Ruto's two assignments to Defence University of Kenya

President William Ruto during a graduation ceremony at  National Defence University on November 22, 2024/ PCS

Ruto tasked the university to work in collaboration with other universities to examine matters relating to youth.

This is aimed at getting to the place of parents, family, society and religion in bringing up a morally upright patriotic citizenry.

“This is so that we can better understand the breakdown that leads into young people committing femicide, the moral challenge we have in families where family members end up being a threat to themselves and where society has adopted a defiant belligerent posture,” he said.

The President spoke on Friday during the institution’s second graduation at the National Defence University.

“You now hear of incidences of 'maisha ni yangu shugulika na yako', where does this leave family society, community, religion, tradition and culture?” he posed.

On the second assignment, the President directed the institution to find out the place of fake news and its impact on governance.

The President warned that with the progress in sharing information, there are challenges including misinformation, disinformation to the public and for fake news to go along before one knows what the truth is.

“What is the place of fake news, of social media and the advent of misinformation, fake news, disinformation and what effect it has on public understanding and governance and public trust in institutions that are supposed to be responsible for governance,?” he asked.

 “I am sure these are issues of importance and require discourse, and intellectual interrogation to give us pathways for us to chat going into the future.”

The President added that in an era defined by disruption and dynamism, uncertainty and disinformation, discontent and conflict, as well as threats and crises, the security challenges face vast, complex, and ever-evolving.

This includes cyber threats, information warfare, terrorism, maritime vulnerabilities, and climate-induced crises, alongside traditional security risks.

“Addressing these challenges demands the ability to track rapidly changing dynamics, analyse them using clear evidence and accurate data, evaluate options from a multi-dimensional perspective, and implement strategies informed by multi-disciplinary learning,” he said.

Ruto further challenged the National Defence University to to remain visionary and to craft forward-looking strategies that anticipate pressing challenges.

This is particularly in times of national crisis and in response to the clear need for robust disaster management capacity.

“I urge the university to explore collaboration with county governments as a means to strengthen the preparedness and effectiveness of crisis response mechanisms nationwide, with a particular focus on addressing climate-related disasters,” Ruto added.