The Sunday Mail
Tendai Mugabe in Nairobi, Kenya
African States should work together to prevent terrorism from spreading as it is destructive to nations and their economies, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta has said. Opening the Sixth Tokyo International Conference on African Development here yesterday, President Kenyatta said all countries should be wary of “this savage form of violence”. President Mugabe and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe are among the leaders attending the conference. President Kenyatta said: “The terrorists are adept at exploiting open and democratic societies and are trying to militarise any sectarian or political divide.
“Their negative impact on (the) economy is often severe as we are experiencing here in Kenya and also across Africa and the world.
“Even as we focus on economic issues, we all know it takes security to achieve sustained growth. Today, unique security threats are rising to fill any vacuum in governance at the local, regional and international level. Terrorism in particular is threatening or even dismembering some states.
“Organisations practising this illicit and savage form of violence are spreading their cells throughout the world. ‘‘No country or region is immune or distant,” he said. Prime Minister Abe told the gathering that the United Nations Security Council was skewed, and should be reformed to accommodate Africa as a permanent member.
Despite having the biggest membership in the UN, African countries only sit in the UN Security Council as non-permanent members on a rotational basis, and President Mugabe has on many occasions argued that the continent’s exclusion from the powerful five-member body of decision-makers with veto power is unjustified.
Prime Minister Abe said: “Reform of the United Nations Security Council is truly a goal that Japan and Africa hold in common. ‘‘I call everyone here to walk together towards achieving that. You in Africa have a right, as a matter of course, to demand that the international community better reflects your views.
“Africa should send a permanent member to the United Nations Security Council by 2023 at the very latest. The enormous continent of Africa has given no permanent member to the United Nations Security Council.
“Agenda 2063 clearly states that by 2023, it will rectify this situation. Please accept my complete support on this point,” he said.
On bilateral development between Africa and Japan, Prime Miniter Abe said, “Members of the Japanese Cabinet together with top executives from Japan’s major business associations and corporations will visit Africa once every three years.
“They will meet their African counterparts to pinpoint issues from the vantage point of business, identifying what needs to be done to enable Japanese and African companies to do more business together going forward.”
