Held talks with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Yokohama City, Japan, on the sidelines of TICAD 9 meeting. Our discussions dwelt on the security situation in the Great Lakes region and the Horn of Africa, including Eastern DRC and Somalia. Additionally, we commended the efforts of our two regional blocs, the East African Community and the Southern Africa Development Corporation, in the search for peace in Eastern DRC. We also discussed the Multi-National Security Support Mission in Haiti, stressing the absolute necessity for predictable financing. Relying on voluntary contributions is not sustainable. We also underlined the need for more countries to contribute troops to tackle with a difficult environment.(William Samoei Ruto, PhD)