NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 26 – Uganda has made a late entry into the race to lead the United Nations, nominating veteran diplomat Ambassador Olara Otunnu for the position of Secretary-General just months before member states begin the formal selection process.
In a statement issued Sunday, Uganda’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Otunnu’s nomination had been formally submitted, describing him as a seasoned statesman with more than four decades of experience in international diplomacy, peacebuilding and multilateral affairs.
The announcement comes as the contest to succeed Secretary-General António Guterres, whose second and final term ends on December 31, enters a decisive phase, with candidates preparing for public debates and informal consultations ahead of Security Council deliberations.
Uganda said Otunnu’s experience uniquely positions him to lead the UN at a time of mounting geopolitical tensions, armed conflicts, humanitarian crises and financial pressures facing the global body.
“Ambassador Otunnu brings to this candidature over four decades of distinguished service at the highest levels of international diplomacy, having served both within the United Nations system and in senior leadership roles across government, academia, and civil society,” the ministry said.
Otunnu served as the UN’s first Under-Secretary-General and Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict between 1998 and 2005, where he helped place the protection of children affected by war at the centre of the Security Council’s agenda.
Uganda also highlighted his role as its Permanent Representative to the United Nations from 1980 to 1985, during which he chaired the Security Council in December 1981 and introduced the informal straw-balloting process, widely known as the “Otunnu Formula” that has since been used to gauge support for candidates seeking the UN’s top job.
Beyond the UN, Otunnu served as Uganda’s Minister of Foreign Affairs during the country’s transitional government in 1985–1986 and later headed the International Peace Academy, now the International Peace Institute.
He has also held academic appointments at Albany Law School, the American University in Paris and the Institut Français des Relations Internationales, while receiving international recognition for his work in peacebuilding and human rights.
The Ugandan government said his blend of experience in diplomacy, conflict resolution, academia and grassroots peacebuilding made him “exceptionally well suited” to lead the United Nations through an increasingly complex global landscape.
Otunnu joins a growing list of candidates seeking to become the next UN Secretary-General.
Other declared contenders include former Senegalese President Macky Sall, former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi, Costa Rica’s Rebeca Grynspan, Ecuador’s María Fernanda Espinosa and Guyana’s Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett.
The next Secretary-General will be appointed by the UN General Assembly on the recommendation of the Security Council, where the five permanent members—China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States—hold veto power over any candidate.
Uganda’s nomination adds another African voice to the race and is likely to intensify debate over whether the continent should produce the next UN Secretary-General, a position that has never been held by an African woman and has not been occupied by an African since Egypt’s Boutros Boutros-Ghali served from 1992 to 1996.
