Ugandan diplomat Olara Otunnu has become the seventh candidate to join the race to become the next Secretary-General of the United Nations, entering the contest just days before the first informal vote by the UN Security Council.
The former UN under-secretary-general, who served as the organisation’s first Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, was nominated by Kampala on the 24th of July, 2026 in a letter from Uganda’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Adonia Ayebare. Otunnu, 75, is the oldest of the current candidates seeking to succeed António Guterres, whose second and final term ends on the 31st of December 2026.
Otunnu brings decades of international experience to the contest. He previously served as Uganda’s foreign minister and as the country’s ambassador and permanent representative to the United Nations from 1980 to 1985. Between 1998 and 2005, he held the UN post of under-secretary-general and special representative for children and armed conflict, a role created to protect minors caught up in wars and conflicts.
His candidacy makes him the second African in the race, following former Senegalese president Macky Sall, and comes despite the informal regional rotation principle that currently favours the Latin American and Caribbean group for the next term. Uganda has nevertheless appealed to UN member states to support Otunnu, describing him as a leader with broad international experience and a strong record in promoting peace and human rights.
The timing of his entry is significant. The 15 members of the UN Security Council are due to hold their first closed-door, anonymous “straw poll” on the 30th of July to gauge preferences among the candidates. A series of similar votes will follow until one person secures the required nine votes without a veto from any of the five permanent members – the United States, Britain, China, France and Russia.
If successful, the selected candidate’s name will be sent to the General Assembly for formal appointment, and he or she will take office on the 1st of January, 2027. Otunnu’s decades of involvement with the UN system, including his previous engagement with the Security Council and his work on conflict-related issues, places him in a unique position to guide the organisation amid growing global challenges, according to the Ugandan government.
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