<p>This study enhances existing research by examining the impact of uncontrolled corruption on citizens’ happiness and life satisfaction in resource-rich economies. It is also the first attempt to investigate how natural resource endowments affect citizens’ life satisfaction in African countries abundant in natural resources. This research utilises a dataset of Africa’s resource-rich economies from 2012 to 2022, focusing on the challenges posed by high levels of uncontrolled corruption, low levels of happiness, and the resource curse in these nations. The study employs diverse estimators, such as moment-quantile regression, dynamic common correlated effects, the Driscoll-Kraay regression, and the modified ordinary least squares estimator. The findings reveal that uncontrolled corruption enhances citizens’ happiness and life satisfaction. On the contrary, resource wealth is an insignificant factor. The two findings persist over the short- and long-run dynamics. These findings suggest that citizens exploit significant loopholes in corruption control strategies to engage in underground activities beyond government watch, bypassing government institutions to build initiatives and enterprises that boost their happiness at the detriment of long-term societal welfare. Additionally, the study confirms that resource wealth does not significantly drive citizens’ life satisfaction in these countries. Consequently, this study concludes that uncontrolled corruption plays a critical role in explaining citizens’ happiness, and it discusses the relevant implications.</p>