Volume 10, Issue 10, October 2022 Edition - GSJ Journal Publication

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PROJECT PLANNING AND SUSTAINABILITY OF RWANDA EDUCATION ASSISTANCE PROJECT IN RWAMAGANA DISTRICT []


This research is investigating the effect of project planning on sustainability of education projects in Rwanda, a case of Rwanda Education Assistance Project. This research was achieved the following objectives: to evaluate the effect of project objective on project sustainability of Rwanda Education Assistance Project, to examine the effect of project design system to the project sustainability in Rwanda Education Assistance Project, to investigate the effect of activities identification to the project sustainability in Rwanda Education Assistance Project and to evaluate the effect of reporting system on project sustainability in Rwanda Education Assistance Project. The theory of constraints is a set of management tools. “The theory is applicable in many areas including project management and performance measurement among many others. To future scholars the study was widen up the range of knowledge on the field of education hence contributing additional literature based on the findings obtained from the field by the researcher during the data collection activity. Thus a sample size was 151 respondents”. “The study was adopt primary and secondary data to get all information needed in this study, the quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics after running the data collected through the Statistical Package for Social Sciences”. The results indicate that project planning have positive and significant effect on sustainability of education projects at Rwanda Education Assistance Project it shows that 1 unit increase in project objective will lead to 0.376 increase on sustainability of education projects, it shows that 1 unit increase in project design system will lead to 0.243 increase on sustainability of education projects, it shows that 1 unit increase in activities identification will lead to 0.267 increase on sustainability of education projects, it shows that unit increase in reporting system will lead to 0.197 increase on sustainability of education projects. From the analysis and discussion of the result, it is undoubted that research question and objective of this research was clearly addressed. The strengths found in this research study were a strong positive relationship between the project planning factors which allows the project sustainability. The strong significant correlation exists again between the project scope, budget plan and communication plan which allows for the project sustainability especially Rwanda Education Assistance Project in project short, medium and long term goals and the evaluation and comparison based only on the project sustainability. The researcher further recommends that the government of the republic of Rwanda should help in motivation based organizations to know the benefits of planning through different organized planning among other Joint action forum. Leaders in various projects should ensure that they manage project in the best ways that are able to lead and sustainability. The researcher recommended that all projects should concentrate on planning in order to evaluate their short, medium and long-term impact on sustainability; this is so because planning helps projects to know the environment in which they are operating and how to go about it.

ANXIETY ON SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS AND SPORTS PERFORMANCE: MODERATING EFFECT OF HUMOR []


ABSTRACT Certain amount of anxiety has been found to enhance competitiveness in individual athlete to enhance their overall sport performance, however anxiety also triggers negative effects which could affect the overall sport performance. Some numbers of earlier studies revealed that students sometime perform badly when anxious and tend to forget important things or information. For this reason, there is need to reduce students’ level of anxiety especially when it comes to sport activities. This study seeks to investigate the moderating effect of humor in the relationship between anxiety and sport performance in secondary schools in Nigeria. It is an experimental study which adopted questionnaire for data collection. Descriptive as well as inferential statistical analysis are adopted and the study population constituted 411 students. Two research questions guided the study and the outcome of the analysis indicated three dimensions of anxieties: ‘worried’, ‘Concentration disruption’ and ‘Somatic trait anxiety’ and each of these dimensions of anxiety affect students’ performance in sports. The study indicated that humor had a positive coefficient of (r=0.280) while anxiety had negative coefficient (r=-0.474) – both coefficients were significant. This shows that the increase in the moderating variable (humor) will lead to an increase in the level of sport performance but reduces the value of anxiety. The study, therefore, concluded that humor plays a significant role in dissipating anxiety and enhancing overall students’ performance in sports. From these, conclusions; anxiety interferes with secondary school students’ sports performance and humor has a significant mediating role to play, the study recommends that students should be informed on the extent to which anxiety can affect their performance and should be encouraged to take precautions. Keywords: Anxiety, Humor, Sports Performance.

