Uganda’s Olara Otunnu joined the race to become the next United Nations secretary-general as the seventh candidate on Saturday. The UN said Otunnu, 75, was presented to member states following his nomination by Uganda. He is seeking to succeed Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who will leave office on December 31. The new secretary-general is due to take office on January 1, 2027.

Otunnu served from 1997 to 2005 under then Secretary-General Kofi Annan as an under-secretary-general and special representative for children and armed conflict. He has also been Uganda’s ambassador to the UN and briefly served as the country’s foreign minister. In Uganda’s 2011 election, he ran for president for the opposition Uganda People’s Congress but lost to longtime leader Yoweri Museveni.

Other candidates include Chile’s Michelle Bachelet, Ecuador’s Maria Fernanda Espinosa, Argentina’s Rafael Grossi, Costa Rica’s Rebeca Grynspan, Guyana’s Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett and Senegal’s Macky Sall. The Security Council’s 15 members will hold their first secret, anonymous straw poll on July 30. A candidate needs nine required votes and must avoid a veto by the five permanent members before the name is sent to the General Assembly for formal approval.