• The United Nations will vote today to choose the third African representative on the 15-country UN Security Council.
• Djibouti has refused to accept Kenya as the choice of the African Union saying the vote was "illegitimate".
United Nations member states will vote today to select four new non-permanent members of the Security Council.
The two African candidates today are Kenya and Djibouti. In August 2019, the African Union voted 37-13 for Kenya as its candidate to represent Africa on the Security Council. Djibouti participated in the vote but then claimed it was "illegitimate". Since then Djibouti has waged a bitter and divisive campaign to overturn the AU endorsement of Kenya.
Kenya and Djibouti are both Igad members and should see eye-to-eye. Kenya has many points in its favour. It has long international experience including joining multiple peacekeeping missions. It has great human capital with many outstanding opinion leaders in its ranks. Kenya will be a powerful voice for Africa.
Djibouti will argue that it has close links to Arab countries and China that will be useful in the Security Council and that larger countries should not be favoured over smaller neighbours.
But at the end of the day, African countries should stick together and respect AU decisions. Kenya should get the third African place in the UN Security Council.
Quote of the day: "You hit somebody with your fist and not with your fingers spread."
Heinz Guderian
The German general was born on June 17, 1888