Germany and Kenya on Wednesday stressed the vital role of the United Nations in resolving global tensions, amid concerns that US President Donald Trump might be planning to set up a rival body to the decades-old international organization.
“We have a peace council, and that is the United Nations,” German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said during a meeting with Kenyan Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi in Nairobi.
It comes amid a stir caused by Trump’s Board of Peace, which is set to oversee post-war reconstruction efforts in the Gaza Strip. The board’s charter, which Trump is reportedly set to sign on Thursday, has caused suspicion that the US president plans to expand the body’s mandate to other conflicts, in what would be a major challenge to the UN.
While the German minister acknowledged that the UN is in need of reform, he said that German Chancellor Friedrich Merz hopes to clarify “questions that we have” regarding Trump’s Board of Peace on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Mudavadi also stressed the importance of the UN when it comes to solving international conflict, while noting that Kenya has not been invited to join the Board of Peace.
“From our perspective as Kenya, it is important that institutions such as the United Nations be strengthened because the whole aspect of peace architecture globally is anchored around the UN framework,” he said.
“We believe that multilateralism is the way to go,” Mudavadi, who also serves as foreign minister, added. “I think if there are issues, it’s good to reform the UN rather than create parallel processes if we want to have a coordinated approach.”
Two-day trip to East Africa
Germany’s Wadephul began a two-day visit to East Africa on Wednesday, with stops planned in Kenya and Ethiopia.
In Nairobi, Wadephul was also due to meet President William Ruto.
According to a spokesman for the Foreign Office in Berlin, the trip will focus on bilateral relations as well as regional and international security issues.
In light of Trump’s controversial demand to take control of Greenland, the visit will also address the preservation of the rules-based international order.
Wadephul, who is also due to be accompanied on the trip by an economic delegation, is expected to tour an education facility run by a German company and an international training centre for peace initiatives in Kenya.
The foreign minister’s trip continues on Thursday with political talks in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, as well as a visit to the headquarters of the African Union.