Kenya continues to avidly campaign and gather allies in its bid for a non-permanent seat at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) ahead of the election scheduled for June 2020.
The current non-permanent members are Belgium, whose two-year term ends in 2020, Côte d’Ivoire 2019, Dominican Republic 2020, Equatorial Guinea 2019, Germany 2020, Indonesia 2020, Kuwait 2019, Peru 2019, Poland 2019 and South Africa in 2020.
Kenya is seeking to replace South Africa for the 2021-2022 term.
Tanzania and Suriname on Tuesday evening pledged their support for Kenya during a visit to the Nairobi State House by the President of Suriname, Desire Delano Bouterse and Tanzania’s Foreign Affairs Minister Palamagamba Kabudi.
The two nations join the African Union in endorsing Kenya as its preferred candidate for the position.
In August, the AU endorsed Kenya for the seat after it defeated Djibouti with 37 votes to 13. Djibouti, however, rescinded its earlier decision to respect the AU’s consensus vote on the matter and elected to proceed with vying for the non-permanent seat.
Mr Kabudi, who paid President Kenyatta a courtesy visit as a special envoy of President John Magufuli, reassured its neighbour of Tanzania’s support in its pursuit of a seat on the security council.
“We have confidence in Kenya, that you will champion the African voice and will strongly advocate the continent’s position in the UN body,” he said.
In a separate meeting, President Bouterse, accompanied by First Lady Ingrid Bouterse also assured President Kenyatta of his country’s support for Kenya’s UNSC bid. They are in the country on a private visit.
Kenya launched the campaign for its candidacy on November 7 in New York City; it premises its suitability for the seat on the leading role it has taken in the pursuit of peace and stability in the DR Congo, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and beyond.