NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 22 — Kenya’s Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi has called for stronger accountability, inclusive governance and more representative international institutions, warning that public trust cannot be sustained without institutions demonstrating integrity, fairness and tangible results.
Speaking during the second day of the Global Trust Summit in Nairobi, Mudavadi said the erosion of public confidence threatened the foundations of institutions, economic prosperity and a shared future.
“When a society loses the trust of its people, it risks losing the very foundation upon which its institutions, prosperity and common future depend,” he said.
Mudavadi cautioned against treating public confidence in political leaders as a substitute for accountability, citing an Afrobarometer working paper drawing on survey data from 37 African countries. The study found that greater trust in presidents and ruling parties was associated with weaker public support for accountability mechanisms, including parliamentary oversight, media scrutiny and citizens’ ability to hold governments to account.
He said trust and accountability must reinforce each other, arguing that credible institutions should inspire confidence through their conduct while remaining transparent, answerable and open to scrutiny.
“The strongest institutions are not those that ask people to trust them blindly, but those that inspire confidence through their conduct while remaining transparent, answerable and open to scrutiny,” Mudavadi said.
He also pointed to growing pressure on public confidence in science. Citing the Wellcome Global Monitor 2026, he said the proportion of people who believed that most people in their country benefited from science had fallen from 42 per cent in 2018 to 37 per cent in 2025.
According to Mudavadi, scientific credibility depends not only on rigorous evidence but also on fairness, accessible healthcare, openness about uncertainty and the ability of institutions to demonstrate how scientific advances improve people’s lives.
The Prime Cabinet Secretary further described trust as an economic asset that lowers the barriers to business and cooperation, arguing that contracts and legal safeguards cannot entirely replace integrity and a reputation for keeping one’s word.
“Trust is also economic infrastructure,” he said, adding that societies risk prioritising transactions and profits over ethical conduct when the results matter more than the means through which they are achieved.
Africa’s representation in global institutions
Mudavadi said international institutions must earn public confidence through fairness, representation and delivery, particularly as countries confront challenges that cross borders, including climate change, public health, peace and security, trade and technological change.
He singled out Africa’s lack of a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council as a question of legitimacy, arguing that the continent should participate directly in decisions affecting its security and future.
An Africa with permanent representation on the Council, consistent with the African Union’s Common African Position, would strengthen confidence in the United Nations among African citizens, he said.
He urged the summit to move beyond declarations and establish a practical framework for rebuilding trust, including a clear call to action, a framework defining commitments, a coalition of actors responsible for implementation and a credible mechanism for tracking delivery.
“It is my wish that Nairobi be remembered not simply as the place where the world discussed trust, but as the place where we strengthened our resolve to become more trustworthy,” Mudavadi said.
Trust critical to regional trade
The regional dimension of the trust debate was highlighted by Tanzania’s Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation, James Millya, who outlined progress and continuing challenges in removing non-tariff barriers between Kenya and Tanzania.
Millya said the two countries had identified 68 trade barriers, of which 54 had been resolved, leaving 14 outstanding. Despite their shared customs union and common market, traders continue to face the risk of repeated inspections, delays and unexpected charges at border points.
“The last fourteen are where trust is won or lost,” he said.
He cited bilateral agreements signed in May 2026, including common standards intended to prevent goods that have already been certified from undergoing repeat inspections at Namanga and Holili, a 30-day window for settling disputes and quarterly reporting on implementation.
Tanzania had also removed its Industrial Development Levy on a range of Kenyan goods, he said.
Millya attributed the progress to sustained engagement between the two governments, technical cooperation through the Joint Trade Committee and Joint Permanent Commission, and feedback from the private sector.
However, he acknowledged that bilateral trade had declined from approximately US$950 million in 2024 to US$860 million in 2025, while traders with complaints still lacked a clear channel for resolving their concerns.
He said the two countries needed to translate agreements into improvements that traders could experience directly, including faster clearance of goods, fewer repeat inspections and the timely resolution of complaints.
Tanzania would designate a focal point to follow up trade complaints with Kenya within the agreed 30-day period and propose regular consultations with traders, truckers, women and young traders operating at Namanga and Holili.
Millya said the effectiveness of the measures would be judged by whether complaints were resolved and traders saw improvements on the ground, rather than by the signing of agreements alone.
His remarks highlighted a wider theme of the summit: that trust between governments and citizens, as well as between neighbouring countries, depends on whether commitments produce measurable results.
Trust as a public good
In his remarks, Korir said trust was essential to institutional reliability, social cohesion and international cooperation, describing it as an invisible infrastructure that enables collective action and supports socioeconomic prosperity.
“Where trust is present, institutions are more effective, public confidence grows, agreements hold and cooperation endures,” he said. “Where trust is lost, the social contract upon which societies depend disintegrates.”
He called for transparency, inclusive decision-making, accountability for results and consistency between words and actions in addressing domestic, regional and global challenges.
Korir added that a rules-based international order could sustain its legitimacy only when its rules were respected, its institutions remained representative and collective action delivered meaningful responses to shared challenges.
The Global Trust Summit, taking place in Nairobi from October 21 to 23, brings together public-sector leaders and other stakeholders to examine how trust can strengthen governance, resilient societies, inclusive economies and international cooperation.
The discussions are expected to contribute to a practical agenda for rebuilding confidence in institutions and ensuring that commitments translate into outcomes that citizens and communities can see and experience.