By Ambrose Okwanga
The Government of Uganda has officially nominated veteran diplomat and former Foreign Affairs Minister Ambassador Olara Otunnu for the position of United Nations Secretary-General, setting him up to compete for the world’s top diplomatic job when the term of the current Secretary-General, António Guterres, expires on December 31, 2026.
The nomination was announced on Sunday July 26th, 2026 by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs through a press release signed by the Permanent Secretary, Bagiire Vincent Waiswa.
In the statement, Waiswa said Uganda had formally submitted Otunnu’s candidature, describing him as “a distinguished Ugandan statesman and international civil servant” with more than four decades of service at the highest levels of international diplomacy.
According to the ministry, Otunnu served as the United Nations’ first Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict from 1998 to 2005, where he championed the protection of children affected by war and helped establish the landmark monitoring and compliance framework under UN Security Council Resolution 1612.
Otunnu also represented Uganda as Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations between 1980 and 1985. During his tenure as President of the UN Security Council in December 1981, he introduced the straw-balloting procedure, widely known as the “Otunnu Formula,” which has since guided the selection of UN Secretaries-General.
At home, he served as Uganda’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and later headed the International Peace Academy, now the International Peace Institute. He has also held academic positions at Albany Law School, the American University in Paris and the Institut Français des Relations Internationales.
In recent years, Otunnu has co-led the Roco Paco peacebuilding initiative with Chief Justice Emeritus Alfonse Chigamoy Owiny-Dollo to promote reconciliation and community healing in northern Uganda after decades of conflict.
Waiswa said the government is confident that Otunnu’s experience across the UN Secretariat, Security Council, national government, academia and grassroots peacebuilding makes him “exceptionally well suited to lead the United Nations at this critical juncture in global affairs.”
He added that Uganda is calling upon all United Nations member states to support Ambassador Otunnu’s candidature for the organization’s highest office.