Kampala (Uganda), Aug. 10 (LaPresse) – A Ugandan political figure is the latest candidate to enter the race for the post of United Nations secretary-general. The number of candidates to succeed Antonio Guterres, whose term expires at the end of the year, has thus risen to seven. Backed by Uganda, Olara Otunnu is in New York “to meet delegations and participate in an interactive dialogue” with the United Nations General Assembly and Security Council, said Adonia Ayebare, Uganda’s permanent representative to the UN. Otunnu, 75, is a veteran of the United Nations system and has long since retired from political life after losing the 2011 Ugandan presidential election. In the past, he was considered one of the favourites to succeed Egyptian Boutros Boutros-Ghali as head of the UN in 1997, but was blocked by the very Ugandan authorities who now support him. At the time, Otunnu was president of the International Peace Institute in New York and had difficult relations with the government of President Yoweri Museveni. The Ghanaian Kofi Annan was appointed instead. Annan appointed Otunnu as UN under-secretary-general and his special representative for children and armed conflict. Otunnu held the position from 1997 to 2005, when he received the Sydney Peace Prize for “his tireless efforts to protect children during wars and to promote measures aimed at the healing and social reintegration of minors after conflicts”.
UN: Ugandan Otunnu in the running for secretary-general
Kampala (Uganda), Aug. 10 (LaPresse) – A Ugandan political figure is the latest candidate to enter the race for the post of United Nations secretary-general. The number of candidates to succeed Antonio Guterres, whose term expires at the end of the year, has thus risen to seven. Backed by Uganda, Olara Otunnu is in New York “to meet delegations and participate in an interactive dialogue” with the United Nations General Assembly and Security Council, said Adonia Ayebare, Uganda’s permanent representative to the UN. Otunnu, 75, is a veteran of the United Nations system and has long since retired from political life after losing the 2011 Ugandan presidential election. In the past, he was considered one of the favourites to succeed Egyptian Boutros Boutros-Ghali as head of the UN in 1997, but was blocked by the very Ugandan authorities who now support him. At the time, Otunnu was president of the International Peace Institute in New York and had difficult relations with the government of President Yoweri Museveni. The Ghanaian Kofi Annan was appointed instead. Annan appointed Otunnu as UN under-secretary-general and his special representative for children and armed conflict. Otunnu held the position from 1997 to 2005, when he received the Sydney Peace Prize for “his tireless efforts to protect children during wars and to promote measures aimed at the healing and social reintegration of minors after conflicts”.