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Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta said Monday his country would use his position as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council to promote peace, stability and inclusive growth in Africa.
Kenyatta said Kenya is deeply involved in preventive diplomacy, peacekeeping, conflict resolution and post-conflict reconstruction across Africa.
“At the heart of our foreign policy as a nation and a member state of the African Union is our commitment to Pan-Africanism,” Kenyatta said in a speech read on his behalf by Eugene Wamalwa, Cabinet Secretary at the Ministry of Defense, at a regional forum organized by the African Union.
The AU’s 12th high-level closed meeting to promote peace, security and stability will be attended by senior government officials, including diplomats and former African leaders.
Kenya is one of the three African countries that will be non-permanent members of the United Nations Security Council in 2021/2022.
“We accept this high calling with gratitude and deep determination, as demonstrated by our UN Security Council Presidency in October 2021,” added Kenyatta.
The Kenyan leader said Africa has made significant strides in addressing traditional peace and security challenges.
“The African peace and security architecture has contributed immensely to the promotion of peace, security and stability on our continent,” stated Kenyatta.
He revealed that Africa’s joint efforts to adopt and promote democratic practices have resulted in resilience, greater stability, good governance, respect for human rights and political and social inclusion across the continent.
The President noted that Kenya is currently hosting over 600,000 refugees from across the region.
He said that at the height of the conflict in some neighboring countries, particularly in the early 1990s, Kenya was taking 3,000 refugees every hour, â€he said.
“It was and is a difficult task, but we continue to provide a haven for our brothers and sisters who cannot return home due to serious and arbitrary life threats,” said Kenyatta.
He added that multilateralism and its constraints are under siege and challenged by a more transactional, zero-sum policy.
“Instruments of collective action are being disabled, while those of collective accountability are increasingly being misused to serve selfish interests,” noted Kenyatta.
Moussa Faki Mahamat, chairman of the African Union commission, said solidarity is key to finding a lasting solution to threats to peace, stability and economic growth in Africa.
Mahamat stressed that dialogue and mediation, as opposed to military intervention, could be the answer to civil unrest that has undermined Africa’s quest for transformation
