Moi University was established in 1984 and its first decade of growth and expansion necessitated the adoption and utilisation of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to manage information generated by its operations. Through Dutch Joint Financing Programme for Cooperation in HigherEducation (MHO) and other donors' assistance, it established an ICT centre charged with, among other functions, initiation and development of information systems, including the Academic Register Information System (ARIS). Many challenges slowly cropped up and choked ARIS and other systems before implementation. This study was undertaken to ascertain and investigate issues that led to preimplementation failure of information systems in one of Kenya's public universities, using a case study of Moi University. This paper presents the views of Moi University's ARIS and other Information System (IS) project participants on the factors that led to their systems' failure to reach their operational phase. Although the findings may sound critical of certain aspects of IS and general organisational management at Moi University (MU), they provide real examples of what can happen to IS projects in practice. They provide valuable opportunities for learning, especially in typical sub-Saharan Africa's public universities.

This paper presents the challenges faced in establishing and managing an IRM centre at Moi University. A critical review of in-house papers presented by the university's IRM staff members during recent workshops reveals that the centre faced several challenges in its formative years. If the centre is to attain its aim and objectives, the university management needs to address itself to the centre's challenges.

This chapter on access and utilization of ICTs by rural women looks at the conceptualization of ICTs. Delves into the women's extent of access and utilization of ICTs. It also examines the numerous efforts being made by various bodies to ensure greater access and utilization. The Chapter also looks the hindrances to access and utilization of ICTs and proffers suggestions on the ways to improve access and utilization of these technologies. Further research directions have also been pointed out. The authors analyze literature and reflect on their experiences and their wide interaction with rural women in their diverse daily occupations and their use of ICTs.

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The contextMoi University is one of five state universities in Kenya. It was established in 1984 following the recommendations of the Collin Mackay-led 17-member presidential working party appointed in 1981 to examine the possibility and plans for setting up a second university in Kenya. This was in response to the increasing demand for higher education and the consequent pressure exerted on the University of Nairobi, then the only institution of higher learning. Moi University was a result of the Kenya Government's emphasis on the introduction of new areas of learning that would help meet the high level of manpower requirements of a modern and increasingly technological society. It was expected to focus on problems of rural development in its training, research, extension and consultancy programmes.The first group of 83 students was transferred from the University of Nairobi's Department of Forestry which had, following the working party's recommendations, been transferred to form the nucleus of the first academic programme of Moi University. The department was elevated to a full Faculty of Forestry Resources and Wildlife Management. At the present time, having a combined staff strength of about 1,800, the university has about 7,000 students in various faculties, schools, and institutes in its three campuses: Main, Chepkoilel, and the College of Health Sciences. One of the Moi University's constituent colleges, Maseno University Campus, is in the process of becoming a fully-fledged state university.The main campus, where the Margaret Thatcher Library (MTL) is located, is 35km south east of Eldoret town, about 350km north west of Kenya's capital, Nairobi. It is in a rural setting, on land that was originally a wattle plantation at the southern border of Eldoret Municipality. The location of the university, coupled with prevailing economic conditions, presents a major challenge to the accessibility of information technology training and other courses found in Kenya's urban centres such as Eldoret and Nairobi.