Uganda has officially nominated Olara Otunnu as the seventh candidate vying to become the next Secretary-General of the United Nations.
Otunnu, 75, brings extensive experience to the race, having served as UN Under-Secretary-General and Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict from 1997 to 2005 under then-Secretary-General Kofi Annan. He also held the position of Uganda's UN envoy and briefly served as the country's foreign minister.
In addition to his UN roles, Otunnu was the opposition presidential candidate for the Uganda People's Congress in the 2011 elections, where he challenged long-standing president Yoweri Museveni.
Current Candidates
- Michelle Bachelet (Chile)
- Maria Fernanda Espinosa (Ecuador)
- Rafael Grossi (Argentina)
- Rebeca Grynspan (Costa Rica)
- Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett (Guyana)
- Macky Sall (Senegal)
- Olara Otunnu (Uganda)
The candidates recently participated in a televised debate, and the UN Security Council is scheduled to conduct a closed-door straw poll on July 30 to gauge member preferences. The selection process requires a candidate to secure at least nine votes from the Security Council without any veto from its five permanent members: the United States, United Kingdom, China, France, and Russia.
The successful nominee will then be formally appointed by the UN General Assembly and is expected to assume office on January 1, 2027, succeeding Antonio Guterres, whose term ends on December 31.
