Kenya Named One of the Unhappiest Countries in the World

Kenya Named One of the Unhappiest Countries in the World

Kenya has been named one of the unhappiest countries in the world by a new report by United Nations. Kenya has been ranked 124th out 156 countries in the 2018 United Nations World Happiness Report.

Kenya however faired well compared to its Eastern Africa counterparts, Uganda (135) Sudan (137), Rwanda (151), Tanzania(153), South Sudan (154) and Burundi at (156).

Malawi (148), Haiti, Liberia, Syria, Rwanda, Yemen, Tanzania, South Sudan, Central African Republic (CAR) and  Burundi were the bottom ten countries in that order.

Finland has been ranked the happiest country in the world. Norway, Denmark, Iceland and Switzerland respectively follow as the happiest countries in the world.

Last year, Kenya was 112th out of 155 countries and  was 122nd globally in the 2016 report.

Lack of jobs, minimal access to health care and high levels of corruption are some of the factors cited for the unhappiness in majority of the unhappy nations. The report uses data from the Gallup World Poll.

Comments

Mkenya halisi (not verified)     Thu, 03/15/2018 @ 04:34pm

Minimal healthcare n corruption indeed??Other day imf talked shit about us borrowing in China,now it’s UN n we know who imf/UN are.Can u do a survey showing the immoral devilish countries in the world too where pedephilia,gaysm,Lesbinism,Sodomy is legalised n entertained??

Karing'a (not verified)     Thu, 03/15/2018 @ 05:10pm

In reply to by Mkenya halisi (not verified)

Mkenya can deny the obvious because he thinks everybody is lucky to inherit from his parents like him.Can Mkenya tell us the percentage of happiness his hungry neighbours living in Misri slums and Ndeiya,Limuru have?We could not be taking the loans if there was no blotead govt and corruption.Mkenya is one of the Gikuyu who believe that he is represented by kina Uhuru,Kibaki,Kirubi & Co in looting the govt.Pole jamaa-kazi yako ni ya kulipa tu.I believe on them facing the FIRING SQUAD after seizing all the own.NA NI WOTE.

Rumbwa (not verified)     Thu, 03/15/2018 @ 04:38pm

Unhappy or most senseless voters?Majority of Kenyans are children and decisions made by minority who make most Kenyans poor the father/mother of anger and sadness.Who else apart from bongolala humans can vote for the most expensive,useless katiba in the world?Who can vote for a document to create a few millionaires/billinaires paid by 90 per cent poor?Who can elect thieves/corrupt and murderers from 1963 to date expect for senseless Kenyans who is worse than a corpse?

Anonymous (not verified)     Thu, 03/15/2018 @ 06:31pm

I agree Kenyans are very angry and unhappy people. The feign happiness by drinking heavily, women join chamas and fake girl friend outtings to drink , gossip and pour their hearts out about their cheating husbands, majority do not parent , have left that technique to the maids. Everyday in Kenya is competition aand worse it is the grown up who compete how well they are doing *** mhalisi**. Whenever they are out , it is about bragging who went to Dubai, who vacationed in Zanzibar , the are balloning with debt ( despite what Mhalisi is lying here). The other lot is found in churches, the mega type, each day they wake up with a biblical quote from their whatsapp groups , facebook group and they are in aplenty. They have no real hobbies and now that is the middle class. The lower class is trying to climb up , they see their thieving neighbor catapult from Umoja to Kileleshwa. They try to hassle, they live in neighborhood that have been neglected, they are in facebook once in a while admiring Kardashian or some rap artist . Yes Kenyans can fake happiness but is it real happiness = they are like the Diasporans with myriad of issues , so Mhalisi spare us!

Nairobi (not verified)     Thu, 03/15/2018 @ 06:53pm

Tell them to give us a few years Jahovah is sorting us out Amen! I don't believe this report, we know the west consumes a huge amounts of prozacs,lexapros, wellbutrin,etc for their depression and Ativans and Xanax for anxiety,for them to be able to make it through the day, despite all they stole around the world. They may be referring to having more money to spend but not happiness.

Mugikuyu (not verified)     Thu, 03/15/2018 @ 06:57pm

How was this reserve conducted? What kind of questions were asked? Did it take into account our culture, mannerisms? Kenyans are people who appear unhappy even when they are doing very well. We don't give fake smiles like the West, we don't blow our own trumpet.There is a culture of simple complaints all the time "oh it hasn't rained, or it's dusty, we did not have water last week" etc. That can not give you all the answers, you have to dig deeper. Africans in general are known to exude happiness even when they do not have a coin in the bank. We have to start questioning these reports which are meant to keep Africans down, look down upon them cos they are a bunch of nonsensical reports and those doing them should stick them in their you know what- where the sun doesn't shine. Enough of this nonesense.

JustMe (not verified)     Fri, 03/16/2018 @ 02:11am

In reply to by Mugikuyu (not verified)

I DO AGREE with the research, only if, as stated "...some of the factors cited for the unhappiness in majority of the unhappy nations...." is "...Lack of jobs, minimal access to health care and high levels of corruption....."

When it comes to peace of mind, social connectivity and its effects on the general well-being; which should be high on the happiness radar, they don't give a damn....because they don't know it's value...they might have never had it...as much as they have THINGS to show and lifestyles to buy.

Humanity is amiss in the West....inhumanity is engraved in their own policies. Look at what they do to other nations... kids are kids, women are women, families are families.... THE CORE IS IN RESPECTING ALL AND SUNDRY

Mugikuyu (not verified)     Fri, 03/16/2018 @ 06:19pm

In reply to by JustMe (not verified)

Very well stated, could not have said it better. Look at their suicide rates, drug use and alcohol use, shootings,jameni. Westerners are very unhappy people with little to no human interaction. Money may contribute to happiness but it's not the one and only defining factor.

