Kenya has won the second round of voting at the African Union to become Africa’s sole candidate for the race for a UN Security Council (UNSC) seat for 2021-2022.

Kenya defeated Djibouti in a vote held at the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia garnering 37 votes against Djibouti’s 13.

Previously, the AU has reached the UNSC candidature decisions through consensus but Kenya and Djibouti failed to agree on who should step down.

The first round of voting was held on August 5 where Kenya garnered 33 votes out of 49 ballots cast, falling short of a two-thirds threshold.

The UNSC seats reserved for Africa are often available on a regional rotational basis with the 2021 vacancy falling on eastern Africa.

Kenyan Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Monica Juma said that the country will continue to lobby for regional and global matters affecting Africa.

“I wish to thank the AU PRC members for this determination. This endorsement is an affirmation that Kenya has remained true to the decisions and aspirations of the African Union and confirms that it is a safe and dependable pair of hands.” she said.

Amb Mohammed Idris Farah, Djibouti’s representative, congratulated Kenya saying.“ I am sure Kenya will ably represent our great continent at the UNSC”

There are five permanent members in the UNSC: China, France, Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States sitting as permanent members with 10 fixed-term membership slots shared among African and Asian countries.

Kenya has previously been a non-permanent member of the council twice in 1973-1974 and 1997-1998.

The current non-permanent African member states are Côte d’Ivoire and Equatorial Guinea, whose terms end this year, and South Africa whose term runs until next year.

(Source: Daily Nation)