Unity will strengthen Africa's case for permanent UNSC seats

DURING the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in September, African leaders revived the call for reforming the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to grant Africa a permanent seat on the UN’s top decision-making body.

- JACKSON OKATA

ERNESTO 'Che' Guevara (left), then Cuban minister of industry, in discussion with Soviet deputy and diplomat Platon Morozov (right) at a Security Council meeting of the UN on December 11, 1964 in New York. Allies such as China and Russia can only step in to help Africa's push if the continent's leaders speak in one voice by agreeing on who should represent the continent on the key UN body, says the writer.

(AFP)

Voices by African leaders are backed by the Global South, the Caribbean and Eastern European nations, which observe that the UNSC’s current structure is not only outdated but is also marginalising a continent at the centre of today’s global challenges.

In his address, Kenyan President William Ruto called for an end to what he termed an indefensible historical imbalance, stating that the much-needed reforms should guarantee Africa at least two permanent seats on the UNSC.

President Cyril Ramaphosa warned that the current UNSC structure was entrenching inequality at the expense of global justice. At the same time, Nigerian President Bola Tinubu termed Africa’s exclusion as a credibility crisis for the UN itself.

The US, Russia, China, France and the UK are the only permanent members of the UNSC, with Africa currently having rotating members on the council in a non-permanent position.