West Pokot named Kenya’s happiest county in new devolution survey

NYERI, Kenya, Oct 14 — West Pokot has been ranked Kenya’s happiest county, beating forty-six other counties in a new survey by Timely Kenya that assessed public perceptions of devolution and county government performance.

The county emerged first in the poll’s ranking of the five happiest counties, followed by Murang’a, Narok, Machakos and Trans Nzoia, according to the pollster’s fourth edition of the Devolution Scorecard, released on Wednesday marking four years after the 2022 General Election.

The survey, conducted between September 21 and October 12, 2026, assessed residents’ perceptions of county government performance across key devolved functions, including water, health, education, agriculture and social and economic empowerment.

West Pokot’s position at the top of the happiness ranking comes alongside its governor, Simon Kachapin, featuring among five county chiefs whom respondents identified as consistently present on the ground.

The report, however, does not provide a separate happiness score for West Pokot or explain the specific factors that propelled the county to the top of the ranking.

How counties ranked

Murang’a ranked second in the happiness index, followed by Narok, Machakos and Trans Nzoia.

The report also ranked counties according to whether residents felt devolution was working. Murang’a topped this category, followed by Kiambu, Machakos, Homa Bay and Bungoma.

Nationally, 55.9 per cent of respondents said devolution was working, while 39 per cent felt it was not delivering as expected.

Another three per cent were unsure, 1.1 per cent said they did not know, and one per cent said they did not care.

The findings point to generally positive perceptions of devolution among a majority of respondents, although a substantial proportion expressed dissatisfaction with the performance of county governments.

Corruption tops devolution concerns

Despite the positive assessment of devolution by a majority of respondents, the survey identified corruption as the leading concern affecting county governments.

The report ranked poor planning and prioritisation second, followed by wastage of public funds. Lack of proper oversight by county assemblies came fourth, while late disbursement of funds from the national government and what respondents viewed as insufficient allocations to counties ranked fifth.

County roads, agriculture, water, sports and culture, and social empowerment were identified as areas where respondents felt devolution had made an impact.

Health services, education and job creation, however, were listed among the areas where county governments were perceived to be lagging.

Healthcare emerges as a major concern

The survey also found that 56.1 per cent of respondents did not support retaining healthcare under county governments, while 37.9 per cent said the function should remain devolved.

A further 2.8 per cent were unsure, 1.7 per cent said they did not know, and 1.5 per cent said they did not care.

The findings highlight continuing questions about the management of devolved healthcare, which remains one of the key responsibilities of county administrations.

The report did not provide a breakdown of the reasons behind respondents’ views on whether healthcare should remain under county governments.

What the report says

The Devolution Scorecard outlines several findings on public perceptions of county government performance.

On the state of devolution, the report found 55.9 per cent of respondents to be in agreement that “devolution is working.”

On the challenges affecting the system, it identifies “Corruption” as the leading concern. It also lists “Health,” “Education” and “Creation Of Jobs” among the areas where devolution is perceived to be lagging.

On county government presence, the report observes that “a sizable number of respondents feel there’s a lot of county government presence on the ground as compared to 3 years ago.”

The report further states that “1st term governors are doing exemplary well as compared to 2nd term governors.” It also concludes that women governors are performing well compared with their male counterparts.

These statements reflect the report’s findings and should not be interpreted as independently verified assessments of county government performance.

Methodolgy

Timely Kenya said the survey covered 3,303 respondents across all 47 counties, using Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviews (CATI).

Fieldwork ran from September 21 to October 12, 2026. The report indicated a survey success rate of 96.6 per cent and a margin of error of approximately ±1.67 per cent.

The assessment covered five parameters: water, health, social and economic empowerment, education, and agriculture. Respondents rated each parameter on a scale of one to 10, with each point corresponding to 10 per cent.

Women accounted for 55 per cent of respondents and men 45 per cent. Rural residents made up 60 per cent of the sample, while 40 per cent came from county towns and cities.

The report said counties with larger populations received proportionally higher samples. However, it did not provide a separate happiness score for West Pokot or detailed county-level sample sizes to show how residents’ views in each county shaped the rankings.

Consequently, while West Pokot emerged first in the report’s happiness ranking, the published findings do not establish which specific services, economic conditions or governance factors contributed to its position.