Efficacy of disaster management practices in the Kenya national assembly and the senate

Abstract

Disaster management involves education and training of officials, population and all intervention teams as well as establishment of policies, guidance, standards, organizational arrangements and operational plans to be applied following the disaster. The aim of the study was to assess efficacy of disaster management practices in the Kenya National Assembly and the Senate. Objectives of the study were to assess the effectiveness of disaster management facilities, to determine the level of disaster management training, to evaluate the level of compliance to disaster management policies and to find out the nature of disaster response mechanisms put in place. The nature of the study was a cross-sectional descriptive study. The study examined the respondents who were selected using random sampling drawn from the possible population of 220 staff working in the National Assembly and the Senate in Kenya. The population of the study consisted of the staff working in both the Parliament and the Senate. The data was collected and gathered from both primary and secondary sources of information. Data collected was mainly quantitative and analyzed by descriptive analysis techniques using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. The data was presented in form of pie charts, histograms and bar graphs. The study found that disaster occurred around parliament buildings and that available facilities within were effective in disaster management. The study also established that disaster management training was offered to the staffs in both the chambers. Further, the study established that, to a great extent occurrence of various disasters in the parliament and the country in general affect the level of disaster management equipment in parliament buildings. In addition, Parliament complies with the disaster policies to a very great extent and that parliament considers development of rules and regulations to reduce disaster occurrences and policies in order to strengthen disaster management institutions. Finally, the study revealed that the nature of disaster response mechanisms in the parliament buildings was moderate and stakeholders of disaster response mechanisms in parliament buildings are Parliament Staff and Government Agencies.