People follow leaders into the unknown when there’s trust
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President William Ruto and his deputy Prof Kithure Kindiki dance on the podium during the disbursement of Nyota business start-Up capital to 5,880 young entrepreneurs at Jomo Kenyatta Showground in Mombasa on February 6, 2026.
A government that builds new state lodges while public hospitals run out of drugs is not a government that citizens will willingly sacrifice for.
A parliament whose members earn 76 times the average Kenyan’s annual income will not inspire a taxi driver in Gikomba or a hawker in Kisumu to believe the system is worth preserving.
County governors who travel in convoys and host lavish functions at taxpayer expense will not convince a nurse on a Sh30,000 salary to deliver public service with pride.
In 2007, as Japan Airlines haemorrhaged money under the weight of a debt approaching Sh1.16 trillion, its chief executive Haruka Nishimatsu cut his own salary by 60 per cent, taking home just 11.7 million a year, a figure lower than what his own pilots earned.
He gave up his executive dining room, bought his suits at a discount store, rode public transport to the office, and joined his employees in the cafeteria queue. No bodyguards. No reserved parking. No perks. And when his workers noticed, morale shifted and this led to one of the most dramatic corporate turnarounds in modern history.
