By Spy Uganda
Uganda’s candidate for United Nations Secretary-General, Ambassador Olara Otunnu, has moved from fifth to third place in the latest Security Council straw poll as the race to succeed António Guterres intensifies.
Otunnu secured five “encourage” votes, seven “discourage” votes and three “no opinion” votes in the third informal poll held on September 18.
Costa Rica’s Rebeca Grynspan led the poll with nine “encourage” votes, followed by Guyana’s Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett with eight. Otunnu tied on five positive votes with Argentina’s Rafael Grossi and former Senegalese President Macky Sall, but received fewer “discourage” votes than both, placing him ahead of them in the latest distribution.
Otunnu’s five positive votes are unchanged from the August 21 poll, when he ranked fifth. His first-round result on July 30 was two “encourage”, five “discourage” and eight “no opinion” votes.
The straw polls are used by Security Council members to assess the level of support for candidates before the process moves towards a formal recommendation.
Otunnu’s latest position comes amid Uganda’s diplomatic campaign to build support for his candidature. On September 14, he met Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow, accompanied by former Prime Minister Dr Ruhakana Rugunda, who is coordinating the campaign.
Russia is one of the five permanent members of the Security Council, alongside China, France, the United Kingdom and the United States.
A candidate needs at least nine votes in the 15-member Council and must avoid a veto from any of the five permanent members to secure a recommendation. The Council then forwards its choice to the 193-member General Assembly for appointment.
Otunnu has campaigned on a reform-oriented vision for the UN, calling for a more inclusive organisation focused on service and impact. He has also highlighted conflict resolution, including the wars in Gaza and Ukraine and conflicts across Africa.
The latest poll does not disclose which countries cast particular votes, leaving the candidates’ level of support among individual permanent members unclear.
Guterres’ second term ends on December 31, 2026, with the Security Council expected to conduct further consultations before recommending a successor.
