, NAIROBI, Kenya, Sep 23 – The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has denied claims by Djibouti that Kenya illegitimately obtained African Union’s endorsement for its bid to capture the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) nonpermanent seat (2021/22).
Responding to a brief statement by the Djiboutian Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Mohamed Siad Doualeh, Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Macharia Kamau who is in New York for the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) Sunday said the Foreign Office “will take on detractors who wish to malign the AU UNSC endorsement of Kenya” for the 2021/2022 term.
Doualeh had sent out tweets accusing Kenya of disregarding the principles of rotational candidacy among African nations to claim the endorsement which he said was indisputably Djiboutian.
“The process through which Kenya obtained the “endorsement” of its candidature is wholly illegitimate! As yet, there has been no decision by the AU Executive Council or the Summit, which in any case, is not bound by the vote of the Permanent Representatives Committee,” the envoy claimed.
“Under the rules of the African Union, it is indisputable that Djibouti should be the African Group’s sole candidate. Both the principles of rotations and frequency mandate Djibouti’s candidature,” Doualeh asserted.
Kenya’s bid won the backing of the Africa Group, which comprises of all the members States of the AU making up 28 per cent of the UN membership, after garnering 37 votes against Djibouti’s 13 on August 21.
At #UNGA. #Kenya is focused on promoting multilateralism &responsible global good governance, including #ClimateActionSummit, #UHC2030, #SustainableDevelopment and #YouthClimateSummit. Once done we shall take on detractors who wish to malign the #AU #UNSC endorsement of Kenya.
— Amb. Macharia Kamau (@AmbMKamau) September 22, 2019
Kenya won the endorsement after a second round of voting by the Permanent Representatives Committee (PRC), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced at the time.
The Africa Group comprises all the 54 African Union member States which make up 28 per cent of UN membership.
In the first round of voting held on August 5, Kenya fell short of the two-third threshold required for an AU endorsement having only mobilized 33 votes out of 49 ballots cast.
READ: Djibouti envoy says country won’t quit UNSC race despite Kenya’s endorsement by AU
Kenya will need the support of two-thirds of UN member States (129 votes) to win a seat at the UNSC which comprises China, France, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States sitting as permanent members and 10 fixed two-year term membership slots shared among five regional groups namely: African Group, Asia and the Pacific Group, Eastern European Group, Latin American and Caribbean Group and Western European and Others Group.
African nations who currently sit at the UNSC are South Africa (2020), Côte d’Ivoireb (2019) and Equatorial Guinea (2019).
Other nonpermanent members of the UNSC are Germany (2020), Belgium (2020), Dominican Republic (2020), Indonesia (2020), Kuwait (2019) and Poland (2019).
Kenya’s bid for the 2021/22 UNSC term is anchored on promotion of peace and security, good governance, multilateralism and climate action.
Nairobi prides itself as the global environmental hub hosting the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in Gigiri.
Kenya also hosts the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) – the UN’s programme for human settlements and sustainable urban development – which held its inaugural Assembly in May.
During the five-day event, Kenya secured a slot among 36 other countries to a newly inaugurated UN-Habitat Executive Board.
Lori Dando from the United States was picked as the chairperson of the board following its first meeting during which the board adopted its agenda and rules of procedure.
The revitalization of the UN-Habitat’s governance structure was among six resolutions and a Ministerial Declaration adopted at the UN-Habitat closing session which Kenya committed to.
The inaugural session also endorsed transition towards a new governance structure, which lays emphasis on the realignment of the UN-Habitat’s planning cycles with the Quadrennial Comprehensive Policy Review (QCPR) process under the United Nations framework.
Kenya was also among 38 governments represented at the inaugural UN-Habitat Assembly that committed $152 million to finance its sustainable urbanization under the agency’s Strategic Plan for 2020-2025.
READ: UN-Habitat set for governance reforms after nod by inaugural Assembly
The blueprint lays emphasis on environment-friendly housing.
The Kenya delegation in UNGA led by President Uhuru Kenyatta will attend a Climate Summit on Monday and a high-level meeting on Universal Health Coverage (UHC).
President Kenyatta will then attend UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) on Tuesday.
He is also expected to attend a high-level dialogue session on financing for development (FfD) and a session on the elimination of nuclear weapons on Thursday.
UNGA will meet on Friday “to review the progress made in addressing priorities of small island developing States (SIDS) through the implementation of the SIDS Accelerated Modalities of Action (SAMOA) Pathway,” a program on the week-long global meeting indicated.
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