President Uhuru Kenyatta on Wednesday afternoon delivered Kenya's country statement at the ongoing United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, calling for various reforms at the UN.
In the speech that lasted just under 20 minutes, Uhuru demanded that Africa get 2 permanent seats on the UN Security Council with the full range of powers accorded to current members.
“Kenya joins in the demand for two permanent seats for Africa, with all the rights and prerogatives of current members, including the right of veto, and additional non permanent seats.
“As we all know, Africa is under represented in the non permanent category of the Security Council and not represented at all in the permanent category,” he stated.
The Security Council is one of the UN's most powerful organs with five permanent members namely China, France, United Kingdom, United States and Russia.
10 temporary seats are allocated to other countries, but they lack the permanent members' veto power.
This means permanent members have the ability to block any substantive resolution, but not to end the debate.
Uhuru termed the skewed allocations of seats as a 'historical injustice' that needed to be corrected.
“This historical injustice is a clear indication of the skewed system that has perpetuated an exclusive model of governance that fuels the trust gap between nations.
"Rarely has the system of trade and security that was established following the Second World War, under the aegis of the United Nations, been under greater strain," he stated.
Uhuru further called on nations to work together to prevent the flow and laundering of proceeds of corruption across the globe.
“The single overarching aim must be to make it exceedingly difficult to transfer and launder illegally acquired wealth in any part of the world,” the President asserted.