ANALYSIS OF THE ADDED VALUE OF SEAWEED INTO SEAWEED SNACK PRODUCTS AND ITS MARKETING IN THE HOME INDUSTRY “ULVA-Q KARAPYAK”, PANGANDARAN, WEST JAVA-INDONESIA []


One of the leading fishery commodities in Pangadaran, West Java-Indonesia is seaweed. This research aims to 1) analyze the added value of seaweed processed into seaweed snack products and 2) analyze the marketing strategy of seaweed snacks by Ulva-Q SMEs. The re-search method used is the case study method. This research was conducted in the home industry of ULVA-Q SMEs, Kalipucang Panganda-ran. The selection of the location was carried out deliberately (purposive sampling) with the consideration of Karapyak as a seaweed pro-ducer. This research was conducted in September 2022. Data are obtained by direct observation of the place of the processing unit and interviews with business owners and their workers. The data were analyzed descriptively and calculated by the Hayami method. Based on research that has been carried out, it shows that the added value produced in the processing of seaweed snacks is IDR 890,630 / produc-tion with an added value ratio of 60%. Once production requires fresh seaweed of 8 kg. The market segmentation of Ulva Q grass snack products is geographical and demographic segmentation. The competitors of Ulva Q grass snack products consist of rival competitors and substitutions.

STUDENTSE EXPERIENCE ON ICT; A CASE STUDY OF NTI POST-GRADUATE DIPLOMA IN EDUCATION,NIGER STATE STUDY CENTRE MINNA. []


The study investigated the NTI/GDE Students knowledge of ICT resources in education, their level of exposure to such resources and the problems challenging them in the acquisition of ICT skills for effective integration in the teaching and learning process. Intact class of sixty eight students that enrolled for the 2018/2019 session in the Niger state study centre of 10 lecturers who did not have education background up to masters level,33 secondary school teachers did not attend teacher education programmes, 15 university graduates who aimed at getting teaching appointment and 10 civil servants who want to update their certificate were used for the study .A4 Point likert scale questionnaire of very great extent 4,VGE , great extent 3GE, Low extent LE,2 and very law extent VLE 1 ,were used for data collection for the study. Descriptive means was used to analyze the data and the result indicated that students of NTI/PGLE have to a large extend the knowledge of ICT resource in education, they were not fully exposed to the use of ICT resources and the highly ranked problems was lack of ICT facilities in their schools/study center. The study therefore recommended that the NTI/PGTE programs be revisited for purposeful and meaningful training to be given to the students to enable to embrace the new instructional delivery of ICT tools for integration in the teaching and learning process and for the achievements of the PGDE objectives of equipping students with the necessary pedagogical skills and managerial classroom skills to function as qualified and competent teachers.

Re-examining Project Management as a Two-Dimensional Construct: An Empirical Study []


Project management is viewed, described, taught, and learned differently by various practitioners, institutions, academics, and learners alike. Different skill sets are utilized in project management practices at different phases of the project life cycle, leading to the completion of a project. Some of the activities require soft skills and others require hard skills. Because of this mix, it is well established in project management discourse that project management is both art and science. Nevertheless, there is no consensus as to whether project management is more science, more art, or is as much art as it is science. Further, there is stronger disagreement about what influences learners’ perceptions of project management. Furthermore, the established views of project management are from the perspectives of western (developed) countries. That said, the purpose of this study was to ascertain whether learners’ perceptions of project management are influenced by their learning orientation (i.e., program of study). An empirical study was conducted with graduate students of project management at two universities in a developing country. The results indicated that indeed, learners’ perceptions of project management are influenced by their learning orientation. The results indicated that Faculty of Engineering and Technology learners view project management as more science while Faculty of Business and Management learners view project management as more art. Besides, learners do not think that project management is as much an art as it is a science. These differences are statistically significant at the p < .05 level.

