The leader of Sierra Leone demanded Thursday that the U.N. Security Council reconfigure itself to add permanent representation for Africa, saying the continent’s “patience is being tested” by its longstanding exclusion.
Julius Maada Bio, president of the West African nation, used blunt words in his annual U.N. General Assembly speech to amplify longstanding calls by African countries that they have a more robust voice on the body that represents the most powerful political and global-security authority of the United Nations.
Bio, who also advocated for two additional nonpermanent seats to be held by Africans, was anything but indirect. “Africa’s patience is being tested,” he said.
For decades, there have been calls to expand the U.N.’s most powerful body. It currently has 10 members elected for two-year terms and five permanent members — the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France.
Competing national and regional interests have prevented council reform so far.
