Race for UN top job: Otunnu meets French President, UK PM

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Uganda's candidate for the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General position, Dr Olara Otunnu, has met the President of France, Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Andy Burnham as he steps up his campaign for the top UN post.

Otunnu, who is intensifying his campaign for the position, had what he described as “some moments” with the two leaders separately during the ongoing 81st session of the UN General Assembly in New York on September 23, 2026.

France and the UK are both permanent members of the UN Security Council, the body that recommends a candidate for appointment as Secretary-General by the General Assembly. The selection process is expected to conclude this year, with António Guterres' second term ending on December 31, 2026.

Uganda's candidate for the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General position, Dr Olara Otunnu, meeting with the President of France, Emmanuel Macron. (Courtesy photo)

Analysts say Otunnu's engagements with the five permanent members of the Council are significant because a substantive Council decision requires at least nine votes and cannot be adopted if any permanent member votes against it. An abstention by a permanent member does not prevent adoption if the required votes are secured.

Under the UN Charter, the General Assembly appoints the Secretary-General upon the recommendation of the Security Council. The other three permanent members of the Council are the United States, Russia and China.

In a Wednesday post on his X account, formerly Twitter, Otunnu, the 76-year-old former Ugandan and UN diplomat, did not disclose what he discussed with Macron and Burnham.

He said the opening of this year's UN General Assembly session was most satisfying and that it was encouraging to see world leaders address some of the most important issues of their age, naming artificial intelligence, ending major conflicts, the climate crisis and restoring trust in the multilateral system.

The 81st session opened on September 8, while the high-level General Debate began on September 22 and is running through September 28. Nearly 130 heads of state and government are attending the High-level Week. The theme is “Restoring trust, managing transformation: a United Nations that delivers for all.”

Guterres' successor will be chosen this year for a five-year term beginning on January 1, 2027. The term can be renewed by the General Assembly for another five years.

Otunnu is in the race alongside Costa Rica's Rebeca Grynspan, Chile's Michelle Bachelet, Ecuador's María Fernanda Espinosa, Guyana's Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, Senegal's Macky Sall, Argentina's Rafael Grossi and Ecuador's Ivonne Baki.

The UN's official selection page confirms Otunnu's nomination by Uganda on July 24, 2026, as well as the nominations of Grynspan, Bachelet, Espinosa, Rodrigues-Birkett, Sall and Grossi.

New lease of life

Otunnu has promised to give the UN, a global organisation, a new lease of life if elected.

In his vision statement posted on the UN website, Otunnu noted that for more than eight decades, the organisation has been at the heart of the global architecture for peace and security and shared prosperity.

He also noted that this is the time to lift billions of people out of poverty through financial and digital inclusion, and to explore the heavens with renewed hope and confidence and insights.

“It is also, however, a moment of great upheaval and dislocation: a moment fraught with grave threats to international peace and security, economic disenfranchisement and dislocation, and a time when drones and artificial intelligence might evolve to dominate the human race.”

Otunnu also stated that it is against this backdrop of hope and great promise and the gathering threats that the UN is once again called upon to fulfil.

“It’s a historic mission. It is an opportunity to reinvent and to renew and to give the United Nations a new lease on life,” he emphasised.