Knowledge and Practice Associated with Handling Pesticides Among the Farmers of Kwanza Sub County []


Kenya as a country relies on agriculture to sustain its economy. Agriculture contributes up to 24% GDP. The quality and quantity of agricultural produce is dependent on the use of different pest controlling mechanisms such as pesticides. The use of pesticides exposes farm- ers to health complications resulting from contact with chemicals through the application and handling. The main objective of this study was to examine pesticide exposure among farmers of Kwanza sub-county in Trans-Nzoia County. The specific objective was; to assess the level of knowledge and practice associated with handling pesticides among the farmers, and to determine the health effects of exposure to pesticides among the farmers. To achieve its specific objectives, the study employed a descriptive cross-sectional study design. The study used purposive sampling to select participants from Kwanza sub-county and strati- fied random sampling was employed to pick the participants from within the four elective wards. The study involved 323 participants who filled semi-structured questionnaires as a data collection tool. In addition to the use of semi-structured questionnaires, FGDs and observation checklist was also used to collect data. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 22. Qualitative data was analyzed and presented thematically according to the study ob- jectives. Knowledge and practice were below the P<0.05 indicating significance. The study established that farmers in Kwanza sub-county in Trans-Nzoia County employed standard practices when handling pesticides. The study found out that farmers’ knowledge of pesti- cides increased with high education level and training. On practice, the study established that training offered and level of education of individuals is effective in reducing exposure. The study concluded that farmers of Kwanza subcounty in Trans-Nzoia County had basic knowledge on the best practices to handle pesticides but lacked the necessary finances to implement. Thus, it is recommended that farmers in Kwanza sub-county needed to explore financial platforms to help on financial constraints.

Design and Simulation of Rotary Biological Contactor for Treatment of Industrial Wastewater using Aspen HYSYS []


The design for the rotary biological contactor for the treatment of industrial wastewater using Aspen HYSYS was carried out. The design models were developed for the constituents of the rotary biological contactor which are primary clarifier, secondary clarifier and four stage Bio disc. The models were simulated with the aid of a computer program developed using MATLAB & SIMULINK compiler. The data used for computations and simulation were obtained from the design in Aspen HYSYS simulation software which served as input to the computer program developed. The rotary biological contactor was also design using Aspen HYSYS simulation software and inputs to the design were from literatures of previous works by Tak-Wing (2000). It was observed that design results obtained after computation and simulation at various total flows rates gave a surface area of 2.45m2 for surface loading, 0.30m for hydraulic load, 0.30m/hr for hydraulic loading rate, 41.8hr for hydraulic retention time, 0.66m3/hr/m for hydraulic load over weir and 2.29 mol/m2hr for organic lording. These results would be good values of design parameters necessary for fabrication of the rotary biological contactor. Also, the mechanical design of the rotary biological contactor gave various thickness for cylindrical sections as 14.7mm for the each of the four bio disc (reactor) and 57.56mm for primary Clarifier as well as secondary Clarifier. This thickness for cylindrical sections would be a good space for the material of construction which was carbon steel. The design cost of the rotary biological contactor gave $91586 and N50372378 for each of the four bio disc (reactor) which were in dollar and naira respectively. The design also gave $45961 and N25279046 for the primary and secondary Clarifiers which were in dollar and naira respectively. The design is cost effective with carbon steel as material for fabrication. Done was good and cost effective. The cost of the rotary biological contactor was cost effective. This means that the equipment(s) can be bought at cheap rate with carbon steel used as material of construction was a good one. The components treated were hydrogen sulphide, Sulphur, hydrogen chloride in waste water.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Kuwaiti economy, especially banks, and ways to overcome the effects and obstacles with minimal losses and successfully. []


Abstract The covid-19 pandemic is a global stress event that is testing all businesses, financial, operational and commercial resilience. The covid-19 pandemic has rapidly spread to more than 200 countries till date. Against this backdrop, the financial services sector is having to adapt rapidly and at scale to current constraints and market conditions. Firms have understandably prioritized immediate financial and operational measures such as protecting liquidity and cash flows, and ensuring that they are able to keep core business activities going.

