Africa demands UN Security Council seats as Ruto warns of credibility crisis

President William Ruto speaks during the 80th United Nations General Assembly in New York on Wednesday, September 24. [PCS]

Africa's exclusion from the United Nations Security Council has left the body facing a deep credibility crisis, President William Ruto told world leaders on Wednesday at the 80th General Assembly.

"Africa is no longer willing to wait on the margins of global governance while decisions about peace, security and development are made without our perspectives and without our voice," noted Ruto, adding, "Africa's exclusion is not only unacceptable, unfair and unjust, it also undermines the credibility of the United Nations."

Ruto observed that Africa dominates much of the Security Council's agenda, provides some of the largest contingents to UN peacekeeping and bears the heaviest cost of instability. Yet, he added, the continent remains the only one without a permanent seat.

"Africa deserves two permanent seats with full rights, including the veto, and two additional non-permanent seats on the Security Council," explained Ruto.

The President recalled that Africa's demand for reform has been clear since the Ezulwini Consensus and Sirte Declaration of 2005, which set out the common African position on Security Council reform.

"You cannot claim to be the United Nations while disregarding the voice of 54 nations," Ruto told the gathering.

He stressed that the UN's survival depends on reforming its governance structure to reflect current realities rather than post-World War II power arrangements.

"The world must understand that reforming the Security Council is not a favour to Africa, it is a necessity for the UN's own survival," Ruto explained.

The call for change comes as the UN marks its 80th anniversary and grapples with ongoing wars in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, the Sahel and the Horn of Africa, along with rising global inequality and climate shocks.