Ruto meets CIA director William Burns at State House

President William Ruto with NIS boss Noordin Haji meets Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director William J Burns, State House Nairobi on October 28, 2024/PCS

President William Ruto on Monday met the CIA Director, William J Burns, alongside the National Intelligence Service (NIS) Director General Noordin Haji, among other leaders.

After the meeting, the President said the leadership in the region will continue to remain vigilant against destabilising crimes and safeguard the gains of peace, stability, democracy and economic growth.

“The peace and security in the region have significantly been boosted by the close collaboration between us and our partners around the world. As a result, we have substantially rolled back the threat of terrorism, radicalisation, violent extremism and organised crime,” the President said in a statement on X.

The CIA is a US government agency that provides objective intelligence on foreign countries and global issues to the president, the National Security Council, and other policymakers to help them make national security decisions.

The Agency stops threats before they happen and furthers US national security objectives across the globe.

They also collect foreign intelligence, produce objective analysis and conduct covert action, as directed by the president.

“We do not make policy or policy recommendations. Instead, our Agency serves as an independent source of information for people who do,” the CIA said.

“We are not a law enforcement organization. However, we do work with the Intelligence Community, Department of Defense, and law enforcement agencies on many complex issues ranging from counterintelligence to counterterrorism.”

The Agency leads specialized, multidisciplinary Mission Centers to address high-priority issues, including nonproliferation, counterterrorism, counterintelligence, organized crime, narcotics trafficking, and arms control, among other duties.

They also build strong partnerships between intelligence collection disciplines; produce all-source analysis on a range of topics and participate in Intelligence Community-wide efforts.

The Central Intelligence Agency further contributes to the greater Intelligence Community by managing services of common concern, like imagery analysis and open-source collection, while partnering on technical research and development.