DECENTRALIZED TAXES FACTORS AND REVENUE COLLECTION PERFORMANCE IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN RWANDA A CASE OF KICUKIRO DISTRICT []


ABSTRACT The aim of this research was to investigate effect of decentralized taxes factors on revenue collection performance in local government in Rwanda: a case of Kicukiro District. The study specific objectives were to assess effect of fiscal decentralization, economic factor and administrative factors on revenue collection performance in local government in Kicukiro District, Rwanda. The study is important to local government at Kicukiro, Central government and other district local government. The researcher used a descriptive and correlation research design. The researcher targeted 254 employees of Kicukiro and using Yamane formula, a sample size of 155 respondents was determined. Both simple random and purposive sampling techniques were used to select sampled population. The researcher collected data using questionnaire survey, interviews and desk review. Information was analysed utilizing qualitative and quantitative methods through a computer-based software known as statistical product and service solutions. Both descriptive statistics (frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (regression and correlation) were used. Data was represented using tables and charts. Results to the first specific objective show insignificant relationship between tax horizontal and vertical structures and tax compliance (r=.003; p value=0.953); Tax horizontal and vertical structures and tax convenience were not associated (r=0.003); p-value=0.542); tax horizontal and vertical structures insignificantly correlated with revenue collection target (.013; p-value=.825). Contrary to the significant correlation between the behavioural issues and tax convenience (r=.206; p-value=.000). Results to the second objective denote that 38.6% strongly agreed that RRA and Kicukiro District have respected the tax benefit principle. Results felt that relationships were insignificant given that the p-value was >0.05 suggesting that a variation in economic factors did not increase the compliance and convenience of taxes in Kicukiro District and vice versa. Results to the third research specific objective demonstrated that that expenditure decentralization was used as strongly agreed by 35.2%. It has been demonstrated that 36.9% agreed with local entity geographical size as agreed. Correlation results demonstrated insignificant correlations given that the p-value was > implying that a change in expenditure decentralization did not increase tax compliance, convenience, revenue collection target and vice versa. Local entity geographical size was insignificant with tax compliance (r=0.080, p-value=.0169), and local entity geographical size was insignificantly correlated with tax convenience (r=0.013, p-value=0.822). The research concludes that to some extent decentralized taxes factors affect the level of revenue collection performance at a low level of significant. The study recommends that taxpayers should pay tax to ensure compliance and collection, request for electronic billing machine receipts to support the performance of revenue collection for safe of revenue and taxes. The RRA employees would make consistent follow up and increase public awareness in regard to online tax payment. Further studies should focus on effect of online taxation, electronic billing machine, and online tax evasion on socioeconomic development.

Project Monitoring and Evaluation on the Financial Performance of Construction Companies in Rwanda: A Case of Road Maintenance Fund Project in Rwanda, Gasabo District; Horizon Company []


This research project assessed the effect of project monitoring and evaluation on performance of construction companies in Rwanda. The research design was descriptive. While the target population was 54 employees of project the sample, size was the same since the population was small. Data collection tools were questionnaires and interviews. The data was collected and analyzed using the Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 23. The researcher used correlation coefficient to determine the relationship between variables while the regression analysis was to determine the effect of project monitoring and evaluation on financial performance of construction companies. The results findings showed that that majority of the respondents agreed that dedicated and approved budget for M & E processes in road maintenance is followed efficiently by the management while minority disagree with the statement. Majority of the respondents agreed that budgetary allocation amount disbursed meet the time deadlines for each stage of the project progress whereas minority disagree with the statement. Research finding showed that majority of the respondents strongly disagreed and disagreed that amount provided on the budget is not sufficient for an effective M&E exercise during the project progress. The survey showed that majority of the respondents disagreed that availability of resources budget does not influences the effectiveness of M & E processes of road maintenance fund in the district and minority agreed with the statement. In addition, Findings confirmed that dedicated budget for M & E processes for road maintenance in district is achieved by planning and design system of the project of through personnel assessment of workers, stated by majority of respondents agreed. Period of engagement with the officers in the M&E exercise is sufficient to exhaust requirements of the tasks involved through building personal monitoring system, confirmed by majority of respondents disagreed. The study thus concluded that putting proper financial resource budget in terms of dedicated and approved budget for M & E processes in Road maintenance is followed efficiently by the management, budgetary allocation amount disbursed meet the time deadlines for each stage of the project progress and constrained budgets M & E processes in road maintenance is approved by the board of directors of the project and district representatives in the project. Keyword: Project, Monitoring, Evaluation, Financial, Performance, Rwanda

ENVIRONMENTAL SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, FIRM SIZE AND PERFORMANCE OF MANUFACTURING FIRMS LISTED AT THE NAIROBI SECURITIES EXCHANGE []


