Student Affairs

Heavy and problematic alcohol use among college students has become a serious public health issue in Kenya. This alcohol consumption among the college student population is associated with numerous negative consequences such as assault, injury, risky sexual behavior, academic problems and property damage among others. This study sought to examine the prevalence of alcohol consumption among students in two public universities. The paper explored the drinking trends among students in the domains of normal use, harmful/hazardous drinking and alcohol dependency. The research design was a survey. The study area was University of Eldoret and Moi University in Uasin Gishu County. Four hundred students responded to the 10 item Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (Babor, Saunders, Higgins-Biddle and Monteiro,1992) [1] Data was analyzed using SPSS version 12. Descriptive statistics was adopted for frequencies and percentages. T-test was used to analyze gender differences in alcohol use. As this research documents, 30% of the respondents were taking an alcoholic drink at least once a month. Among the students using alcohol, 30% were engaging in hazardous alcohol use, while 49.5% were engaged in harmful alcohol use. A significant number of respondents displayed tendencies towards alcohol dependence (34%). There is need for universities to formulate effective intervention measures to help curb high alcohol consumption among students.

The Reformed Church of East Africa (RCEA) was founded by the Dutch Reformed Church in 1944. The RCEA however deviates in its church governance from Reformed/Presbyterian church polity principles ordinarily embraced by Reformed churches across the globe. The church judicial development of the RCEA has been influenced on the one hand by the mission agencies for example the Dutch Reformed missionaries as well as the Reformed Mission League and on the other hand by the Presbyterian Church of East Africa (PCEA). The researcher assessed the Constitution of the RCEA in this dissertation against the Reformed/Presbyterian church polity principles (see Chapter 3 and 5). The research tries to determine to what extent the Constitution of the RCEA is grounded in reformed church polity principles, namely: a) Self-government under the sole headship of Christ, b) The limited autonomy of the local congregation, c) The denominational ties serve the well-being of the Church, d) The restricted power and responsibilities of ecclesial assemblies, The researcher concluded at the end of the dissertation that the RCEA should make provisions in the envisaged church order regarding: The ordination of women, The authority and responsibilities of the ecclesial assemblies, The confessional basis of the RCEA, The necessity and nature of Christian discipline and the right to appeal. Stellenbosch University https://scholar.sun.ac.za Huffel, for her useful guidance, insightful comments, and considerable encouragements to complete this thesis. Her expertise supervision, enthusiasm, rigorous attitude to church polity, valuable advice and suggestions on my work and extensive knowledge put me in the position to complete the dissertation. A word of indebtedness is being expressed to Professor Pieter Coertzen and Robert Vosloo of the Department of Systematic Theology and Ecclesiology at the University of Stellenbosch for their guidance in the early phases of my research. I own my deepest gratitude to the Faculty of Theology at the University of Stellenbosch for travel bursary granted to me that put me in position to finalize my research.