President William Ruto has called on deepening of partnerships, close collaboration and building of synergy among African countries emphasizing the need for fostering peace and unity across the continent.

The president spoke during the ongoing 3 days African Chiefs of Defence Summit in Nairobi led by The United States Africa Command [Africom]. The summit kicked off on Wednesday 28th May 2025 and runs up to 30th May 2025 under the theme “Strengthening African Security, Sustaining Unity of Effort”.

“The threats we face today are more complex and borderless than even before, our response must be coordinated, strategic and above all rooted in partnership,” said Ruto.

Kenya hosts this conference which comes a few days just after the National Intelligence Service Director Noordin Hajj told MPs that Kenyan borderes were not well protected and its facing security threats from four out of its five bordering countries yet the Kenya Defence Force tasked with protecting the same borders still using outdated equipment with most of them last upgraded over a decade ago.

This hence raising the question about the ability of Kenya to defend itself despite being viewed as a regional leader is peacekeeping.

While the President hailed the importance of international partnerships, he labeled Africa-led initiatives as the most sustainable way of ending African conflicts and restoring peace for a greater good. “It is not possible that this continent will continue to be a place of conflict and war, what is going on Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan is unacceptable. We must take responsibility for peace on our own continent,” added Ruto.

He also assured other African countries of Kenya’s willingness to stand together with them for a proactive and strategic military cooperation to build a defence architecture that is robust, credible and enduring by strengthening collective security mechanisms and sustaining unity of effort.

He however highlighted the need for investing big in intelligence sharing and also raising the need to deploy African troops in peacekeeping missions when need arises.

Ruto also advocated for restructuring of major continental security structures like African Standby Force which can quickly act upon any threat in the region as part if the reforms that will boost regional security.