Uganda steps up bid for Otunnu, Muzigo in UN, ICC top jobs at AU summit
Uganda presented international human rights lawyer Rosette Muzigo-Morrison as its candidate for a seat on the ICC bench, while also formally notifying the committee of its nomination of veteran diplomat Olara Otunnu for the position of UN Secretary-General.
A lawyer, diplomat and politician, Otunnu has built a distinguished international career spanning diplomacy, peacebuilding and human rights. (Credit: Mpalanyi Ssentongo)
ADDIS ABABA - Uganda has stepped up its diplomatic campaign to secure continental backing for two of its nominees seeking influential positions in the international system — a judge of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and Secretary-General of the United Nations.
The lobbying took place on Tuesday during a meeting of the Ministerial Committee on African Candidatures within the International System held on the sidelines of the 49th Ordinary Session of the African Union (AU) Executive Council in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Uganda presented international human rights lawyer Rosette Muzigo-Morrison as its candidate for a seat on the ICC bench, while also formally notifying the committee of its nomination of veteran diplomat Olara Otunnu for the position of UN Secretary-General.
The ministerial committee, chaired by Botswana’s Minister of International Relations, Dr Phenyo Butale, met candidates before preparing recommendations to the AU Executive Council for consideration.
Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister Norbert Mao, who represented Uganda at the meeting, said the government had formally presented Muzigo-Morrison’s candidature to the committee.
“[In] Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: To present Ms Rosette Muzigo-Morrison, Uganda’s candidate for Judge of the International Criminal Court (ICC), before the Ministerial Committee on African Candidatures within the International System,” Mao said in a statement posted on X.
He added that Uganda’s nomination of Otunnu for the UN Secretary-General position had also been communicated to the committee.
“I also informed the committee of Uganda’s nomination of Ambassador Olara Otunnu for the position of UN Secretary-General and that the candidature has been formally submitted to UN Headquarters and engagements with member states are ongoing,” Mao said.
The move marks a renewed push by Uganda to place one of its citizens at the helm of the world’s top multilateral institutions.
Otunnu’s return to global diplomacy
Otunnu’s nomination comes nearly four decades after he first entered the race for the UN’s top post, a bid that was unsuccessful amid the geopolitical dynamics of the time.
He served as Uganda’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations from 1980 to 1985 and became President of the UN Security Council in December 1981.
During his time at the UN, he introduced the straw balloting approach used during the selection of the Secretary-General — a process that later became known as the “Otunnu Formula”.
In 1997, then UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan appointed him as the first Under-Secretary-General and Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, a position he held until 2005.
In that role, Otunnu helped develop the UN’s monitoring and reporting framework on grave violations against children in armed conflicts, which was later institutionalised through Security Council Resolution 1612.
Before joining the UN leadership, he served as president of the International Peace Institute, then known as the International Peace Academy, from 1990 to 1998, where he promoted global peace and conflict resolution initiatives.
Otunnu’s political journey began while he was a student at Makerere University, where he served as Guild President.
He later co-founded the Uganda Freedom Union to oppose the government of Idi Amin, a move that forced him into exile in 1973.
Following the fall of the military government, he returned to public service and served as Uganda’s Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1985 to 1986. He also played a key role in the negotiations that resulted in the 1985 Nairobi Peace Agreement.
Otunnu later served as president of the Uganda People’s Congress (UPC) from 2010 to 2015 and was the party’s presidential candidate in the 2011 general elections.
Born in Mucwini, northern Uganda, Otunnu studied at Makerere University before joining Oxford University as an Overseas Scholar and later Harvard Law School as a Fulbright Scholar.
Muzigo-Morrison’s international justice record
Muzigo-Morrison, on the other hand, brings to the ICC more than three decades of experience in international criminal justice, human rights and humanitarian law.
She is among the longest-serving legal officers at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), having joined the tribunal in the 1990s, where she contributed to efforts to prosecute individuals accused of crimes committed during the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi.
Her work at the tribunal took her to different duty stations, including The Hague, Tanzania and Rwanda.
She later served in the Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court.
In 2022, she was shortlisted for the position of ICC Registrar, and her nomination in 2026 for a seat on the ICC bench for the 2027–2036 term represents another milestone in her international legal career.
Beyond the ICC and ICTR, Muzigo-Morrison has worked with several international accountability initiatives.
Between 2006 and 2008, she served with the Special Court for Sierra Leone, where she supported the prosecution of former Liberian President Charles Taylor by helping establish a Netherlands-based sub-office.
From 2011 to 2012, she worked as a sexual violence investigator with the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on Libya, examining allegations of serious human rights violations.
She has also contributed to training programmes on international law, crisis intervention and the prosecution of sexual and gender-based crimes.
Muzigo-Morrison holds a Master’s degree in International Peace Studies from the Kroc Institute at the University of Notre Dame, which she obtained in 1993.
In 2011, she received the institute’s Distinguished Alumni Award in recognition of her contribution to global peace and justice.