Abigail Okunade
At the UN General Assembly on Wednesday, 17 African countries abstained from voting to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
This week’s sitting was an emergency session; a rare sitting occasioned only by a serious threat to international security. It was the first in 40 years when the General Assembly has sat and passed a resolution to reprimand a member’s aggression.
The UN General Assembly voted to condemn what a motion said was “aggression against Ukraine” following Russia’s February 24 invasion of its neighbour.
Politically symbolic but lacking legal strength, the vote means the UN has declared Moscow’s decision a violation of the UN Charter, especially on issues of territorial integrity.
141 of the 193 member states voted. Kenya, Ghana, Gabon, Rwanda, Djibouti, Congo, Somalia and the Democratic Republic of Congo voted yes.
Some of the 35 countries that abstained from the vote, included Russia and China, and African states; Burundi, Senegal, South Sudan, South Africa, Uganda, Mali and Mozambique.
Ethiopia did not take part in the voting, but Eritrea, North Korea and Syria voted against the resolution.
Adonia Ayebare, Uganda’s Permanent Representative to the UN, claimed neutrality was behind his country’s refusal to vote.
Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the President’s son and commander of Land Forces, in a tweet on Monday suggested that Russia had valid “security” reasons to invade Ukraine.
The Ukrainian invasion has also raised concerns about the plight of black students caught in the chaos.
On Wednesday, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said his government had established an emergency line, +380934185684, to help stranded foreign students.
The EU had earlier said its member states were accepting foreign students fleeing the war without condition.
