NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 7 — Kenya’s Chief of Defence Forces, General Charles Kahariri, has urged military officers across the continent to leverage Africa’s evolving geopolitical stature as a defining opportunity for transformation.
Delivering a lecture at the Rwanda Defence Force Command and Staff College (RDF CSC) in Nyakinama, Musanze District, General Kahariri called for the strategic integration of diplomacy, economic power, military capability, and information influence to secure sustainable peace and development.
General Kahariri, who is on a working visit to Rwanda, told senior officers attending the Senior Command and Staff Course Intake 14 that Africa must reposition itself within the shifting global order by redefining the role of its armed forces as catalysts for national and regional transformation.
His lecture, titled “Positioning Africa in a Multipolar World: The Role of the Military in Africa’s Security and Development Amid Global Power Dynamics,” emphasized that the continent’s security and development must be pursued through holistic, multi-dimensional strategies that transcend conventional defence thinking.
“In his lecture, General Kahariri explored Africa’s position in a rapidly evolving global order marked by shifting power centers, renewed great-power competition, and emerging non-traditional security threats,” read a statement from the RDF issued Thursday.
‘Agents of transformation’
Rwanda’s Army Chief of Staff, Major General Vincent Nyakarundi, and the Commandant of the RDF CSC, Brigadier General Andrew Nyamvumba, received the Kenyan defence chief and his delegation on their arrival.
He later received a briefing on the college’s mission to nurture strategic leaders and critical thinkers within the Rwanda Defence Force and allied militaries.
In his address, General Kahariri underscored the need for African defence institutions to evolve beyond their traditional warfighting roles.
He described modern militaries as “agents of transformation” — integral to advancing national development through innovation, logistics, and strategic communication.
He further called for deeper cooperation among African nations, stressing that effective regional coordination and policy coherence are essential to addressing transnational challenges such as terrorism, cyber threats, climate-induced conflicts, and economic instability.
For the senior officers in attendance, the lecture offered more than “academic enrichment” — it served as a call to embrace their future roles as strategic thinkers and policymakers capable of shaping Africa’s destiny in a complex global environment.