With the constant awareness of healthy living in the society, the role of businesses towards the human well-being through environmental conservation has become a major business practice. This study is based on the debate surrounding the apparent value of Environmental Social Responsibility on the performance of firms. The overall objective of the study was to examine the influence of Environmental Social Responsibility on the performance of the manufacturing firms listed at the Nairobi securities exchange with the firm size as the moderating variable. The study is grounded on stakeholder's theory, social contract theory and legitimacy theory. The operationalization of environmental social responsibility was based on three main dimensions: pollution prevention, renewable energy and environmental rehabilitation. Performance on the other hand was measured using financial and non-financial indicators. Census survey of nine manufacturing firms was used owing to the small population size. Primary data was collected using a questionnaire while secondary data was obtained from the published financial records. Regression analysis model is adopted as the econometric tool to establish the relationship between variables. The findings suggested that pollution prevention, renewable energy and environmental rehabilitation were negatively and significantly associated with financial performance but in contrast positively and significantly related with non-financial performance.

STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT PRACTICES AND ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE OF NATIONAL HOSPITAL INSURANCE FUND IN KENYA []


This study sought to investigating the influence of strategic management practices on the performance of National Hospital Insurance Fund in Kenya. The specific objectives of the study included; to determine the effect of strategic planning on the performance of NHIF, and to find out the effect of strategic intent on the performance of NHIF. The study was anchored on the Resource Based View Theory of the firm and System Theory. The study adopted a descriptive research design. The unit of analysis was NHIF headquarters in Nairobi while the unit of observation was 152 managers and supervisors in charge of strategic development and management, and strategic decision making and implementation. Using Yamane’s formula the study used a sample size of 110 respondents. The sample was selected using stratified random sampling. For data collection, a structured questionnaire was used. The regression model was used to analyse the effects of independent variables on the dependent variable. The collected data was analysed by use of a Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS). The analysed data was presented in tables and figures for ease of interpretation. The study found that strategy planning and strategy intent positively influences performance of NHIF. To keep up with the changing market need and improve on performance, the study recommends that NHIF should consistently undertake environmental scanning, set goals and formulate strategies taking into consideration the available resources for NHIF to attain its goals it has to have a well pronounced strategic intent where individual motivation is raised to a higher level such that each supports the other towards the defined vision.

When You Think You Know More (Or Less) Than Anyone Else—The Dunning-Kruger Effect and Imposter Syndrome []


Learning progresses through stages of unconscious incompetence, conscious incompetence to conscious competence and unconscious competence. The process, especially in the transition between the first two stages, is often impeded by the Dunning-Kruger Effect or Imposter Syndrome. When self-awareness of a person’s knowledge lacks, exaggerated in the case of Dunning-Kruger and diminished in Imposter Syndrome, learning and decision-making are suboptimal, sometimes with damaging consequences. This review paper aims to describe both phenomena and offers practical measures to combat both in individual and team setting.

EMPLOYEE MOTIVATION AND ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE OF NON PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS IN RWANDA: A CASE OF ALIGHT RWANDA []


The motive of this research was to examine the contribution of worker motivation on organizational performance in nonprofit agency. This study become carried out in Alight Rwanda especially because the case have a look at with the subsequent objectives: to evaluate the impact of monetary incentives at the organizational overall performance of Alight Rwanda, to have a look at the effect of running surroundings at the organizational performance of Alight Rwanda and to determine the contribution of employee popularity on the organizational performance of Alight Rwanda. The studies become significance to various groups and sections of humans in Rwanda and past inclusive of the researcher, future researchers, Alight Rwanda and other corporations, MKU University, the government of Rwanda and most of the people. The researcher reviewed literature related to employee motivation and performance of corporations guided by means of the examine targets. The research layout changed into descriptive. While the target populace became three hundred worker of Alight Rwanda the sample length turned into 81 respondents selected from the total goal population using Slovin (1970) formula. Data collection gears were questionnaires and interviews. The records accrued became analyzed the usage of the Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 23, to show imply, general deviation and probabilities. The researcher used correlation coefficient to determine the relationship between variables whilst the regression analysis changed into performed to decide the effect of worker motivation on organizational performance. The analyzed statistics was said the use of tables and figures. The outcomes in Table4.5 confirmed that majority of the respondents agreed that constant pay and increment in income increases employees’ performance at the same time as minority disagree with the announcement. For example, from the ANOVA Table4.10.2, p-cost is zero.000 that's less than the 0.05, set as well known significance ranges with healthy stage of 220.207. Regression equation proven that organizational performance of Alight Rwanda trusted a regular thing of .453 irrespective of the lifestyles of different factors. The different variables provide an explanation for that; any unit boom in economic incentives would growth organizational performance by way of issue of .701. The examine for this reason concluded that setting more effort financial incentives in phrases of wages, pay and allowances and perquisites will growth personnel performance and productiveness.

