Kenya lobbied Denmark and Portugal for their support in its bid to secure a non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council between 2021- 2022.

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta met with Prime Minister of Denmark Mette Frederiksen and the President of Portugal Marcelo Rebelo de Souza on the sidelines of the ongoing United Nations General Assembly in New York.

President Kenyatta also discussed matters of mutual interest between the respective countries, according to the Office of the President.

Last month, Kenya defeated Djibouti in the second round of voting (37-13) at the African Union to become Africa’s sole candidate for the race for a UN Security Council (UNSC) seat for 2021-2022.

In the first round of voting, Kenya garnered 33 votes out of 49 ballots cast, falling short of a two-thirds threshold.

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

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

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:Presidential Press Unit,Kenya)