The ICC trials are a deserved sharp rebuke of our leadership, a tacit confirmation that we are a nation afflicted by a chronic trust deficit. No one trusts anyone. We could not even trust ourselves with the fabled Waki envelope. Every cycle of national leadership since independence has failed to dry the streams of tribal animosity, forge national trust or exorcise the demons of impunity. While Julius Nyerere was fostering a strong sense of nationalism across the diverse ethnicities of Tanzania, Jomo Kenyatta was sowing seeds of toxic tribal jingoism. As Ghana makes admirable progress in burying a legacy of coups and entrenching a culture of credible democratic practice, we seem determined to regress. No, it is not just three Kenyans on trial in a faraway foreign court. On trial is our very national character and conscience.
Posted on: Sun, 15 Sep 2013 10:07:52 +0000