Ruto tells UN to play lead role in region's security

Kenya wants the UN to pay specific attention to the security situation in the Horn of Africa that risks degenerating into a regional crisis.

In his speech Thursday at the UN General Assembly in New York, Deputy President William Ruto demanded "real time" action on the region's security if any meaningful development in line with Agenda 2030 is to be realised.

The DP told the meeting that Kenya had done her part in fulfilling the international obligation to secure the region's peace, including hosting refugees from both Somalia and South Sudan, and will continue doing so.

Mr Ruto took issue with the constrained budgets that developing countries, including Kenya, are struggling with that have become a hindrance to their development especially at a time when assistance from the international community was not forthcoming.

Of specific interest to the DP is the role of the UN in resolving the crisis in South Sudan, Africa's youngest nation, and Somalia.

"Sadly, the efforts of the region and Somalia's neighbours have not been matched by the international community," he said.

Al Shabaab crisis

He added: "Instead of supporting the regional effort, the EU this year cut the support for the Africa Mission in Somalia (Amisom) by 20 per cent. Despite repeated appeals, the UN Security Council has failed to provide adequate and predictable funding as well as force multipliers for the force."

He told the meeting that for a long time, the region has been dealing with the Al Shabaab crisis in Somalia, and that the road to peace and security in South Sudan had turned out to be a long and difficult one.

"Unfortunately, the recent developments in South Sudan have threatened to plunge the country and, indeed, the entire region into a security and humanitarian crisis. Kenya, as a guarantor of the 2005 peace agreement and the 2015 Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict has continued to invest significantly in efforts to build peace in South Sudan," he said.