Ash consciousness: When leaders forget they are dust, nation bleeds

Bishop Cleophas Oseso marks Ash Wednesday at Christ the King Cathedral, Nakuru. [Kipsang Joseph, Standard]

As part of the season of Lent — the forty days leading to Easter — churches mark Ash Wednesday. It is not merely a date on the liturgical calendar; it is a sacred interruption. A pause. A call to reflective stillness. It passes quietly in some quarters, solemnly in others. A small cross of ash is traced on foreheads, and the ancient words are spoken again: “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”