Kenya ranks among top most benevolent nations globally, but police fall behind in acts of kindness
The national average frequency of Kenyans engaging in donations placed the nation at position 24 out of 147 countries globally.
Kenya is among the top-ranked generous nations globally, highlighting remarkable levels of donations, volunteering and helping strangers by Kenyans.
The latest report on global benevolence ranks the country highly in the aforementioned three key categories used to determine the level of generosity and kindness by a country’s citizens.
A benevolent citizen is characterised by kindness, generosity and a genuine desire to help and promote the well-being of others, often acting selflessly and with compassion.
According to the report, the national average frequency of Kenyans engaging in donations placed the nation at position 24 out of 147 countries globally, reflecting a strong national commitment to charitable giving and philanthropy.
Kenya’s ranking in volunteerism is particularly impressive, with the country securing the third position worldwide for the frequency with which its citizens volunteer.
This arguably suggests that Kenyans are highly active in contributing their time and skills to various social initiatives, reinforcing the importance of collective action in addressing community needs.
Further, Kenya ranks fourth most benevolent nation globally when it comes to helping strangers.
Nevertheless, the report dives into the other three determinants of the level of benevolence that captures respondents’ forecasts of how others would behave when facing an opportunity to show kindness and generosity.
"Wallet questions"
The measure is done by the so-called “wallet questions”, where respondents are asked to say how likely it is that their lost wallet or other valuable object would be returned if found by a neighbour, stranger, or a police officer.
On how neighbours would behave under this metric, Kenya ranks position 84, indicating that while there is some level of trust among neighbours, it is not as high as in other benevolent actions.
Strangers ranked the country 93rd, suggesting that despite Kenyans being inclined to help strangers in general, they in return may not be as trusting in reciprocating the kindness.
Interestingly, Kenya's ranking in the police category is the dismal of all the six metrics.
At position 96, it paints the Kenyan police as the least likely to return lost possessions, compared to neighbours and strangers.
The low ranking points to a significant gap in trust between the public and law enforcement, raising questions about accountability and the role of the police in fostering a culture of kindness and integrity.
“Collectively, these data on expected and actual wallet return show that people are far too pessimistic about the benevolence of others,” the report reads.
Despite these concerns, the overall results of the report demonstrate that Kenya’s population remains highly engaged in charitable and unselfish behaviour.
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