Kenya joins newly elected member states on Security Council

KENYA was elected to the UN Security Council on Thursday, defeating Djibouti in a second-round of voting by the 193-member General Assembly in New York after an initial ballot failed to produce a clear winner.

Mexico, India, Ireland, Norway – which were elected on Wednesday – and Kenya will take up their two-year terms on the 15-member council on January 1 as non-permanent members.

Mexico and India were elected unopposed, while Ireland and Norway beat Canada.

South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa congratulated the countries yesterday on the election. “As South Africa’s two-year term will come to an end on December 31, 2020, we will continue to work closely with the existing and newly elected members of the Security Council, in ensuring collective multilateral action to maintain international peace and security.”

The elected members will replace the outgoing members South Africa, Indonesia, Dominican Republic, Belgium and Germany on January 1.

Ramaphosa assured them of South Africa’s support in resolving regional and global conflicts, and promoting inclusive political dialogue and peaceful settlement of disputes.

He said South Africa remained “concerned about the emergence of unilateralism and its attendant threat to the International rules-based system. South Africa therefore reaffirms the centrality of the United Nations Charter and the primacy of the United Nations Security Council on issues of international peace and security”.

After operating virtually since March amid Covid-19, diplomats – wearing masks and physical distancing – returned to the General Assembly hall to cast their secret ballots at allotted times.

The Security Council is the only UN body that can make legally binding decisions like imposing sanctions and authorising the use of force. It’s five permanent veto-wielding members are the US, Britain, France, China and Russia.