President Mnangagwa re-affirms Africa’s call for reformed UN Security Council

Harare (New Ziana) – President Emerson Mnangagwa on Thursday said calls to reform the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) can no-longer be ignored if the world body is to fully deliver on its global mandate.

The current structure of the UNSC has been a source of contention for many years now, with Africa’s common position on the matter being contained in the Ezulwini Consensus of 2005.

Among other things, Africa wants the Security Council expanded from the current 15 to 26 members, with at least two permanent seats for Africa.

Presently, China, the United States, Russia, France and the United Kingdom are the only permanent members of the UNSC while the rest are non-permanent members elected for two year terms by the General Assembly.

President Mnangagwa said more than 15 years since the adoption of the Ezulwini consensus and despite persistent calls for reform of the UNSC, nothing had been done.

“It is deeply regrettable that the reform of the Security Council and implementation of Africa’s position has not been achieved. We cannot continue with a situation where over 16 percent of the world’s population does not have a voice in decision making,” he told the UN general assembly

“This is a serious indictment to our avowed commitment to multilateralism and the basic principles of natural justice fairness and equity.”

President Mnangagwa added: “Peace security and stability are a pre-requisite for sustainable development, this can only be achieved in an inclusive process characterised by equally shared commitment and responsibilities.”

President Mnangagwa also castigated the widely denounced illegal economic sanctions on Zimbabwe and the occupation of the Western Sahara.

“Self determination and independence are intrinsic fundamental rights that should be enjoyed by all without distinction, we call on the Security Council to increase its efforts towards ending the occupation of Western Sahara, Zimbabwe also calls upon the Secretary General to appoint his personal envoy for Western Sahara without further delay.

“There is no better way of achieving a peaceful and stable world than through mutual respect, genuine multilateralism buttressed by much needed reforms and respect for international law, recommitting ourselves to these ideals will pave way for the just world that we all yearn for,” he said.

“Today humanity is at a crossroads as we are confronted by complex challenges that do not respect any borders. Multilateralism is (also) under increasing threat from the blind pursuit of narrow interests, we must therefore strengthen international amity and goodwill as well as uphold mutual respect and observe the sovereign equality of states.

“Zimbabwe is on a new path, like other nations in the region, we are facing challenges which in our case have been worsened by the illegal sanctions, the negative impact of climate change and compounded by the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.”

President Mnangagwa also updated the General Assembly on the economic and political developments in the country over the past year.

He said his administration continued to record notable achievements towards sustainable development.

“Our macro-economic stabilisation reforms have seen the reduction of our budget deficit to a single digit as well as a positive balance of our current account coupled with foreign exchange rate and price stability. Major infrastructure projects are ongoing such as the rehabilitation and construction of health services facilities, water and sanitation infrastructure as well as roads, dams and bridges across the country,” he said.

“Investments in mining, agriculture tourism, energy and manufacturing sectors are on the increase. We are optimistic that the implementation of the second phase of ease of doing business reforms will help to further improve our World Bank rankings.

“Similarly my administration is decisive in entrenching constitutionalism, democracy and rule of law including the protection of property rights. The commitment of my government to these cardinal principles remains unwavering; it is in this spirit and in line with our constitution that in July this year my government concluded the landmark global compensation deed with former farm owners. We count on the support and goodwill of international community as we mobilise resources to implement this agreement. The alignment of our laws to the constitution is almost complete while new pieces of legislation continue to be enacted to strengthen our institutions.”
New Ziana