Africa-Press – Ghana. Ghana has nominated its head of diplomacy, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, for the position of next secretary-general of the Commonwealth, to be elected on October 22, 2024, the Ghanaian Government announced saturday.
“Following an agreement between members of the Commonwealth for the next Secretary-General to be from Africa, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has nominated Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey as Ghana’s candidate,” the Ghanaian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement released on Friday.
Presided over by King Charles III, the Commonwealth – an organization made up of 56 countries, including the United Kingdom and several former British colonies – promotes democracy, commercial cooperation, education, sustainable development and transparent financial systems.
The Secretary-General of the Commonwealth is responsible for managing the affairs of the organisation’s secretariat, based in London.
Under the terms of a common agreement, this role is played successively by a representative from one of the four geographic blocks that make up the organization: Pacific, Asia, Europe and Africa and it is now the turn of an African to occupy this place.
Furthermore, Ghana’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs states that Botchwey has the support of the African Union and “also enjoys considerable support in all regions of the Commonwealth”.
The term of office of the Commonwealth Secretary-General is four years, renewable once, and the position is now held by British-Dominican diplomat Patricia Scotland, whose term ends in October 2024.
The President of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo, added that he had “great confidence” in Botchwey “to lead the Commonwealth’s aspiration to renew and build resilient, forward-looking and prosperous economies through cooperation and community action”.
Botchwey, who has been Minister of Foreign Affairs for seven years, was also Ghana’s representative at the UN for two years.
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