By backing our UN seat bid, Africa has shown its love for Kenya.
We all know it is important to be appreciated by your associates or colleagues at work. It is a testament of good character. One, however, always needs to establish whether this appreciation is genuine or not, whether it is real or just flattery. Or may be if it is merely office politics.
It is a different story with your family. These are people you connected to via blood group. So there is no need to pretend. They do not need to flatter or curry favour. Alas, truth spoken by family members–especially when critical–often hurts the most because it hits the exact spot.
That’s why it is so humbling to see the African family; our brothers and sisters from across the continent, showing they have confidence in us once again.
Kenya’s recent election as the African candidate for the United Nations Security Council seat that will open up in 2020 is a strong show of confidence by the African nations in our country and President Uhuru Kenyatta’s leadership.
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Nations elected by the African Union to represent our interests in the UN organ charged with ensuring international peace and security often represent the best Africa has to offer.
Just look at one of the other current representatives at the Security Council, Tunisia, which was elected after being the origin of the “Arab Spring”, a pro-democracy movement that quickly spread through the Arab world and disposed of many dictators.
The young Tunisian democracy has already proved its resilience to autocrats and Islamists alike and is looking forward to another round of free and fair elections.
It is well known that a system cannot objectively analyse itself. Albert Einstein proved that in his theory of relativity which, simply put, postulates that we cannot give a definite answer to questions of quantum physics because we, too, are made of atoms.
It might thus be a bit difficult, in the same vein, to fully grasp the veneration Kenya enjoys across Africa when you are busy with your daily life, providing for your family.
But the progress Kenya has made in the last few years is truly remarkable. Especially in the realm of foreign relations, Uhuru’s reputation is second to none. He is held in high regard, across the region and the continent, for his strong stance against terrorism and violent extremism.
It might even be our successful leadership of the African Union Mission to Somalia, whose mandate will expire in May 2020, which convinced the African nations that Kenya should represent them at the UNSC.
But this is by far not the only area in which the President has demonstrated international leadership and grandeur befitting a world power. As noted in the brochure printed by Kenyan Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the candidature, the Uhuru administration plans to use the UNSC seat for other purposes too.
Climate change
As a matter of consistent policy, the Kenyan delegation prepares itself to push the international community to agree on carbon pollution-reducing mechanisms and commit to concrete preparations to counter the consequences of global warming. There is no continent hit harder by these consequences than Africa.
While we are already witnessing the first conflicts that stem from the effects of climate change, there is no more fitting time to elect a leader in sustainable development to the Security Council.
This podium will surely be used to deliver some wake-up calls to the international community, still too hesitant when it comes to combating climate change. The impact of the UN Environment Assembly, held this past March in Nairobi, has resounded already all over the world. To take that message to the Security Council is now the logical next step.
The seat for Kenya at the table of the Security Council is a true act of brotherly recognition. Kenya is now seen as an anchor of stability and progress for East Africa. Our neighbours know they can count on the firepower of the Kenyan army and the swift decisiveness of its Commander-in-Chief.
The rest of Africa agrees. After more than 20 years, Uhuru has led us back to the centre of the international system to the heart of the action, to the table where the big decisions are made.
Mr Kwinga is a Nairobi-based political scientist
