Governments know how much money they owe. They keep accounts, publish figures and announce repayment plans. But who keeps account of the trust they have spent? Who records the promises made to citizens, the expectations raised, the obligations left unfulfilled? And perhaps the most important question of all: who is responsible for paying that debt? These are questions every democracy must eventually confront. For Kenya, that moment has arrived.
Kenya’s decision to host the inaugural Global Trust Summit in Nairobi was, I believe, an act of courage. It takes a certain confidence for a government to invite the world to examine a subject that inevitably raises difficult questions about its own institutions. The Government deserves recognition for opening that conversation. And having opened it, we owe ourselves the seriousness to follow it through.
I have read the Nairobi Declaration on Trust and Call to Action with considerable interest. It recognises trust as a global public good and calls for commitments that can be measured, tested and verified. It commits to establishing a Nairobi Trust Council to review progress on global commitments.
These are important ambitions. They also place a responsibility on us. If Kenya is prepared to lead a global conversation about trust, we must be equally prepared to examine the state of trust within our own borders.
The evidence gives us good reason to do so.
A TIFA survey conducted in June 2026, with findings reported in September, found that none of the public institutions measured commanded the confidence of even 40 per cent of Kenyans. The Judiciary ranked highest at 36 per cent. Parliament stood at 27 per cent.
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Think about what that means. The institutions entrusted with our laws, our rights, our security and the administration of justice enjoy the confidence of fewer than four in ten citizens. These figures represent public opinion at a particular moment. They are also a warning that deserves the attention of every institution entrusted with public power. Because when citizens lose confidence in institutions, the consequences reach far beyond politics. They affect the willingness of people to believe official information, accept difficult decisions and cooperate in moments of national crisis.
We have seen how consequential that can become in Kenya’s recent Ebola response.
By 26 October, Kenya had recorded nine confirmed cases and two deaths, all linked to one cluster. Our health workers have undertaken difficult and essential work to contain the disease. The World Health Organisation has recognised those efforts. They deserve our gratitude.
At the same time, public health experts have raised legitimate concerns about inconsistencies between official briefings and the public health dashboard. A suspected case described in a police briefing was subsequently confirmed as malaria, a clarification that emerged after journalists sought answers.
In a health emergency, information can change as new evidence becomes available. That is precisely why communication must be timely, accurate and open to scrutiny.
A parent deciding whether to seek treatment, a health worker explaining a risk, a family waiting for news. Each depends on information they can believe.
Public health should never become another political contest. The government must communicate with accuracy. Journalists must exercise responsibility. Political leaders must show restraint. And when citizens ask legitimate questions, our institutions must be prepared to answer them.
Trust is strengthened each time the public sees that the truth matters more than the convenience of the moment.
That responsibility extends beyond our borders.
Kenya has a long history of contributing to regional peace and diplomacy. We have relationships, experience and a geographical position that give us an important role in East Africa.
Yet in February 2025, Sudan objected strongly to Nairobi hosting meetings involving the Rapid Support Forces and allied groups. Kenya defended its commitment to dialogue. The disagreement raised an important question about the confidence that parties to a conflict must have in those seeking to bring them together.
If Kenya is to remain an honest broker in regional peace, our commitment to impartiality, sovereignty and the protection of civilians must be evident in our actions. Credibility is something we demonstrate, consistently, through the decisions we make.
And the integrity we demonstrate at home helps determine the confidence we command abroad.
After more than four decades working in communications alongside governments, businesses and institutions, I have come to understand something about the relationship between promises and public confidence.
I have seen leaders inspire extraordinary hope. I have watched institutions earn respect through difficult decisions. I have also seen how quickly carefully crafted words lose their authority when the experience of ordinary people tells another story.
A promise is an obligation. It carries weight long after the microphones have been switched off and the applause has faded.
When promises remain unfulfilled, that obligation does not simply disappear. It accumulates.
I call it the Trust Debt.
In Beyond the Ballot, I explored the responsibilities of leadership beyond elections. As I begin writing my next book, The Trust Debt, I find myself returning to a question that has followed me throughout my career: how do governments and institutions repay the confidence they have lost?
For Kenya, I believe the answer begins with the social contract already enshrined in our Constitution.
We have an Office of the Auditor General. We have parliamentary oversight committees, an independent Judiciary and mechanisms through which citizens can participate in public decisions. We have institutions empowered to investigate wrongdoing and hold public officials accountable.
Our constitutional framework gives us the foundations for a more accountable society.
What we must now confront is the distance between what those institutions discover and what happens as a result.
Consider football, a game that millions of Kenyans love.
Imagine a referee blows the whistle. The foul is obvious. The players have seen it. The spectators have seen it. Yet the game carries on, the officials look away and nothing changes.
Eventually, the whistle loses its meaning.
Our public institutions face a similar danger. An audit identifies failures. A parliamentary committee raises concerns. Citizens demand answers. But when recommendations remain unimplemented and misconduct carries no consequences, people begin to question whether the system is capable of holding anyone accountable.
And when accountability becomes a process without consequences, public confidence pays the price.
We have the means to change this.
Let us publish the major promises made to citizens, the deadlines attached to them and the officials responsible for delivery. Let us require regular public responses to outstanding audit recommendations. Let every institution explain what has been corrected, what remains unresolved and why.
Where wrongdoing is established through due process, let there be consequences. Where citizens have participated in decisions, let them see how their contributions influenced the outcome.
These are practical obligations that can be measured. They require discipline, transparency and leadership prepared to accept scrutiny.
And they require responsibility beyond government. Businesses must honour their commitments. The media must uphold accuracy. Citizens must participate responsibly. Those entrusted with public power carry a particular duty because their decisions shape the lives of millions.
The Nairobi Trust Council has an important global purpose. Kenya can give that ambition greater credibility by demonstrating the same seriousness through our existing national institutions.
We have the Constitution. We have the institutions. We have the ability to measure what is promised and what is delivered.
What we need now is the determination to make accountability count.
The Global Trust Summit gave Kenya an opportunity to lead an important international conversation. Its true significance will be determined by what happens after the delegates have returned home, after the speeches have ended and after the declarations have been signed.
Will promises be honoured? Will institutions respond when they fall short? Will citizens see meaningful change in the decisions that affect their lives?
These are the questions by which leadership must be judged.
And I believe Kenya is capable of answering them.
Because the strength of a nation rests in the confidence its people place in those entrusted to serve them. That confidence is earned through fairness, sustained through integrity and restored through the courage to acknowledge mistakes and put them right.
Let every public promise carry responsibility. Let every audit finding demand an answer. Let every citizen who raises a legitimate concern know that someone in authority is obliged to respond.
We have made the promises. We have established the institutions. We know what accountability requires.
Now we must demonstrate the courage to keep our word.
That is how we honour our social contract.
And that is how we begin to repay the Trust Debt.
- Gina Din-Kariuki is a strategic communications adviser and author of Beyond the Ballot: Clear Communication. Effective Leadership. A Stronger Africa. She has advised governments, institutions and businesses across Africa for more than three decades on leadership, public trust and strategic communication.