ICT enabled to date, with most people who can read and write having interacted with ICTs one way or the other. For example, mobile phones which have changed the way we think, socialize and do business, are ICT-enabled. According to Statista, a German Company specializing in market and consumer data, The number of mobile subscriptions in Kenya rose from 0.13 million in the year 2000 to 61.41 million in 2020. This makes sense when you consider that many Kenyans walk with two or more mobile devices wherever they go. Countries that have had the highest infusion of ICT in their sectors have reaped the most benefits. These benefits can generally be seen alongside the developed vs developing countries divide. ICTs are seen as a powerful solution to the problems affecting developing countries. Indeed, ICTs have the potential of making developing countries to catch up and even overtake developed countries much faster than originally thought. This paper challenges us to harness ICT skill set through: 1. enhancement of our computing curricula by thinking through how they are designed and implemented. 2. Enhancement of research efforts by addressing four key problems that characterize research in this sector so as to come up with novel and sustainable solutions to challenges that affect our developing economies. 2022-06-01T00:00:00Z http://repository.mut.ac.ke:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/6123 Adjusting Academic Library Services to Covid 19 Prevention Protocols Thuo, Martha W. The Covid 19 pandemic has presented challenges in the provision of library services in academic libraries. The pandemic has affected the mode of library operations and therefore librarians had to shift to virtual library services and also adopt to new ways of providing their normal physical library services while observing Covid 19 prevention protocols. Due to these unexpected challenges, this study finds out the type of library services offered, working patterns and strategies applied by academic libraries in Kenya in response to Covid 19. Google form questionnaires were administered to librarians in ten academic libraries. Semi structured interview was also conducted to five librarians in the same selected academic libraries. The study found majority of the libraries have adjusted their services and facilities to the Covid 19 prevention protocols though frequent cleaning of the main reading areas have been overlooked. Libraries have also adopted the use of virtual library services in dissemination of most of electronics resources but the main challenges hindering improved transition to virtual services are poor library infrastructure and slow internet connection, lack of adequate skilled staff, lack of support in purchasing of core e-books, e-journals and e-newspapers. During the academic institutions closure, librarians were relying on provision of online resources and this was faced with barriers of digital divide and unaffordable internet access among users. Library working schedules changed and librarians had to reduce their operating hours to adjust to the national curfew guidelines. The study recommends initiatives to be adopted by academic libraries in order to meet user information needs during and after Covid 19 pandemic period. 2021-11-01T00:00:00Z http://repository.mut.ac.ke:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/5545 Efficient Control strategy based on instantaneous power theory and model predictive control for grid connected photovoltaic system Soumana, R. A.; Saulo, M. J.; Muriithi, Christopher M. Due to the rapid decline of fossil resources and the impact of their use for electric power generation on the environment, renewable energy sources are increasingly explored and integrated into the power grid. Among the Renewable energy sources, photovoltaic (PV) systems are one of the most integrated into the utility grid. Thus, this paper presents a control scheme based on instantaneous power theory (IPT)and model predictive control (MPC) to inject the PV power into the grid at unity power factor with minimum current harmonics. The proposed control strategy is applied to a two-stage grid connected PV system which employs boost converter and two-level voltage source inverter. The current references are obtained in the dq reference frame based on IPT. A finite control set model predictive control (FCS-MPC) is used to control the inverter current in order to inject with high accuracy the current references into the grid. The effectiveness and the performance of the proposed control strategy is confirmed by MATLAB/Simulink under various solar irradiance level. 2021-11-01T00:00:00Z