William Ruto reopens Mugabe’s fight: blasts ‘unacceptable’ UN power structure
"You cannot claim to be the United Nations while disregarding the voice of 54 nations. It is not possible," Ruto said.
NEW YORK – Kenyan President William Ruto has reignited long-standing demands for Africa’s permanent representation on the United Nations Security Council, echoing the position articulated 15 years ago by the late Zimbabwean leader Robert Mugabe.
Speaking at the UN General Assembly on Wednesday, Ruto described Africa’s exclusion from the council’s permanent membership as “unacceptable, unfair and grossly unjust.”
He argued that the continent, which contributes some of the largest peacekeeping forces and bears much of the burden of global instability, deserves at least two permanent seats with veto power and two additional non-permanent seats.
He warned that the UN risks irrelevance if it continues to reflect the post-World War II power structure rather than contemporary realities.
“You cannot claim to be the United Nations while disregarding the voice of 54 nations. It is not possible,” Ruto said.
“Africa is no longer willing to wait on the margins of global governance while decisions about peace, security and development are made without our understanding, our perspective and our voice.
“Africa’s exclusion is not only unacceptable, unfair and grossly unjust, it also undermines the very credibility of the United Nations. This organisation. Africa dominates most of the security council agenda.
“It provides some of the largest contingents of UN peacekeeping forces and bears the heaviest cost of instability. Yet we remain the only continent without a permanent seat at the main table where decisions about our destiny are made.”
His call mirrors Mugabe’s 2010 address to the General Assembly, where the former Zimbabwean president also demanded two permanent seats for Africa.
Mugabe denounced Africa’s exclusion as “completely unacceptable,” framing it as a historical injustice that undermines the UN’s legitimacy.
“Africa’s plea for justice cannot continue to be ignored. We all have an obligation to make the council more representative, more democratic and more accountable,” Mugabe said at the time.
Both leaders employed strikingly similar language, using the term “unacceptable” to describe the situation.
While Ruto emphasised Africa’s current role in global peacekeeping and security, Mugabe highlighted Western resistance to reform, accusing permanent members of hypocrisy for blocking change while promoting democracy abroad.
The Security Council remains dominated by five permanent members, the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China, each with veto powers. Ten other countries hold rotating two-year non-permanent seats, with Africa allotted three positions through regional selection.
Mugabe who was removed from power in November 2017 through a military coup led by his deputy (current President Emmerson Mnangagwa), died in 2019 after losing his battle to cancer.