Prevalence and Risk factors associated with overweight and obesity among secondary Schools adolescents in Kigali City, Rwanda []


Globally, nearly 16% of the population are adolescents, among them about 85% live in low- and middle-income countries. About 71% of death is a result of NCDs globally. Overweight and obesity among adolescents count less than 20% in Africa. This research determined the prevalence and risk factors for overweight and obesity among adolescents in secondary schools in Kigali, Rwanda. A cross-sectional descriptive design was used as a quantitative approach for data collection. A sample of 378 adolescent students were selected from a target population using a technique of systematic sampling, Questionnaire was used to collect data and was analyzed using SPSS of version 2. Binary logistic regression was used to examine the relationship between overweight and obesity and the predictor variables. A total of 378 respondents participated in the study. The individual characteristic or socio-demographic contains age, Sex, Economic category (UBUDEHE), Siblings (brothers and or sisters with the group, level of education of parents (father/Mother) qualification, Parent(s) live with, Religion and Parent(s) overweight or obesity. Moreover, the lifestyle of participant(s) contains Consumption of fruits, Order takeaway, having meals with family, Consumption of snacks, taking beverages, Transport methods, Sports practice, Time spend on TV, and Time spends on smartphones. The results of this study were the prevalence of overweight was 24.9% while the prevalence of obesity was 6.9% the combination of overweight and obesity was 31.7%. To determine the prevalence and risk factors associated with overweight and obesity in secondary schools’ adolescents will assist in the development and implementation of policies that promote healthy eating and physical activity in the school environment through changes in environment, behavior, and education. School policies and programs should support the adoption of healthy diets and physical activity to prevent overweight and obesity. Keywords: Prevalence, Risk, factors, overweight, obesity, Schools, adolescents, Rwanda

THE EFFECTS OF THE USE OF ELECTRONIC FISCAL DEVICES ON TAX COLLECTION IN IRINGA MUNICIPALITY []


This study is an attempt to determine the effects of the use of electronic fiscal devices on tax collection in Iringa Municipality. Specifically, it intends to determine tax compliance rates before from 2001 to 2010 and after the introduction of electronic fiscal devices from 2011 to 2020. The study included a sample of 20 years of observations of tax compliance rates and revenue collection rates from 2001 to 2020 in Iringa Municipality. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics. From the results, tax collection rate before the introduction of electronic fiscal devices was growing on a little move compare after the introduction of electronic fiscal devices whereby tax collection grows at higher rates. On the other hand, revenue collection before the introduction of electronic fiscal devices was growing at lower rate due to lack of proper methods of revenue collection and tax avoidance among taxpayers. But after the introduction of electronic fiscal devices, revenue collection increases from 59.8 in 2010 to 76.08 in 2020 as there is a proper method of revenue collection (EFD machine) which is accurate and efficiency on revenue collection. The study concludes that the use of EFDs machines increases tax compliance and revenue collection. It was recommended that continuously more training, seminar and workshop are needed on the use of new technology (EFDs) to all EFDs user to increase awareness of new EFDs users and build competence to old users in order to further increase revenue collection. Furthermore, to encourage or enhance the use of EFDs, the cost of procuring them should not be too high.

REVIEW ARTICLES: UTILIZATION OF FISH OFFAL FOR FOOD []


Fish offal or entrails (intestines, liver, heart, gonads or eggs) are fish processing waste that has the potential to be utilized. This article aims to review food products made from fish offal based on the results of research conducted in Indonesia. Based on the results of the review, it was found that the use of fish innards was used for the manufacture of terasi, soy sauce, tamarind, extracted fish liver oil for supplements and fish eggs were made for protein fortification in sistik products.

