Uganda has officially nominated Olara Otunnu, 75, for the position of United Nations Secretary-General. The announcement, made public by the UN on July 25, makes the former senior UN official the seventh declared candidate and the second African in the race, after former Senegalese President Macky Sall.
In its official nomination, the Ugandan government described Olara Otunnu as "a distinguished statesman and international civil servant." With more than 40 years of diplomatic experience, he has held several high-level positions, from Kampala to New York.
A graduate of Harvard Law School, he first worked at a major law firm in New York before pursuing an academic career, teaching law at a university in New York State and later at the American University of Paris.
Between 1980 and 1985, Olara Otunnu served as Uganda's Permanent Representative to the United Nations. During that period, he chaired the UN Security Council in 1981 and the Commission on Human Rights from 1982 to 1984.
His international career reached its peak under Kofi Annan, when he was appointed UN Under-Secretary-General and Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict. Returning to Ugandan politics, he briefly served as Minister of Foreign Affairs before running in the 2011 presidential election against President Yoweri Museveni.
Olara Otunnu joins a field of candidates that includes Michelle Bachelet (Chile), María Fernanda Espinosa (Ecuador), Rafael Grossi (Argentina), Rebeca Grynspan (Costa Rica), Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett (Guyana), and Macky Sall (Senegal), all competing to succeed UN Secretary-General António Guterres, whose term ends on December 31, 2026.
The selection process will begin on July 30 with a first informal secret ballot by the 15 members of the UN Security Council. Several rounds of voting may follow until a candidate secures at least nine votes without being vetoed by any of the five permanent members of the Council. The selected candidate will then be submitted to the UN General Assembly for formal appointment.
