KAMPALA: A Ugandan statesman is in the race to become the next secretary-general of the UN, the latest entrant in a contest that includes six others who want to succeed Antonio Guterres at the end of this year.
Backed by Uganda, Olara Otunnu is traveling in New York “to meet delegations and engage in interactive dialogue” with the UN General Assembly and the UN Security Council, said Adonia Ayebare, Uganda’s permanent representative to the UN.
• Olara Otunnu, 75, is a veteran of the UN system who has been in retirement since unsuccessfully contesting the Ugandan presidency in 2011.
• He was once seen as a favorite to replace the Egyptian Boutros-Ghali as UN secretary-general in 1997, but was blocked by the Ugandan authorities.
Otunnu had to get visa assistance, with Ugandans currently barred from entering the US as part of measures to prevent the spread of Ebola, Ayebare said.
