26/7/2026
For years, Olara Otunnu was better known in Uganda as one of President Yoweri Museveni’s fiercest political challengers than as one of the country’s most accomplished diplomats
Now, in a striking political twist, the Ugandan government has quietly nominated the former opposition presidential candidate for the world’s most prestigious diplomatic office, Secretary General of the United Nations.
Official documents obtained by ChimpReports show Uganda formally submitted Otunnu’s candidature to the United Nations on July 24. A day later, General Assembly President Annalena Baerbock and Security Council President Zénon Mukongo Nga circulated the nomination to all 193 member states, formally placing Uganda in the race to succeed António Guterres when his second and final term ends in December 2026.
Contacted by ChimpReports, Uganda’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Adonia Ayebare, confirmed that Uganda had submitted Otunnu’s nomination and supporting documents.
The official government announcement will be made on Monday. Let’s wait for that time for details,” Ayebare said.
Otunnu’s nomination is remarkable not because of his credentials, they are among the strongest of any Ugandan diplomat, but because of his political history.
A respected international civil servant, Otunnu served as Uganda’s Minister of Foreign Affairs under President Milton Obote before joining the United Nations, where he became the organisation’s first Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict from 1998 to 2005.
Returning home after his U.N. service, he entered frontline politics and became one of Museveni’s most prominent critics.
He contested the presidency in 2011 under the Uganda People’s Congress, accusing the ruling National Resistance Movement of democratic backsliding and calling for sweeping political reforms.