Investigation of the Causes of Flexible Pavement Failure along Three Selected Roads in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria []


This study investigated the causes of flexible pavement failure along three major roads in the Niger delta region of Nigeria. The three selected roads are Ogbia-Nembe road, East-West road and Port Harcourt-Aba. Different types of failure such as alligator cracks, rutting, corrugations, etc, were observed on the selected road alignments. Pavement condition and traffic surveys were carried out on the selected road locations to ascertain their causes of failure. The study method involved the use of structured questionnaires which were distributed mostly to civil engineers and other construction stakeholders. A 5-point Likert scale was used to analyze the questionnaires retrieved from the respondents. The results of data analysis of the questionnaires and traffic survey showed that lack of laboratory investigation of construction materials, poor quality of the construction materials, lack of maintenance culture, poor soil condition of the road, inadequate drainage systems and overloading of road pavements are the major factors that are responsible for flexible pavement failures of the three selected roads in the Niger delta. Keywords: Flexible pavement, Condition surveys, 5-point Likert scale, questionnaires, poor soil condition

Development of Empirical Models for The Estimation of CBR value of soil from their Index Properties. A case study of the Ogbia – Nembe Road in Niger Delta Region of Nigeria []


This paper developed linear, quadratic and multiple regression models to predict the soil index properties in Ogbia-Nembe road in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. The soil index properties in Ogbia-Nembe road were modelled with the California Bearing ratio as the dependent variable. Thirteen models were developed to understand the relationship between these soil index properties: the independent variable and the California Bearing Ratio (CBR): the dependent variable; Six linear, Six quadratic and One multiple linear regression models were developed for this relationship. However, result from the Analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that the Plastic Limit (PL), the Liquid Limit (LL), the Plasticity Index (PI) and the Moisture Content (MC) are not statistically significant predictor variable to evaluate the CBR value for Ogbia-Nembe Soil which is predominantly a mixture of inorganic clay of low plasticity and organic clay/inorganic soil of high compressibility based on unified soil classification system. Results of the ANOVA further showed that the Optimum Moisture Content (OMC) and the Maximum Dry Density (MDD) are better independent variables for the prediction of the CBR value of Ogbia-Nembe soil. Hence, the empirical models: CBR = -69.89 + 54.944*MDD; CBR = 38.676 – 1.386 * OMC; CBR = -820.11 + 926.06MDD – 252.49MDD2; CBR = 30.948 + 0.1570MC – 0.0718*OMC2 and CBR = 52.16 – 6.927*MDD-1.542*OMC. These five acceptable regression model comprising of 2 linear model, 2 quadratic model and 1 multiple linear regression model having a coefficient of determination R2 = 0.82, 0.93, 0.89, 0.96 and 0.94 respectively. These models can be used to predict the CBR of any given soil with relative similar soil index property. The CBR values predicted by the model were further compared with those of the actual experimental test and found to relatively consistent with minimal variance. Keywords: Linear model, Quadratic model, multiple regression model, soil index properties, Analysis of Variance, California Bearing Ratio, Coefficient of determination

FRAUD AND FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE OF SELECTED ACCOMMODATION ESTABLISHMENT IN KIGALI, RWANDA: THE CASE OF NOBLEZA HOTEL IN THE KICUKIRO DISTRICT []


