This archive report was first published on 29 November 2019.
On November 29, 2019, President Uhuru Kenyatta read through the BBI report at State House, Nairobi, which proposed the creation of a Happiness department to deal with Kenyans' mental health challenges and sadness.
The department, whose role will be to support Kenyans' wellness, will be domiciled in the Ministry of Health with offices at the county level, according to the task force report.
“Ministry of Health should have a Department of Happiness, Wellness, and Mental Health dedicated to working on policies and standards in this area. They should be promoted to Counties that have the health mandate,” indicated the report.
The department should also be linked to the Culture ministry to ensure that programmes and approaches are informed by the country's cultural institutions, the report added.
As part of the work on the Human Development Index, Kenya should produce a disaggregated Happiness Index, according to the report.
Kenya ranked at position 121 out of 156 countries assessed in happiness index, covering 2016 to 2018, according to a UN report.
