• The UN’s Security Council has the primary responsibility of maintaining international peace and security.
• Only five UN member states – the US, UK, Russia, China and France – have permanent seats.
In just a few hours’ time, Kenya will know its fate on whether it will represent Africa at the much-coveted United Nations Security Council.
If it wins in Wednesday’s vote in New York, this will be the third time Kenya will be serving at the UN’s top organ.
The UN’s Security Council has the primary responsibility of maintaining international peace and security.
It enjoys robust powers, including the imposition of sanctions and authorisation of military action when international peace is threatened.
Only five UN member states – the US, UK, Russia, China and France – have permanent seats.
They are known as the P5 while the other 188 member states can be elected for non-renewable two-year terms.
Only 10 member states can fill those non-permanent slots at a time, meaning at any one time, there are 15 member states sitting on the Council.
While the Council’s decisions are taken by a qualified majority, requiring support from nine of its fifteen members, only the P5 can individually exercise a veto to block a decision.
SERVED TWICE BEFORE
Kenya has served twice previously as a member of the Council in 1973-74 and 1997-98.
Its return thus will maintain a record of serving in 24-year intervals, with experts saying its experience of supporting unstable governments in Somalia and South Sudan, and in assisting refugees in the region would be a major score.
The 1972 United Nations Security Council election was held on 20 October 1972 during the 27th session of the United Nations General Assembly, held at United Nations Headquarters in New York City.
Australia, Austria, Indonesia, Kenya, and Peru were elected as the five new non-permanent members of the UN Security Council for two-year mandates commencing on 1 January 1973.
This was the first time Kenya, Austria and Indonesia made it to the council for the first time.
Then, the General Assembly had a membership of 132 member states.
As a result, there were no nomination prior to the vote. Delegates were to write the names of the five member states they wished elected on the ballot papers.
Voting was conducted on a single ballot with Kenya garnering 112 votes in the first round.
The 1996 election was held on 21 October during the 51st session of the United Nations General Assembly.
Kenya, Costa Rica, Japan, Portugual and Sweden were elected by the General Assembly as non-permanent members of the UN Security Council for two-year terms commencing on 1 January 1997.
In accordance with the General Assembly's rules for the geographic distribution of the non-permanent members of the Security Council, and established practice, the members were to be one from Africa, one from Asia, one from Latin American and the Caribbean Group (GRULAC), and two from the Western European and Others Group (WEOG).
A total of eight candidates vied for the five seats.
Only the single seat for the African Group was uncontested thus Kenya was the only candidate.
Voting proceeded by secret ballot and Kenya garnered 172 votes out of the minimum required of 112 in the first round.
There were 181 ballots in each of the elections.
With Kenya, Japan, and Sweden securing their respective victories in the first round of voting, and India having been defeated, a second round of voting was called for to ascertain the remaining two seats.
Bolivia stepped down from its candidacy, letting Costa Rica elected with an overwhelming majority of votes.
As the events unfold, much remains unknown of how Kenya beat its peers to win the vote for the first time in 1972.
In the said year, the late Dr Odero Jowi, then serving as Kenya’s Ambassador to New York, was the man who took up the full responsibility of lobbying for Kenya.
Odero is said to have pulled through an unprecedented diplomatic coup that shocked his peers.
This coup saw him score a win for Kenya to host the secretariat outside its traditional homes America and Europe.
“The result of the vote shocked even Kenya whose Foreign Minister then, Dr Njoroge Mungai returned home prematurely to avoid an embarrassment that the country would endure in the eyes of the world,” an article in the Standard quotes.
Kenya is up against Djibouti for the seat. The African Union (AU) endorsed Kenya’s candidacy by a considerable 37-13 margin.
If non-permanent members are regarded as representative of their regions, Kenya’s endorsement by the AU is likely to count heavily. As such, it must be regarded as the current favorite for the seat.
But the final decision will be made by the UN General with a possibility that Kenya and Djibouti could share the seat.
This has happened before, most recently in the 2016-2017 when The Netherlands and Italy shared a seat.