Deputy Speaker of Parliament Thomas Tayebwa has, in the strongest terms, demanded that the continent receive at least two permanent seats on the UN council. He made these remarks while leading a team of parliamentarians attending the 63rd Organisation of African, Caribbean, and Pacific States (OACPS)-European Union Joint Parliamentary Assembly in Brussels, Belgium.
“It is a shame that Africa, which is three times bigger than Europe, is not represented on the UN Security Council. The African Union should be given a more significant voice at the UN International Peace and Security Organisation, and Uganda and her friendly countries will press for Africa to have a permanent seat at the United Nations Security Council,” said Tayebwa.
He added that the Security Council has been reduced to settling quarrels between big and superpowers, but when it comes to the African invasion, specifically the Libya invasion, all the western powers did was leave a mess.
Tayebwa further argued that there are no permanent members from Latin America, Africa, and China is the only Asian member. That damages the legitimacy of the council if it’s seen as a forum fully dominated by the West and great powers, where the global south and small states are marginalised.
“We can’t continue living in the era of 1945, before most of us were born,” said Tayebwa.
Potential reforms could include increases in the number of permanent and non-permanent members to better address the complex and evolving challenges to international peace and security.
“Our position as Uganda is like the rest of other developing regions of the world, which are not asking for favors when they demand adequate representation, “said Tayebwa. He added that it was “obvious” that reforms would make the global body inclusive and relevant to current realities.
Zimbabwe’s deputy president, Gen. Michael Reuben Nyambuya, added to Tayebwa’s voice, demanding that Africa be represented equitably.
“An enlarged council should include at least two permanent seats and five non-permanent seats for Africa. The current dispensation isn’t democratic and makes a mockery of the lectures that we get on democracy,” Said Nyambuya.
According to these parliamentarians, if the current UN feels that Africa cannot have a permanent seat at the Security Council, the continent will rally other countries to form a separate but independent UN assembly that will replace the current one.