President Koroma talks tough at the 65th United Nations General Assembly

It was well articulated at the 65th UN General Assembly this past Thursday when the indefatigable, well built, handsome and dynamic president of the Republic of Sierra Leone, His Excellency Dr Ernest Bai Koroma unequivocally echoed to the world body, that the allocation of seats at the UN Security Council of the United Nations was not only perverted injustice, but violates the true fiber of democratic norms. In that regard, His Excellency Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma has requested for unconditional permanent seats for the continent of Africa.

At the inception of the UN in October 1945, the chatter established six organs, comprising of the General Assembly- which is the main deliberative organ of the UN and is composed of representatives of all Member States. The Economic and Social Council is the principal organ to coordinate the economic, social and related work
the United Nations, the specialized agencies and institutions. The International Court of Justice is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations. It settles legal disputes between states and gives advisory opinions to the UN and its specialized agencies.

The Trusteeship council- was established by the UN Charter to provide international supervision for 11 Trust Territories placed under the administration of 7 Member States, and ensure that adequate steps were taken to prepare the Territories for self-governance and independence. The Secretariat is responsible for carrying out the day-to-day work of the organization. It services the other principal organs and carries out tasks as varied as the issues dealt with by the UN: administering peacekeeping operations, surveying economic and social trends, preparing studies on human rights, among others, and finally the Security Council -the most powerful organ of the body has fifteen members, among these five of them namely the United States, France, China, Russia and Great Britain are each entitled to a permanent seat for life and are often referred to as the permanent members who have the absolute VETO power. Whereas, the other ten members are elected from among member nations for a two year term and this group is often referred to as the non –permanent members.

Despondently the last time Sierra Leone served as a member was in 1970-1971-thirty nine years ago, I could see the reason why our able President, His Excellency Dr Ernest Koroma was taking such an uncompromising stance at the UN General Assembly last Thursday -below is an excerpt of the President Koroma’s speech

“…..No one continent should have an exclusive monopoly over membership of the Security Council. There is no justification for discriminatory allocation of seats, nor can we debate endlessly and ignore the realities of our rapidly global circumstances.”

“….I would like to conclude my statement by saying that the moment is here to address the historical injustice inflicted on Africa by allocating no less than two seats with all its attributes and privileges……..”. “…..I do not need to emphasize that at the inception of the UN most of Africa was not represented and that as a result Africa to this day remains the only continent without a permanent seats in the council. To ensure greater relevance of the Security Council within a revamped UN system Africa demands permanent representative in the Security Council with the entire requisite attribute.”

From the above excerpts, one would deduce that the president’s speech is a clarion call to all African leaders to join him in the struggle to speak against discrimination, and injustice against Africa at the world body. Most importantly, he has once more demonstrated to his critics around the world that he is a genuine visionary icon with a positive dream that far transcend the borders of Sierra Leone.

By Abdul Bero Kamara (Chief) – Sierra Leone Daily Mail Contributor

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By Daily Mail