Ugandan diplomat Olara Otunnu joins race to lead the United Nations

Ugandan diplomat Olara Otunnu has become the seventh candidate to join the race to become the next leader of the United Nations.

The former UN under-secretary-general, who served as a special representative for children and armed conflict, was nominated by Kampala on Friday.

A previous opposition presidential candidate, he also served as Uganda’s UN envoy, and as his country’s foreign minister for a brief period.

At 75, he is the oldest of the current candidates to replace Antonio Guterres whose mandate as secretary-general comes to an end on 31 December after two five-year terms in the post.

The other potential successors in the running are from Chile, Ecuador, Argentina, Costa Rica, Guyana, and Senegal’s Macky Sall.

The six other candidates, four of them women, participated in a televised debate on Thursday.

At the end of this month, the 15 members of UN Security Council are due to hold their first closed-door, anonymous vote on their preferences among the candidates.

That first “straw poll” will be followed by an unspecified number of similar votes until one person secures the required nine votes, without a veto from any of the five permanent members — the United States, Britain, China, France, and Russia.

The name of the selected candidate will then be sent to the General Assembly for formal appointment to the position.

He or she will take office on 1 January 2027.