Kenya wants seat in planned expansion of UN Security Council

NAIVASHA, Kenya, June 19, 2005 (AP) — Kenya is lobbying for a permanent seat in a proposed expanded United Nations Security Council, the foreign affairs minister said Sunday.

In March, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan proposed expanding the Security Council as part of reforming the U.N. to respond better to the world’s needs.

Brazil, Germany, India and Japan have proposed that two of six additional permanent member seats of an expanded Security Council be set aside for Africa. Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa are said to be vying for them.

“We have started lobbying for the seat as we have all the qualifications and we are sure Kenya will get one of the seats,” Foreign Affairs Minister Chirau Ali Mwakwere told a meeting of his ministry’s officials.

Mwakwere said that among Kenya’s qualifications was the fact that it was sixth of all countries that contribute peacekeepers to missions across the world and it had been key to mediating peace deals in Sudan and Somalia.

There is wide support among the 191 U.N. member states for expanding the Security Council to represent what some say are the global realities of the 21st century rather than the post-World War II era when the U.N. was created. But the size and membership of an expanded council remain highly contentious.

The current Security Council has five permanent members and 10 non-permanent members from different regions elected for two-year terms.

After 10 years of seemingly endless debate, Annan told U.N. member states in March that he wants a decision on council expansion before September, when he has invited world leaders to a summit to consider a major reform of the U.N. so it can deal with the issues facing the world today.

The expansion needs the approval of two-thirds of the U.N. member states. A vote to change the U.N. Charter requires a two-thirds vote and Security Council approval.