Otunnu says rift with Museveni persists despite backing for UN top job

Kampala, August 5, 2026 - Olara Otunnu, Uganda’s candidate for United Nations Secretary-General, has acknowledged that his long-standing disagreements with President Yoweri Museveni remain unresolved, even as Museveni’s government throws its weight behind his campaign.

Otunnu, who made his strongest bid for the UN’s top job in 1996 but lacked the backing of the Ugandan government, made the remarks while addressing journalists Tuesday at the Uganda Media Centre, where he was promoting his candidacy and manifesto. “We have areas of divergent views that he knows well, I know well,” Otunnu said. “We have discussed it, we have discussed it even recently.” He went further, noting that Museveni himself has publicly admitted to blocking Otunnu’s UN ambitions in the past.

Despite the disagreement, Otunnu framed his nomination as a moment of national maturity. “We have come together as Ugandans to support a common Ugandan project,” he said. “Not that the differences have disappeared, but we’ve been mature enough to say, yes, we continue discussing our differences, but we’re all Ugandans, and this is a project for Uganda, by Uganda.” Otunnu met Museveni on Monday at State House Entebbe, where the president convened a meeting of ambassadors representing members of the United Nations Security Council.