Mahama tells UN General Assembly Africa wants a permanent Security Council seat

Pinned summary · as of 06:44

President John Dramani Mahama used Ghana's slot at the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York on Thursday, 24 September, to argue for a fairer international order. He called for permanent African representation on the Security Council and warned against political leaders who turn belonging into hostility towards outsiders.

What we know

• Mr Mahama spoke in New York at the General Assembly's 81st session, whose theme centred on restoring trust and managing transformation, according to Onua Online and Rainbow Radio Online.
• He cautioned that national belonging can be twisted for political ends into nativism, chauvinism and xenophobia, and he rejected the idea that any race or country stands above another.
• Mr Mahama said Africa is not asking for charity and wants a partnership of equals built on mutual respect, a message carried by Rainbow Radio Online and Graphic Online.
• He demanded that Africa be given permanent representation on the Security Council, saying reform of the body is needed for the credibility and survival of the UN rather than as a favour to the continent.
• The president warned that the world is drifting towards unilateral action and a weakening of multilateral rules.
• On the Middle East, he restated Ghana's support for a two-state solution and condemned Hamas, while also pressing world leaders over the situation in Gaza.
• Mr Mahama urged wealthier economies to give developing countries affordable, long-term financing to cope with climate damage, without pushing them further into debt.
• He also referred to the UN resolution on reparatory justice for the enslavement of Africans, which Rainbow Radio Online said the General Assembly affirmed in March.

What's disputed / unconfirmed

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  Graphic Online reported that Mr Mahama told major powers courting Africa's transition minerals, among them lithium and cobalt, along with manganese, graphite and rare earths, that Africa will refine such resources locally to create jobs. This was not carried by the other reports.
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  According to Graphic Online alone, the president said developing countries borrow at rates up to eight times those paid by industrialised nations, and that the continent's 1.5 billion inhabitants, more than 18 percent of all people, have no permanent Security Council seat. These figures are his own claims and were not checked in the reports.
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  Graphic Online also reported him as saying that Ghana condemns Israel's actions in Gaza and cites more than 20,000 children killed there, a figure that no other report repeats. It further said he backed lifting the US embargo on Cuba, called Sudan the worst humanitarian crisis in the world, and voiced solidarity with Sahel states facing terrorism.
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  Rainbow Radio Online reported that Mr Mahama said some people had warned that the drive for recognition of the slave trade reopens old wounds, and that Ghana came to seek healing. Graphic Online separately said he named the Netherlands, Germany and France as having taken positive steps towards the Dialogue on Reparative Justice but insisted dialogue alone is insufficient.

Why it matters for Ghana

Ghana's push for a permanent African voice at the Security Council and for cheaper climate and development finance touches on the cost of borrowing that shapes public budgets at home. Calls to process minerals locally speak to the jobs debate for young Ghanaians in mining regions such as the Western and Ashanti regions. The speech also shows how Accra wants to present itself on reparations and on conflicts abroad.