JustMe (not verified)     Fri, 03/16/2018 @ 11:24pm

In reply to by Mugikuyu (not verified)

The one sad thing is that diseases like DEPRESSION, bipolar ...that spectrum... CANCER etc have become so common in Kenya. I don't know whether it's because they have been given a name now... maybe used to exist without a name.
BUT me thinks our Youth (upto 30s and/or early 40s), the ones aping the material-lifestyles of the West...the wannabes... and with peer pressure, compe; with pple like Mhalisi in tow, are killing themselves trying to get RICH OVERNIGHT, getting involved with anything, prostitution-both men and women, ukondi et al. All the young want to be when they grow up is RICH!!!! Sad or sad??? We are hurriedly getting the western-vibe that is sadly SO EMPTY and NEEDY in nature. Obesity, high blood-pressure to heart disease, CANCER, all because we have bought into the western fast-food....and other excesses... TRYING TO LOOK COOL AND CHUMED....WHILE we know that the 'POOR Man's DIET'....lots of veggies, our own grass-fed-and-slaughtered meat.. our own farmed potatoes, kale, etal is ALL WE NEED to be the happy people we have always been... ALL I want is to be an African, till death do us part.
I am sorry, I don't know who got me started on this...will keep it short now on.

Sokora (not verified)     Thu, 03/15/2018 @ 07:36pm

Kenya was not among the happiest when Raila was in NASA. Raila is now with Jubilee. Today, kenya must be among the happiest given that 6.7 million who voted for Raila are now happy. They need to conduct the research again.

Kenya (not verified)     Thu, 03/15/2018 @ 09:10pm

Fake news. This is hatred towards the black people. Norway has the highest suicide rate in the world followed by they Finland and other Scandinavian countries. How can happy people kill themselves. Uongo tupu. Being people does not mean you are unhappy

Mkenya halisi (not verified)     Thu, 03/15/2018 @ 10:56pm

Hehehe@Kenya n @nairobi that’s the point.Schools kids shooting in USA,drugs in almost 2 homes out of 8,Yes n those medicines for depression.I grew up not having much n am proud whatever I have is hard work from my sweat.I wasn’t given anything by my parents coz they didn’t have much??So guys stick to the point.Having a car or a job n a big mortgage house leaving like slaves in majuu doesn’t make u happy.I was there with all that but I wasn’t happy.Now am happy with my cows n minimal stress coz 95% of my life was completed by me moving home.I don’t have much thou am not poor but am more happier.Even the guys in slums r happier.U cannot compare kenya n scadivian coutries where suicide rate is seen every day in thousands.

Formerlyguest 2 (not verified)     Thu, 03/15/2018 @ 11:19pm

In reply to by Mkenya halisi (not verified)

If you were not happy here and didn't fit in,stop chastising those who do, paying mortgage . Btw how are those floods In the middle of Nog cokming along for the most to crass like you? In the end everyone defines success using a yard stick that is only self. Money does not equate to happiness my brother, if only we can agree,.I know a couple in my hood who rent because they like travelling and do not want the baggage that comes with a house . That is what makes them happy. See some people dedicate their little $$ on their children activities, travel , theatres, wine tasting, climbing Mt. Kenya, that is where they spend their $$$$ and that is their happiness. See , your experience majuu is not everyone else's so stop shoving your narrative and generalizations unto everyone. Everyone interpretes and writes their own history. You need to stop bashing those who don't look at life the way you do, not everyone is as materialistic, ask Mr Njoroge at CBK. Your outlook in life like most Kenyans is so narrow and boring and that would make me very unhappy but that is just me!

JustMe (not verified)     Fri, 03/16/2018 @ 01:35am

In reply to by Formerlyguest 2 (not verified)

So, so well said!
MH suffers from a poor-man's mind-set, victim, defeatist attitude, narrow and shallow in nature. Thinking he can be a yard-stick to diasporans is hilarious... makes me think niatigitie itheruka. Many, if not most, Disporans, have set their sights higher than MH... but he just can't see/read into that fact.

JustMe (not verified)     Fri, 03/16/2018 @ 02:26am

In reply to by Mkenya halisi (not verified)

When do not know when you don't know. If you'd owned a house/condo of your own in those sijui 10yrs you live in the US, paying minimum mortgage, and you were lucky to find the the market fair, don't even say good....to sell that house/condo when you were leaving, YOUR STORY COULD HAVE 'HUGELY' BEEN DIFFERENT....wachana na mediocre... unless of course ungekua those of wanting to spend $$$,$$$ to get 'respect' from 'them'.. story might be your property sank value instead of appreciating. Don't keep with those who think you've made it...or your equal class always, mix with those guys that will enlighten you...ASK and LISTEN to advise more than you dish it, unless asked, of course... you will know what you don't know and chances are you will come out muuuuuuch wiser.

I drop mic on MH. Never again.

Hongera mami (not verified)     Fri, 03/16/2018 @ 12:01am

Well said @Formerlyguest! Happiness is defined by the beholder. One man's meat is another man's poison. Am sure a lot of our friends, family, former classmates are unhappy in one way or another. And for myself, I would not be when my brother and the whole village is living under the poverty line. But of course, I would love to see our people progressing with the ability to afford basic needs, water, food, clothing, and education. The rest we leave it to our Maker. And again I would define happiness as the satisfaction I would gain in changing someone's life, interacting with the despised and lending a hand.

Imara (not verified)     Fri, 03/16/2018 @ 11:32am

MKAPA:

Make Kenya A Paradise Again. It can be done if all of us objectively played our part on a daily basis. It was a paradise in the past. It definitely can be a paradise again.

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