President William Ruto has criticised the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for its ineffectiveness and failure to uphold its fundamental values and principles.
Speaking at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on Thursday, Ruto highlighted the plight of the victims of conflict and natural disasters.
He went on to condemn the council for its inefficiency and incompetence in addressing these issues.
“If any confirmation was ever needed that the United Nations Security Council is dysfunctional, undemocratic, non-inclusive, un-representative, and therefore incapable of delivering meaningful progress in our world as presently constituted, the rampant impunity of certain actors on the global scene settles the matter,” Ruto declared.
He also called the council out for what he termed a division along geopolitical lines that has resulted in alienation, mistrust, insecurity, and exclusion of people, nations, regions, and continents.
“In the face of the most urgent crises of our time, it is now clear that the international community has fallen seriously behind in meeting its targets in both climate action and the implementation of the sustainable development goals, as well as their underlying enabler, peace, and security, Ruto remarked”
Ruto called for a united council that is inclusive, collaborative, proactive, and honours its commitments, promises, resolutions, and principles, arguing that this would help fix the global mistrust that has killed the spirit of collaboration.
“Multilateralism has been failed by the abuse of trust, negligence and impunity,” he added.
He emphasised that the new multilateralism must be attuned to the needs, challenges, dreams, and aspirations of ordinary people.
“It is time for multilateralism to reflect the voice of the farmers, represent the hopes of villagers, champion the aspirations of pastoralists, defend the rights of fisherfolk, express the dreams of traders, respect the wishes of workers and, indeed, protect the welfare of all peoples of the world.”
Setting the record straight, the president stated that he was not seeking handouts and was instead seeking collaboration, equality, and equity.
Ruto’s address did not end there, he went on to call attention to Kenya’s peacekeeping efforts across the country.
Among the cases cited was the Juba Peace Agreement brokered by Kenya that was signed by the warring parties in Sudan on December 5, 2022.
Other notable peace-promoting missions mentioned were the Pretoria and Nairobi agreements that silenced Ethiopia’s guns, the Democratic Republic of Congo’s stabilization, and the dispatch of an African Peace Delegation comprised of Six African heads of State to Russia and Ukraine, in a bid to resolve the conflict through mediation.
