3. BUSINESS SESSION

The major activity of the business session was to review the activities of the OSSREA-Kenya Chapter since its inception on August 8, 1995.

Remarks by Prof. John O. Shiundu

The chairman of the session, who is also the vice-president of OSSREA, reiterated to the participants that OSSREA was one of the most active organizations in the region. Since its inception in 1980, OSSREA has grown from representation by individual scholars, to university membership and lately to the country chapter level. The need for a country chapter came about as a result of problems of coordination, particularly in countries with more than one university like Kenya, Sudan and South Africa.

He reminded the participants that during the business session of the first Kenyan national congress held in Nairobi on August 7-8, 1995, it was resolved that there should be an OSSREA-Kenya Chapter steering committee with a representative from each university. Prof. Shiundu underscored the fact that Kenya has been very active in OSSREA's activities as outlined by Dr. John Aluko Orodho, the Liaison Officer. He noted that some of the proposals submitted by Kenyans to OSSREA's research award competitions were weak partly because scholars work as individuals unlike in other countries where proposal writers work as a team.

He, however, noted with satisfaction that the quality of the proposals had improved tremendously since the formation of the Kenya Chapter of OSSREA in 1995. Prof. Shiundu called upon Prof. Paul Achola, who is a member of OSSREA's EASSRR Editorial Board, to make some general observations.

Remarks made by Prof. Paul P. W. Achola

Prof. Paul Achola confirmed Prof. Shiundu's concern that the quality of the articles being submitted to the Eastern Africa Social Science Research Review was rather low.

He suggested that Kenyan scholars should work as a team and submit their articles to be considered for publications through the Liaison Officer, Dr. John Aluko Orodho.

He further encouraged participants to share ideas through consultation so as to improve the quality of scholarship in line with the university motto: "Publish or Perish".

Remarks made by Dr. John Aluko Orodho

Dr. John Aluko Orodho, the Liaison Officer, started by informing participants that the following members of the steering committee had been elected during the launching of the OSSREA-Kenya Chapter on August 8, 1995.

1. Dr. John Aluko Orodho, National Liaison Officer, representative of Kenyatta University and secretary to the steering committee.

2. Mr. Barasa Nyukuri Kundu, University of Nairobi, representative.

3. Mr. Joseph Bosire, Egerton University, representative

4. Mr. Mauric Nyamanga Amutabi, Moi University, representative.

5. Mr. Samuel Oyieke, University of Eastern Africa at Baraton, representative.

6. Dr. Semenye , Daystar University, representative.

7. Mr. Own MacOnyango, Maseno University, representative.

Dr. Orodho also informed the participants that since the time the above committee was set up, several changes had taken place. First, Mr. Nyukuri Kundu, the University of Nairobi representative had left the university. Second, Dr. Semenye of Daystar University had also gone back to her home country in Zambia. The two departures meant that the workload of the Liaison Officer had increased since he was covering the activities of these two campuses. He further noted that there was a need to have more than one university representative to reinforce the OSSREA activities in these institutions.

In view of the above suggestions, it was unanimously agreed that the members below be co-opted to strengthen the activities of OSSREA not only in these institutions but also in the entire country.

A.	Kenyatta University	1.	Dr. John Aluko Orodh, Liaison Officer and Secretary to the Committee
		2.	Mrs. Lodiaga
B.	Egerton University	1.	Mr. Joseph Bosire
		2.	Mrs. Elizabeth A. Were
C.	Maseno University	1.	Mr. Owen MacOnyango
		2.	Dr. Phoebe A. Nyawalo
D.	Moi University	1.	Mr. Maurice N. Amutabi
E.	Baraton University	1.	Mr. Samuel Oyieke
		2.	Dr. Hellen Lung'aho
F.	Catholic University	1.	Dr. Paul Ogula
G.	University of Nairobi	1.	Mr. John Odundo
		2.	Dr. Monica Mwesel

It was noted that the above composition would give the Kenya Chapter a good gender balance and strengthen its working capacity.

Commenting on the general activities of OSSREA, the Liaison Officer informed the participants that since the official launching of the OSSREA-Kenya Chapter in August 1995, the following activities have been given priority:

· Intensification of the membership drive.

· Preparation of a directory or register of the OSSREA members, key actors and researchers in social science in Kenya to be compiled in the OSSREA's main register in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

· Development of a database and making the documents available to researchers. The database should be up-dated. This activity was done using the bio-data forms given by the OSSREA Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

· Provision of the Liaison Officer with adequate working space to carry out the activities of OSSREA such as recruitment of members and consumption. This has been done by the Bureau of Educational Research, Kenyatta University

· Encouraging up-coming scholars to work as a team. This has resulted in the number of Kenyans wining research grants both in the Social Science and Gender Competition to increase very much.

Suggestions by Participants

The participants suggested there be more such national workshops in the future. They suggested the topic for the next national workshop as: The Role of Social Science Research in Health and Disaster Management in Kenya. It was further suggested that the next national workshop be held at Egerton University, Njoro. It was also suggested that we launch books and other staff papers to encourage researchers to be more actively involved in publication.

Closing Remarks

The chairman of the session, Prof. John O. Shiundu, was delighted that the business session had deliberated on various issues and made constructive suggestions on how to improve the future activities of the OSSREA-Kenya Chapter. He assured the participants that the papers presented at the workshop would be published as proceedings of the workshop. He requested the paper presenters to revise their papers (and this has been done) in readiness for publication.

Prof. Shiundu stressed that, as social scientists, the participants have a role to play in improving the academic standards of their departments and institutions in the region. He encouraged participants to use OSSREA to achieve something positive, to leave an impact and to make life comfortable for others.

In closing up, Dr. John Aluko Orodho joined Prof. J. O. Shiundu in wishing all the participants a safe journey during their travel back home.

The workshop host, Mr. Owen MacOnyango of Maseno University College, gave a note of thanks on behalf of all the participants for having participated actively during the busy workshop sessions. Finally, all the participants filled in their evaluation form.