Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta said his country would use its membership in the United Nations Security Council to advance the “pan-Africanist agenda of global peace, solidarity and multilateralism” if elected in Wednesday’s vote.
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Kenya faces Djibouti for the continent’s third seat at the Council having failed to strike a deal to forward a single state. The other two seats will be filled by Tunisia and Niger.
“A vote for Kenya is a vote for peace. A vote for Kenya is a vote for global solidarity. A vote for Kenya is a vote for multilateralism,” President Kenyatta rallied the envoys.
Nairobi enjoys the bigger support of the African Union but Djibouti is adamant it deserves a chance since Kenya has already had two stints at the Council.
Both countries hope to sway the vote in their favor by highlighting their roles in seeking peace in the Horn of African region as well as their contributions to UN peacekeeping missions.
President Kenyatta in his final plea to the UN General Assembly delegates said his country would also use its non-permanent seat at the UNSC to lobby for a binding cyber security treaty.
Wednesday’s vote will not be conducted electronically despite the UN mostly operating virtually.
Each of the 193 delegations will have a chance to cast a secret ballot in the Assembly Hall in New York at designated times distributed throughout the day.
To win a seat at the Security Council, each contestant requires two-thirds of the votes cast – meaning 128 if all the 193 nations vote. In cases where there is no clear winner, member states may have to vote multiple times until a winner if found.
The Security Council has 10 non-permanent members in addition to the veto-wielding Big Five – Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States.
The General Assembly will also elect its president for the 2020-2021 session.
