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Mahama rally support behind Ayorkor Botchwey to be next Commonwealth Secretary General

Ex-President John Dramani Mahama has said he will throw full support behind Ghana’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey if she contests for the position of the next Secretary-General of the Commonwealth.
Mahama
Mahama

Mahama declared this while, addressing a gathering at Chatham House in the United Kingdom on January 27, 2023, on the topic, ‘Africa’s strategic priorities and global role’

Currently in the position of Secretary-General of the Commonwealth is Patricia Scotland

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 maybe someone from Africa.

Mr. Mahama shared his view on the possibility of the next secretary-general coming from Ghana, he 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”.

The Foreign Affairs Minister recently expressed her interest to occupy that position.

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.

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