Uganda’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Dr. Rubakana Rugunda will be the big man if New York as Uganda takes on the rotating presidency of the UN Security Council for the month of October.

Dr. Ruhakana Rugunda

Rugunda took over the presidency of the powerful UN body from the Turkish UN ambassador, Ertugrul Apakan, who held the rotating presidency for September.

The Security Council presidency rotates among the Council members in the English alphabetical order of their names. Each president holds office for one calendar month.

A statement from the UN says Rugunda as President is scheduled to brief reporters on the Security Council ‘s working program in October.

The 15-nation Security Council is expected to visit Sudan next week as the north and south prepare for a key referendum, scheduled for January 9 2011 in which the south will vote whether to remains as part of Sudan or to seceed.

Under the UN Charter, the Security Council has the primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security in the world at large.

The Council has 15 members: five permanent members — China, France, the Russian Federation, Britain and the United States — and 10 non-permanent members elected by the UN General Assembly for two-year terms.

Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Gabon, Lebanon and Nigeria began their two-year terms on the 15-nation Council on Jan. 1.

The five new Security Council members were chosen after running uncontested races for the non-permanent seats, and they were duly elected by the 192-member General Assembly during a secret ballot at the United Nations Headquarters in New York in October 2009.

The five countries joined Austria, Japan, Mexico, Turkey and Uganda, whose terms on the Council end on Dec. 31, 2010.