Africans most mentioned for UN post

The Herald, September 27, 1991

THE British Foreign Secretary, Mr Douglas Hurd, had said that two Africans were among candidates most mentioned in the current discussions on the election of a new Secretary-General for the UN.

Mr Hurd, who was answering questions at a news conference on Wednesday at the UN headquarters, declined to identify the two out of the names of six Africans already submitted to the UN Security Council for consideration as candidates for the post.

The British Minister said that a lot of discussion was going on currently on the issue, adding, however, that no candidate had so far emerged as an outstanding one on whom discussion was being centred.

He admitted that there was a feeling that it was the turn of Africa to produce a UN Secretary-General, but stated that there was also a feeling in many quarters that the best candidate should be picked, irrespective of where he came from.

Mr Hurd said that the British position was that the Secretary-General should be “a person with good diplomatic skills, must have a thrust of new ideas and must be a good manager in order to make sense of the many agencies of the UN.”

Zimbabwe’s Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Development, Dr Bernard Chidzero, is one of six African candidates.

LESSONS FOR TODAY

Since Zimbabwe attained independence, there have been five Secretaries-General of the United Nations: Javier Pèrez de Cuèllar (Peru): 1982 to 1991; Boutros Boutros-Ghali (Egypt): 1992 to1996; Kofi Annan (Ghana): 1997 to 2006; Ban Ki-moon (South Korea): 2007 to 2016; and incumbent António Guterres (Portugal) appointed in 2017, who is overseeing the on-going UN General Assembly.
The Secretary-General is the UN’s topmost administrative officer, appointed by the General Assembly on the recommendation of the UN Security Council, under Article 97 of the United Nations Charter.
The Secretary-General serves a five-year term, which is renewable for one term. However, Boutros-Ghali only served one term.
While Africa is regarded as a developing continent on the global map, it can be argued that Africa has produced and continues to produce capable individuals with exceptional leadership qualities.
The first African to be appointed to the post of the UN Secretary- General was Boutros-Ghali of Egypt.
Kofi Annan was the second African to serve the UN as Secretary-General.