Fraud is global accounting challenge that affects financial performance of organizations. Fraud is the problem that has been existence from many years ago, fraud in Rwanda has increased and continue to be increased because of lack of professional ethics. Fraud affects organizations by loss of resource which can cause low working capital for organizations and lead to loss of customer’s loyalty and lost resources for investment. The general objective of the study was to assess fraud and financial performance of selected accommodation establishment in Kigali City, Kicukiro District, Rwanda at Nobleza Hotel. Specific objectives were: to analyze the effect of elements of fraud and financial performance, to identify the reasons of fraud and financial performance, to establish conditions necessary to minimize the fraud and financial performance of selected accommodation establishment at Nobleza Hotel. The significance of the study gives an advantage to researcher and the policy makers or regulators to prevent measures and fraud detection tools. The study used the descriptive research surveys design with quantitative method. This study used Census sampling techniques, target population was 115 employees of Nobleza Hotel. The study used a Census method and sample size was 115 employees working at Nobleza Hotel. During data collection, researcher used the structured questionnaire for data collection. The Cronbach alpha coefficient formula was used to find out the reliability and validity of instruments. The Statistical Product and Service Solutions (SPSS) version 21software was used during data analysis. The inferential statistics with standard deviation and regression were used to found out relationship between variables. The tables were used for data presentation and interpreted by using the frequencies. On the effect of the elements of fraud on financial performance; the overall mean of results was 4.218 that is between Agree (4) and Strongly Agree (5), it presented that the high number of respondents agreed that elements of fraud give any impact on financial performance. The correlation between frauds and financial performance was r=0.810, and statistically significant with p value =0.000. On the reasons of fraud in accommodation establishment; the overall mean of results was 4.062 that is between Agree (4) and Strongly Agree (5), it presented that the high number of respondents agreed that the reasons of fraud in accommodation establishment affect the financial performance, the correlation was r=0.747, and it was statistically significant with pvalue =0.000. On the conditions necessary of minimizing the fraud in accommodation establishment and financial performance, the overall mean of results was 4.274 that is between Agree (4) and Strongly Agree (5), it presented that the high number of respondents agreed that the conditions necessary to minimize the fraud in accommodation applied increase the financial performance at Nobleza Hotel, the correlation was r=0.778, and it was statistically significant with p value =0.000. It concludes that fraud financial affect the financial performance and they have relationship. It recommends that accommodation establishment should implementation anti-fraud measures and improve internal control system which help them to upsurge the financial performance.

PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGIES AND PERFORMANCE OF RWANDA UTILITY REGULATORY AUTHORITY HEAD QUARTERS (TWIN TOWERS) PROJECT. []


The study focused on the assessment of the effect of project implementation strategies and performance of the Rwanda Utility Regulatory Authority Twin Towers building project with highlighted objectives :To establish the effects of stakeholders involvement on performance of the Rwanda Utility Regulatory Authority Twin Towers Building project, to ascertain the effects of project communication on performance of the Rwanda Utility Regulatory Authority Twin Tower building project lastly to ascertain the effects of financial resource management on performance of the Rwanda Utility Regulatory Authority Twin Tower building project. The study is of great significance to the different parties; contractors: at the end of this study the findings will show the importance of having implementation strategies to the performance of construction project. Further, this study will help the future researcher as source of information about the related subject. Descriptive research design was applied because it was helped the researcher to analyze the effects of project implementation strategies on Rwanda Utility Regulatory Twin Tower building project ; the target population was 86 employees of Rwanda Housing Authority (RHA) which is public institution overseen by ministry of infrastructure to improve quality of Rwandan life in line of providing the plan, coordination, rules and regulations of rural and urban public building construction, contractors’ and supervisor’ company members. By using census, the sample size was 86 who are involved in project implementation to represent the group in sampling. A questionnaire, containing close-ended questions was used as primary data collection tool and documentary read will be applied for collecting secondary data. The collected data analyzed by using SPSS version 24 for the mean, standard deviation correlation and regression analysis. The presentation of findings was done by using tables, the pilot study was performed to test validity and reliability of instruments used in data collection. The findings have shown that project stakeholder and performance of RURA TTP has strong positive correlation of 0.865 and sig=0.000 which is less than 0.01significance level. The result also shown that stakeholder communication is correlated with performance of RURA TTP at 0.872 which is a positive correlation and significance of 0.000 which is less than significance level of 0.01.Futher the findings have shown that financial resource management and RURA TTP of 0.794 and sig=0.000 which is below of significance level of 0.01. The overall correlation indicated that project implementation strategies contribute at Pearson correlation of .844 which indicates strong correlation between project implementation strategies and performance of RURA TTP. The study recommended that the contractors to strength the strategies formulated and organizational commitment during various aspects of project such as identification, implementation and evaluation in the way of allocation resource and attaining project objectives smoothly which help to gain competitive advantage in construction industry.