This archive report was first published on 20 June 2020.
On June 18, 2020, Kenya narrowly won an election for a non-permanent United Nations Security Council seat in a vote impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
India, Ireland, Mexico, and Norway all secured their bids in the first round of voting on Wednesday, but neither Kenya nor Djibouti achieved the two-thirds majority needed in the U.N. General Assembly to take a seat designated for Africa on the powerful 15-nation council.
However, in a second round on Thursday, Kenya achieved the slimmest of victories, obtaining 129 votes, one more than needed to win the seat. Djibouti fell short with 62 votes.
But what's even more shocking is that Kenya's neighbor, Tanzania, voted for Djibouti for the hotly contested seat, despite the two nations resolving to work together just a month ago.
President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Tanzanian counterpart, John Magufuli, had a phone conversation on May 20, 2020, which eased tension over border control in the wake of the pandemic.
As @davidmakali1 pointed out, this shocking revelation comes at a time when the East African Community is already facing challenges, with Ethiopia, Sudan, and Somalia also causing concerns.
