No. 116 out of 142, Kenya

Happiness is subjective, success and prosperity is judgemental but problems are universal. Going through a forbse publication on countries with the happiest people, http://www.forbes.com/sites/christopherhelman/2013/10/29/the-worlds-happiest-and-saddest-countries-2013/  i held my breath. Nowadays, being Kenyan and so aware of the exposure of our nakedness to the international community, every ranking report leaves me nervous. That said, kenya as a nation we have performed dismally in international ranking almost in all dimensions. our economy, has been and still remains vulnerable to international shocks, our health care is still not very responsive to the growing demands, corruption index remains a tumour in our public sector. 

Are kenyans sad? that is the question. on this ranking, we ve placed at no. 116 out of 142 nations. at least i am relieved we never featured in the bottom 20 countries where some conspicuous economies like Nigeria, Sudan and Iraq are featuring. but a matter of concern was the position of our independence collegues, south Korea. south Korea was ranked at no. 26 globally beating economic giants like Italy, China and even Brazil. remember we have always been reminded that at independence, our economy was at par with the south korean, where did the rain start beating us, that remains a mystery.
looking at the various dimensions that were considered, our economy was ranked at no. 133 meaning we were among the bottom ten, how is that possible and yet we celebrate in the glory that we are east Africa's economic powerhouse. On the governance index, i do not understand how we afforded to be ranked at no. 108 yet i expected us to lead from the bottom. if anything, governance is the epicentre of all our worries and problems. while security and safety remains chronical, no. 127 is not a surprised.
 However, i must admit Kenyan people are the greatest resource this nation has. while all the dimensions that belong in the government portfolio have put us on the losers side, entrepreneurship and opportunities, social capital that is championed predorminantly by the private sector are the only ones where we are featured in the top 100. where then is our glory? are we village champions? Are we used to the league of mediocrity? among the most respected and powerful business people, we are honoured in Africa and around the world, talk about M-pesa, the pioneer mobile money transfer technology that set the pace for the world. read about linus Gitahi http://www.forbes.com/sites/mfonobongnsehe/2011/07/15/the-five-most-powerful-african-media-moguls/