KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) 鈥� A Ugandan statesman is in the race to become the next secretary-general of the United Nations, the latest entrant in a contest that includes six others who want to succeed at the end of this year.
Backed by , Olara Otunnu is traveling in New York 鈥渢o meet delegations and engage in interactive dialogue鈥� with the U.N. General Assembly and the U.N. Security Council, said Adonia Ayebare, Uganda鈥檚 permanent representative to the U.N.
Otunnu had to get visa assistance, with Ugandans currently barred from entering the U.S. as part of measures to prevent the spread of Ebola, Ayebare said.
Otunnu, 75, is a veteran of the U.N. 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 Boutros-Ghali as U.N. secretary-general in 1997, but was blocked by the Ugandan authorities now nominating him. Then the president of the International Peace Institute in New York, Otunnu was not on good terms with the government of President Yoweri Museveni. Ghana鈥檚 Kofi Annan won the job.
Annan named Otunnu a U.N. under-secretary-general and his special representative for children and armed conflict. Otunnu served in that role between 1997 and 2005, the year he won the Sydney Peace Prize for 鈥渉is ceaseless efforts to protect children in time of war and his promotion of measures for the healing and social reintegration of children in the aftermath of conflict.鈥�
Educated at Oxford and Harvard Law School, he was Uganda鈥檚 representative to the U.N. between 1980 and 1985, serving for a year as president of the Security Council. He also briefly served as Uganda’s foreign minister in the 1980s. He is widely respected in Uganda as an elder statesman.
鈥淓ven though the U.N. is now occupied with a number of issues across the board, the most important single mandate for the U.N. remains the issue of peace and security,鈥� Otunnu told reporters last week.
He pointed out that as president of the Security Council, he designed the system of straw balloting, which is still in use as the so-called Otunnu Formula, first deployed with the selection in 1981 of Peru’s Javier P茅rez de Cu茅llar as U.N. secretary-general.
Still, it remains unclear why Uganda nominated Otunnu several weeks after other candidates began .
An additional obstacle for Otunnu is that the job of secretary-general tends to rotate by region as a tradition, and this year it is Latin America鈥檚 turn. But there is no formal obstacle to candidates from other regions and there is no clear front-runner.
鈥淥tunnu is the dark horse candidate,鈥� said Angelo Izama, a Ugandan analyst with the Fanaka Kwawote think tank. 鈥淗e is a safe candidate. If the top Latin American candidate is vetoed, he is going to be the fall-back candidate.鈥�
Others seeking to replace Guterres include Senegal鈥檚 Macky Sall, Chile鈥檚 Michelle Bachelet, Argentina鈥檚 Rafael Grossi, Costa Rica鈥檚 Rebeca Grynspan, Ecuador鈥檚 Maria Fernanda Espinosa and Guyana鈥檚 Carolyn Rodrigues Birkett.
The selection is made by the 15-nation , especially its five veto-wielding members including the U.S., Russia, China, United Kingdom and France. The 193-member General Assembly must give final approval.
The successful candidate is expected to begin work Jan 1.
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