Kenya on Thursday evening won the Africa seat at the UN Security Council after garnering 129 votes against Djibouti's 62 votes in the second round of voting.
In the first round of voting on Wednesday, Kenya had 113 votes against Djibouti’s 78, with 192 out of 193 member states voting.
However, under the Rules of Procedure of the General Assembly, countries seeking a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council must garner at least two thirds of the votes to win – in this case Kenya needed at least 128 votes.
The AU had endorsed Kenya for the seat, but Djibouti rejected this decision and went ahead to conduct parallel campaigns for the only seat allocated for Africa.
President Kenyatta said Kenya will “voice Africa's position in the Security Council”.
