Kenyan cities are not places of hope, with Nairobi city dwellers being the most pessimistic according to a survey conducted by Infotrak.
The local pollster divided the country into the former eight provinces and ranked them according to the level of optimism among residents.
The study found that close to half of city dwellers do not believe life will improve in the next one year. Eastern region emerged top with 68 per cent Optimism levels followed by Central (67.2 per cent), Rift Valley (67.2 per cent) and North Eastern (64.8 per cent).
Nairobi Metropolitan area residents had the lowest optimism levels at 57.4 per cent, behind Coast (60.6 per cent), Nyanza (61.7 per cent) and Western at 63.6 per cent.
“Our cities are not places of hope. City dwellers are extremely discouraged by their current circumstances. Although many move to cities and large towns in search of opportunities and a better life, a majority end up disillusioned and frustrated,” said Infotrak research manager Walter Nyabundi.
Infotrak also broke down the survey results into county levels, with Makueni County once again emerging top with an optimism index of 72.7 per cent.
Report: Makueni Ranked Kenya’s Happiest County
People of Makueni were followed closely by Uasin Gishu County residents (70.7 per cent), Elgeyo Marakwet (70 per cent), Tharaka Nithi (69.6 per cent), West Pokot (69.3 per cent), Nyandarua 69.2 per cent) and Embu at 68.9 per cent.
Nairobi County emerged second last at 57.4 per cent.
Infotrak reportedly interviewed 37,400 Kenyans between November 2019 and January 2020 during the height of the Kieleweke-Tanga Tanga campaigns.
Each respondent was asked how optimistic they were that life, in general, would be better in the next one year than it was at the time of the opinion poll.
