Uganda’s Nomination for UN Boss Is 30 Years and Many Months LateOlara Otunnu was a prominent name in United Nations corridors. The six candidates who entered before Otunnu participated in the General Assembly public events plus others overseas. Straw poll originsAt only 31 years old, Otunnu was Uganda’s envoy to the UN and president of the Security Council in December 1981. According to a 1990 Yale University oral-history project on the UN, the straw poll emerged as a solution to the deadlock; it is still used in some form today. Pérez de Cuéllar, who obtained the required majority without a veto, was recommended as secretary-general to the General Assembly for final approval.