Former Meru Governor, Honourable Kiraitu Murungi has graduated from the Happiness Studies Academy (HSA) in New York with a Degree in Happiness.
He took to his social media to share a picture of himself alongside several women at the graduation ceremony with a backdrop of the school’s name. The one-year degree Kiraitu pursued equipped him with sufficient knowledge to promote happiness in Kenya.
“I am happy to announce that I successfully completed a one-year Degree Course in Happiness Studies from the Happiness Studies Academy (HSA) and graduated.”
“I am now fully equipped to spearhead the happiness revolution in my motherland,” he captioned the post.
A day before being awarded the degree, Kiraitu Murungi held a talk at Kenya Methodist University, assuring his audience that money cannot buy happiness.
“Money has been given a bad name. Some say it is the cause of our unhappiness and stress but based on my own studies which are based on psychology studies, we need to rethink money,” he said.
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“We need to have a more positive story about money. What it can do to make us happier and our lives more meaningful and fulfilling.”
Contradictingly, Kiraitu Murungi vowed to change the notion that money is the root of all evil. He urged people to take a more positive narrative about money, different from its related conventional perceptions.
“With proper psychological focus, money can and does buy happiness. I want to move you away from the conditioning that money is bad and is the root of more evil. I want you to think that money can give you happiness.”
Now, in addition to his Master’s degree from Harvard University, the former governor has now become a certified teacher of happiness. The Happiness Study Academy prides itself in educating leaders on how to have personal, interpersonal and communal skills.
“To realize our mission, we at HSA take a holistic, interdisciplinary approach to teaching happiness—first in the way we define happiness, and second in the way we teach it,” reads a part statement on the academy’s website.
“We define happiness as the experience of whole-person wellbeing, or in short, the experience of whole-being.”