President John Dramani Mahama has called for the United Nations to embark on its own “reset agenda” after 80 years of outdated structures, demanding an end to totalitarian guardianship by the five permanent Security Council powers.
Speaking at the 80th UN General Assembly Thursday, he challenged the organization to match Ghana’s economic transformation with institutional reform, arguing that the UN founding charter remains outdated in its representation structure.
The President said the most powerful post-World War 2 nations continue to be rewarded with almost totalitarian control over the rest of the world.
“The UN founding charter is outdated when it comes to representation,” he told the assembly, noting the contradiction with Chapter 2, Article 1 of the UN charter, which declares that “The Organization is based on the principle of the sovereign equality of all its members.”
The President argued that if sovereign equality were truly practiced, a continent as large as Africa with its numerous UN member states would have at least one permanent seat on the Security Council.
He demanded that veto power should not be restricted to five nations, nor should it be absolute.
President Mahama called for a mechanism allowing the General Assembly to challenge vetoes, stating that no single nation should be able to exercise absolute veto power to serve its own interests in conflicts.
He referenced Nelson Mandela’s 1995 address from the same podium, when the former South African leader called for UN reform to “truly reflect the diversity of our universe and ensure equity among the nations.”
“Thirty years later, we African leaders are still making the same request: for a permanent seat on the Security Council, with the power of veto,” President Mahama said, asking directly: “if not now, then when?”
The President drew parallels between Ghana’s economic reset and the need for UN institutional reform, noting that since taking office in January, his administration had reduced inflation from 23.8% to 11.5% in eight months while achieving currency appreciation that made the Ghana cedi the world’s best-performing currency at one point.
He argued that just as Ghana had embarked on recalibration to address economic challenges, the UN should establish its own reset agenda to address institutional obsolescence.
He noted that since the organization’s founding, UN membership had nearly quadrupled, making current structures inadequate for modern global governance.
The President emphasized the dramatic changes since 1945, when the sun had not set on the largest empire in history, and international travel was primarily by sea. He contrasted this with today’s world of 100,000 daily commercial flights, digital libraries, cryptocurrency, artificial intelligence, and social media.
Beyond Security Council reform, President Mahama demanded a reset of the global financial architecture, which he said is “currently rigged against Africa.”
The President called for Africa to have greater representation in the world’s multilateral financial institutions.
The President positioned his reform demands within the context of Africa’s growing global importance, noting UN projections that by 2050, more than 25% of the world’s population will come from Africa, with one-third of all young people aged 15 to 24 residing on the continent.
Richard Aniagyei, ISD
