Kenya and Namibia have affirmed their commitment to continued cooperation in global issues within multilateral areas, according to President Uhuru Kenyatta. Speaking at State House during Namibia President Hage Geingob’s state visit on Friday, President Kenyatta said the two leaders had agreed to keep moving on a united front in global issues, including pushing for Africa’s position in UN reforms, single undertaking reforms for most common agreements on issues such as climate change. He said his Namibian counterpart has supported Kenya’s UN bid, “I’m delighted with Namibia’s resolve to support Kenya’s bid for a non-permanent seat at the UN security council for 2021-2022,” he said.
The government had already revealed the intention to bid a non-permanent seat at the UN security council, and during the UN General Assembly in New York this year, President Kenyatta had also called for two permanent UN security council seats for Africa. He had outlined that the two permanent seats should come with all the rights and prerogatives of the current members, including the right to veto. Currently, Africa has three non-permanent seats in the UN security council-with the term lasting two years each-while the permanent seats belong to China, USA, France, Russia and the UK. Furthermore, the head of state revealed President Geingob has made clear Namibia’s intention to participate in the upcoming Blue Economy conference which will be held in Nairobi in November.
The two leaders witnessed the signing of three key agreements that are set to improve the two nations’ co-operation in tourism, youth and political consultations, and President Kenyatta urged Namibia to explore the possibility of engaging in new areas including mining, expansion of bilateral trade and investments, and sports and culture. President Geingob will also attend the Mashujaa Day fete in Kakamega.