TALKING POINT : Are Tanzanians really the world’s unhappiest people?

A very credible report released by the United Nations earlier this week shows that Tanzanians are among the unhappiest people on the planet. The report released by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network for the UN ranks Norway as the world’s happiest nation.

On the opposite side of the scale are the people of the Central African Republic (CAR), a nation that has been torn down the middle by religious strife in the last few years. Mathematics professor Faustin Touadera was recently elected CAR president in a highly polarised ballot.

Asked why they preferred Touadera over the other 29 presidential hopefuls, many CAR nationals said at least he had remained in the country throughout the years of sectarian fighting that killed thousands and displaced about 500,000, many of who have fled the country.

The World Happiness Report 2017 ranks 155 countries across the globe in terms of the happiness of their populations measured against factors such as per capita income, life expectancy, generosity, freedom to make choices and public perceptions on corruption.

The report released on Monday indicates that Scandinavians are the happiest and most generous people in the world. Norway tops the list followed by Denmark, Iceland, Switzerland, Finland, Netherlands, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and Sweden.

The list is dominated by Europe’s Scandinavian giants, already in the UN’s good books insofar as far as press freedom, the right of access to information, freedom of opinion and expression and economic well-being are concerned.

This year’s index shows that the top ten has not changed much. Denmark, having led the poll three times in a row, lost the lead to Norway, which jumped into top spot from fourth place in the previous report.

Switzerland, in second place last year, has dropped two slots to fourth position. Iceland has maintained its third place. Other countries that have stayed put include Finland, New Zealand and Australia on fifth, eighth and ninth spots, respectively. Likewise, Sweden retains tenth position.

Outside Scandinavia and northern Europe, the Donald Trump-led United States of America drops one place to 14th position, while as Japan marks time on 51st and China climbs four places to 79th.

As for Africa, the index, not surprisingly, paints a disappointing picture. As noted by the report, happiness is in short supply in Africa than in any other part of the world.

Overall, the map of the assessment shows Africa standing out as the unhappiest continent, coloured throughout in shades of red. It is only in Africa that the report indicates a fall in the average scores, with up to four out of five countries going below the mid-point of the scale. The report says only two of the 54 African countries have made any significant gains in happiness over the past one decade. It remains true that the continent, which is home to over 1.2 billion people, representing about 16 per cent of the global population, has alarmingly low levels of happiness.

As for East Africa as a region, it is like adding insult to injury. The region fairs poorly compared with other African countries. While countries like Algeria, Libya, Morocco and Nigeria have made significant improvements in nearly all aspects of the index, only Kenya has something to smile about in East Africa. Ranked both globally and continentally, four of the East African Community members are at the bottom end. The people of South Sudan, Rwanda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Central African Republic are the world’s unhappiest, according to the report.

It is at this point that I would like to ask a very pertinent question to my fellow countrymen and women: why should Tanzania be the third unhappiest nation among the 155 countries surveyed?

When I look at all the other nations grouped with us, I see justification of recurrent turbulence, war and years of economic doldrums. Having enjoyed peace and stability since gaining independence over half a century ago, Tanzania should not be placed anywhere near Syria in the global ranking. What is wrong with us? Are we really among the world’s unhappiest people?