DID U KNOW WHO OLARA OTUNU IS? READ IT HERE , Olara Otunnu resigned his position as the United Nations Envoy for children in conflict zones. He was Uganda’s highest ranking international diplomat. He had just received the coveted Sydney Peace Prize in recognition of his efforts towards the betterment of conditions of children in conflict areas. He was well regarded in the top echelons of the United Nations and at 55 still had a lease on his working life. John Wesley Olara Otunnu was born on September 6, 1950 in Mucwini in Kitgum to Josephine Amato and Yusto Otunnu a born again evangelist couple. He moved with his parents wherever they went to preach and attended Mvara Primary School in Arua, Mucwini primary school, Anaka primary school and Gulu High school for his Junior Secondary Education. He was admitted to King’s College Budo in 1966 and put in a special class that would sit for Cambridge School Certificate Examinations after a three-year study instead of the normal four. He was sickly and away from school for long periods but was almost always among the top five in his class. Otunnu lived in Mutesa House and was president of the Junior Debating Club and later the Senior Debating Society, Chairman of the Christian Sunday night group; a social worker responsible for the remand home and chief gardener and senior monitor of Mutesa house. He snapped up an impressive array of school prizes such as the senior holiday diary competition prize 1966, Brook Bond essay competition prize 1967, Inter house speech competition prize 1967, Senior five form prize 1969. He was also the main character in the play Medicine for Love 1970. He was expected to become head prefect in 1970 but was by passed. His stay was summarised by his class master as follows: “I have enjoyed teaching him and meeting such a dangerous opponent in class discussions, best wishes for the future, he will go a long way.†The deputy headmaster commented: “He is the most informed and articulate 19-year-old, one is able to meet. He has a first class brain backed by a solid Christian faith.†Armed with Principles AAB in History, Economics and Literature respectively, he joined Makerere University Law School in 1971 and dived into student politics right away. His oratory prowess charmed the students into voting him Guild President in 1973. His main achievement was to struggle for an improvement in student welfare. He constructed the Otunnu Highway, a paved path joining Makerere main campus to Mulago teaching hospital through the Katanga slum, used by the quiet but influential medical students’ group. He took on Idi Amin’s government head on to reinstate “boomâ€, the students’ allowance that had been abolished by ldi Amin. His battle cry was, “we must survive, we must survive, but if we have to die let us die like menâ€. The old boys’ network and his former teachers secured him a place and scholarship to Oxford University to study law. He again delved into student politics, attracting the attention and admiration of fellow students, one of them being Tony Blair, who he introduced to other Ugandan Oxford and Cambridge students such as Patrick Mangheni, now a professor of Mathematics and William Kalema of Uganda Investment Authority. Years later, Tony Blair was to become British Prime Minister and appoint William Kalema a special Commissioner for Africa. After Oxford Otunnu proceeded for a Masters degree in law as a Fulbright scholar at Harvard University. He practised law with Chadbourn and Park in New York and became assistant professor of law at Albany law school while carrying on anti- Amin activities in his spare time. He became a member of the National Consultative Council in the new government after Amin’s fall; he was appointed Uganda Permanent representative to the United Nations by Godfrey Binaisa in 1980. He performed brilliantly siding with Britain against Argentina during the Falklands war (1982). He chaired and mesmerised the Security Council and introduced the Otunnu compromise which led to a South American, Perez De Cueller becoming a United Nations Secretary General. He also at one time chaired the African Group, became chairman of the contact group on global negotiations, chairman of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. The worlds leading media started to mention his name as a possible and probable first Black African United Nations Secretary General. When Otunnu’s uncle, General Tito Okello Lutwa, took power in July 1985, he was made minister of Foreign Affairs becoming the international face of the short-lived Military Junta. He played a leading role in the abortive Nairobi peace accord of December 1985 with the then Museveni-led National Resistance Movement. When Yoweri Museveni took power in 1986, Otunnu went back to the United Nations in New York and was appointed President of the International Peace Academy in 1990 and later special Envoy for Children in conflict zones. The question is, did he resign from his plum United Nations job in order to position himself for the coming 2006 general elections. We will know sooner than later.
Posted on: Sun, 07 Dec 2014 10:23:17 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015