Mega Fm & Agency
The Government of Uganda has officially nominated veteran diplomat and former United Nations Under-Secretary-General Ambassador Olara Otunnu for the position of Secretary-General of the United Nations, describing him as a distinguished international civil servant with more than four decades of experience in diplomacy, peacebuilding and global governance.
In a press statement issued by Bagiire Vincent Waiswa, the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Sunday July 26, 2026, the government said Otunnu’s experience at the highest levels of the UN system, national government, academia and civil society makes him well suited to lead the world body when the term of the current Secretary-General, António Guterres, expires this December 31.
Otunnu served as the first UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict from 1998 to 2005 at the rank of Under-Secretary-General.
During his tenure under Secretary-General Kofi Annan, he was among the highest-ranking African officials in the UN Secretariat, second only to Annan himself in the organization’s executive leadership.