When the African Union (AU) Assembly meets for its 39th summit this weekend, Kenya’s President William Ruto will renew his push to reform what he calls the body’s rigid structures.

State House said he will attend the Addis Ababa summit to advance Agenda 2063 and present a progress report in his capacity as AU Champion for Institutional Reform.

Since taking office in 2022, Ruto has pressed for a common African position on debt, climate change and political stability. After succeeding Rwanda’s Paul Kagame in leading the AU reform drive, he has proposed merging some AU organs and strengthening the Pan-African Parliament.

His ambitions, however, face entrenched bureaucracy, funding shortfalls and political divisions. These constraints have slowed previous reform efforts.

A report by the International Crisis Group (ICG) describes Ruto as central to the AU’s structural overhaul. It says he has linked institutional reform to a broader strategy to assert Africa’s voice globally, including the push for a permanent African seat on the UN Security Council.

One goal is greater financial autonomy. Ruto has urged member states to contribute $1 billion to the AU Peace Fund to reduce reliance on foreign security financing. The fund has held about $100 million at times, but conflicts in Sudan, Somalia, the Sahel, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and South Sudan have strained resources.

The ICG says Ruto’s profile has risen in parallel. It notes that Kenya has retained its status as a Major Non-NATO Ally of the United States and avoided most penalties imposed on other African states – visa restrictions and steep trade tariffs, while negotiating a health pact to replace USAid-funded programmes.

Continental activismRuto’s continental activism comes amid domestic economic pressure and political contestation. Analysts at the Crisis Group caution that his external visibility must be weighed against internal constraints.

Earlier this week, Ruto renewed calls for accountability within the AU, urging stronger legislative oversight and better budget allocation, particularly for the Pan-African Parliament. He also highlighted the stalled establishment of the African Court of Justice, describing it as a “missing pillar” in the Union’s governance architecture despite ratification of its legal framework.

The reform debate regained prominence at a high-level meeting in Nairobi at the end of 2025, where member states were urged to accelerate structural changes and secure sustainable financing.

It argues that the AU is struggling to respond to simultaneous crises and may be ill-equipped for further instability.“The African Union would ordinarily have been expected to play an anchoring role in confronting these challenges. Yet as African leaders travel to Addis for the AU’s annual summit on 14–15 February, there is little to suggest that the institution is up to the task,” said Liesl Louw-Vaudran, Senior Adviser for the African Union at the International Crisis Group.“The key to conflict prevention most often lies in the hands of other players.”According to the briefing, seven conflict arenas require urgent diplomacy in 2026: tensions between Burundi and Rwanda; escalating unrest in Cameroon; unresolved hostilities between Ethiopia and Eritrea; insurgency in the Sahel; Somalia’s fight against al-Shabaab; renewed violence in South Sudan; and the civil war in Sudan.

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