Former President John Dramani Mahama says he will gladly support Ghana’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey if she contests for the position of the next Secretary-General of the Commonwealth.
Mr. Mahama declared his support when he addressed a gathering at Chatham House in the United Kingdom on January 27, 2023, on the topic, ‘Africa’s strategic priorities and global role’.
The current Secretary-General of the Commonwealth is Patricia Scotland, and she is the 6th Commonwealth Secretary-General.
Born in Dominica, Patricia Janet Scotland is the second Secretary-General from the Caribbean and the first woman to hold the post.
The next General-Secretary may be someone from Africa.
The Foreign Affairs Minister recently expressed her interest to occupy that position.
Asked about his view on a Ghanaian becoming a Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, Mr. Mahama said, “I’m hearing it for the first time that our Foreign Affairs Minister is interested in the position of the Commonwealth Secretary-General. I have worked closely with Baroness Patricia Scotland, she’s chosen me to lead several election observation missions in Kenya, Sierra Leone, and other places”.
“I know her very well, she’s been quite a capable Secretary General. Incidentally, she comes from the Caribbean, the Dominican. And so if it’s Africa’s turn, why not, I mean we will have a Ghanaian Secretary General female. It’s something I will support”.
Madam Shirley was appointed by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo as Minister of Foreign Affairs in January 2017.
She was a member of the ECOWAS Parliament and also served as Vice-Chair on the NEPAD & APRM Committees.
She is also the former Member of Parliament for Anyaa-Sowutuom.
The Commonwealth Secretary-General is the head of the Commonwealth Secretariat, the central body which has served the Commonwealth of Nations since its establishment in 1965, and responsible for representing the Commonwealth publicly.
