In a historic alignment of leadership at the United Nations General Assembly, Kenyan President William Ruto and Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama delivered a unified, uncompromising mandate: the systematic exclusion of Africa from global decision-making must end immediately.
Addressing the assembly in New York, both leaders took direct aim at the outdated 1945 postwar architecture of the UN Security Council. They emphasized that an institution claiming to represent world peace cannot function while shutting out 1.4 billion people.
“The equality proclaimed in this assembly ends at the doors of the Security Council,” President Ruto stated, calling out the hypocrisy of global power dynamics. He added bluntly, “You cannot claim to be the United Nations while disregarding the voices of fifty-four nations.”
Echoing this stance, President Mahama stressed that the continent’s demand for permanent representation with full veto power is grounded in democratic necessity and global demographic reality.
“Africa is home to 1.5 billion people, over 18 per cent of humanity, and constitutes the largest regional voting bloc in this General Assembly. Yet, Africa remains without a single permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council,” Mahama pointed out. “This is fundamentally unacceptable in the 21st century.”
Both leaders made it clear that Africa is no longer coming to New York to beg for inclusion. Instead, they framed structural reform as an urgent step to keep multilateralism alive. As Mahama declared, “Security Council reform is not a favour to Africa; it is an imperative for the legitimacy, credibility, and survival of the United Nations.” Together, their powerful address signals a continent standing shoulder-to-shoulder to reclaim its rightful place on the world stage.