Top happiness rankings: 1️⃣ West Pokot, 2️⃣ Kwale, 3️⃣ Kiambu, 4️⃣ Naro, 5️⃣ Homa Bay.
West Pokot County, under Governor Simon Kachapin, has emerged as Kenya’s happiest county according to Timely Kenya’s latest governors’ scorecard.
Kwale County came in second, while Kiambu took third place. Narok and Homa Bay completed the top five in the happiness index, which gauged resident satisfaction with governance, development, and service delivery since the 2022 elections.
At the other end of the scale, Nyamira County was ranked the least happy in Kenya, followed by Kericho, Isiolo, Nairobi, and Bomet — counties where public morale appears to be struggling.
When it came to service delivery, Kwale Governor Fatuma Achani scored the highest (56.6%), followed by Homa Bay’s Gladys Wanga (54%) and Murang’a’s Irungu Kang’ata (52.8%).
Interestingly, Kiambu’s Kimani Wamatangi (53.3%) and Narok’s Patrick Ole Ntutu (52.8%) appeared on both the top happiness and top performance lists — showing a clear link between results and resident satisfaction in their counties.
The survey found 61.8% of Kenyans would re-elect their current governor in 2027 if serving a first term, citing progress on development projects. However, 38.2% want new leadership to accelerate change.
Overall satisfaction with governors’ work stood at 43%, with the remaining 57% expressing disappointment — a sign that public happiness and political performance don’t always align perfectly.
The Timely Kenya poll interviewed 4,805 respondents between August 3–11, 2025, using Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviews (CATI). Respondents were split between 40% urban and 60% rural.
The findings feed into Kenya’s ongoing debate about how to measure the real impact of devolution on citizens’ daily lives.
