Media, digital platforms urged to rebuild public trust
Nation Media Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Geoffrey Odundo deliver his remarks during a panel discussion at the Trust Summit in Nairobi on October 23, 2026.
What you need to know:
- Nation Media Group CEO Geoffrey Odundo pointed out that people still rely on the media for factual news despite the existence of other platforms.
- Charles Murito called for collaboration between the media, institutions and digital platforms to ensure that information reaching the public is truthful.
As Nairobi’s first Trust Summit entered its third and final day, the focus shifted to the role the media and digital platforms play in earning public trust, as well as what needs to be done to rebuild trust in institutions, government and society in general.
Speaking during the event, Nation Media Group Chief Executive Officer Geoffrey Odundo pointed out that people still rely on the media for factual news despite the existence of other platforms.
“A lot of our content is being repurposed. So somebody has access to our content, skews it, and basically makes it look like it's ours. But they skewed it to create a narrative. That's where it's important to stick to the original source of where the content came from,” Mr Odundo explained.
Mr Odundo also said that building public trust requires verifying a story before it is published. He said while it is important to deliver or break news as quickly as possible, it is equally important to ensure that what is published is truthful.
“A very good example is when we lost our former Prime Minister (Raila Odinga). The news came out three hours before we went live. And everybody was asking, if it true. We were waiting because we had to verify,” he said.
Charles Murito, Google’s Regional Director for Government Affairs and Public Policy in Sub-Saharan Africa, spoke about the need for collaboration among the media, institutions and digital platforms to ensure that the information reaching the public is truthful.
“We need to work closely together, as private sector, academia, civil society and most importantly government to identify the key barriers to disinformation and misinformation that we need to put blockers so that that information that is not real doesn't perpetuate and grow,” he said.
Nation Media Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Geoffrey Odundo (left) share a light moment with British High Commissioner to Kenya Matt Baugh OBE during the Trust Summit 2026 in Nairobi on October 23, 2026.
Mr Murito also noted that, unlike a few years ago, the channels through which information is disseminated have expanded. He said it is important to verify whether the information one receives is true or false.
On what needs to be done to restore trust in society, former Prime Minister of the Republic of Mali Moussa Mara spoke about the importance of building trust within communities.
“If we trust in community, whether or not they are illiterate or not, put their hand in the decision-making areas, they will be a real partner of the State. And they will be the real partners also of the regional communities,” he explained.
Mr Mara echoed the remarks of Kenya’s Prime Cabinet Secretary and Cabinet Secretary for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs, Musalia Mudavadi, who spoke on Thursday about the need for permanent African representation on the United Nations Security Council as a way of building the continent’s trust with the international community.
Delegates follow proceedings on the third day of the Trust Summit in Nairobi on October 23, 2026.
Former Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Raychelle Omamo also called on African countries to set aside their differences and work together to ensure the continent is represented on the UN Security Council.
“We compete against each other and fail to see the bigger picture. So we have to agree that it doesn't matter which country represents us, what is important is that country speaks for our interests. And to do that, we have to step back from our egos. Even though we have reached a consensus on many planes, I can assure you that when a decision is made as to which of the four African countries are going to represent us on the United Nations Security Council, there will be a brawl. And humility means putting the people first,” Ms Omamo said.
She also reiterated the need for Africa to build trust with the international community.
“Whilst we attend to the really big stuff around global representation or representation in global bodies, actually we have to get on with the job of making engineering for a better, fairer, more transparent international system, including the global financial architecture,” she explained.
In his call to action at the summit, Principal Secretary for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs Korir Sing’oei said more needed to be done to rebuild trust globally. He said it was time for the international community to consider establishing a dedicated facility to invest in that effort.
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