NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 15 — West Pokot has been named Kenya’s happiest county in Timely Kenya’s latest three-year governors’ scorecard, which assessed public satisfaction alongside governors’ performance since the 2022 General Election.
The county, led by Governor Simon Kachapin, topped the happiness index, followed by Kwale in second place.
Kiambu ranked third, while Narok and Homa Bay took fourth and fifth positions, respectively.
At the other end of the spectrum, Nyamira was rated the least happy county, trailed by Kericho, Isiolo, Nairobi, and Bomet, which rounded out the bottom five.
The happiness rankings were based on residents’ responses to questions on overall satisfaction with county governance, development progress, and quality of service delivery.
While the survey placed Kwale Governor Fatuma Achani, Homa Bay’s Gladys Wanga, and Irungu Kang’ata (Murang’a) as the top three performers in delivering key devolved functions — with scores of 56.6 per cent, 54 per cent, and 52.8 per cent respectively — the happiness index suggested that strong performance often aligned with higher public morale, though not always perfectly.
Service delivery
Kiambu Governor Kimani Wamatangi (53.3 per cent) and Narok’s Patrick Ole Ntutu (52.8 per cent) also appeared on both the top performance and top happiness lists.
The survey found that 61.8 per cent of respondents would re-elect their current governor in 2027 if serving a first term, citing ongoing projects and delivery on campaign pledges.
However, 38.2 per cent preferred new leadership to accelerate progress and address persistent challenges.
When asked about overall satisfaction with governors’ achievements over the past three years, only 43 per cent expressed approval, while 57 per cent voiced dissatisfaction — underscoring a mixed public mood despite notable pockets of contentment.
Timely Kenya polled 4,805 respondents between August 3 and 11, 2025, using Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviews (CATI).
Forty per cent of respondents were drawn from county towns and cities, while the majority — 60 per cent — lived in rural areas.
