Defence Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale has underscored the Government’s commitment to continue dedicating resources to empower senior leaders, policy advisers and decision-makers who are able to shape public policy in the management of national Defence and security.
The CS noted that the global security space continues to witness a myriad of challenges including cyberattacks and information warfare, saying such challenges had become inherently ambiguous posing a gap between peace and war paradigms.
Duale made the remarks Wednesday when he officially launched the National Security and Strategy Course 26 of 2023/24 at the National Defence College at Karen in Nairobi.
The course brings together senior military officers and public officials from various government agencies as well as participants from some of Kenya’s allied countries in Africa and Asia.
He told the course participants that their countries will look upon them to provide practical ideas on how to tackle the growing tide of terrorism and violent extremism, mitigation of climate change-induced disasters and interventions in curbing youth unemployment, among other current pressing issues.
“Threats related to violent extremism, transnational organized crime and unhealthy competition for natural resources is increasingly becoming a trigger for community and international conflicts. These are just a few examples of the compounded threats requiring urgent attention by security actors and policy makers, which must be at the core of your studies,” said Duale.
The Cabinet Secretary noted that Kenya sits at the confluence of the Great Lakes Region, and the Horn of Africa, a space renowned for protracted and multifaceted security challenges hence due to its geostrategic significance, the sub-region is currently at the Centre of a scramble for ports by great powers leading to unmitigated militarization.
“The aforementioned and other security dilemmas are precisely the reason you will be gathered here for the next one year to build capacity for problem solving,” said the CS.
He urged the course participants to approach the studies with an open-mind while having the audacity to objectively challenge their current assumptions relative to the theories that will be discussed during the course.
The CS challenged the participants to gain sufficient depth in the orchestration of the instruments of national power to mitigate the multiplicity of existential threats confronting the world today and into the future.
