Accra, Feb 3, GNA – Ghana has announced the candidature of Madam Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey for the position of Secretary-General of the Commonwealth to succeed the current Secretary-General, Madam Baroness Patricia Scotland, a dual Dominican-British citizen.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration announced Madam Botchwey’s candidature in a statement copied to the Ghana News Agency on Friday.
Based on an understanding among members of the Commonwealth that its next Secretary-General would come from Africa, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo nominated Madam Botchwey on Ghana’s ticket.
A new Secretary-General of the 56-member organisation will be elected on 22 October, 2024 at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Samoa, an island country in Oceania, to replace Madam Baroness Patricia Scotland, whose second and final tenure expires at the end of 2024.
In the nomination, President Akufo-Addo said: “I have strong confidence in Foreign Minister Botchwey to lead our aspiration for renewal and for building future-looking resilient and thriving economies, through community cooperation and action, as underscored at Kigali, Rwanda, during the 26th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).”
Madam Ayorkor Botchwey has been endorsed by the African Union, and also enjoys considerable support across all regions of the Commonwealth.
She is a lawyer, diplomat, politician, and communications professional, with extensive experience in international relations and diplomacy, and public service.
She is also a member of the National Security Council and has served as Ghana’s Foreign Minister for the past seven years, during which she steered Ghana’s
momentous two-year tenure on the United Nations Security Council, ending in December 2023.
Madam Botchwey chaired the 15-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Council of Ministers for two successive terms from 2020 to 2022.
She previously served as Deputy Foreign Minister from 2006 to 2009, and Deputy Minister for Trade and Industry and Communications prior to that.
A four-term legislator from 2004 through 2020, Madam Ayorkor Botchwey served on several Parliamentary Select Committees, including Foreign Affairs, Appointments, Defence and Interior, Communications, and Gender and Children.
She was also a member of the ECOWAS Parliament from 2013 to 2017 and was Vice-Chair on the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), and African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) Committees.
The Commonwealth is a diverse intergovernmental association of 56 countries headed by King Charles II.
It promotes, among other objectives, democratic governance among member-states, and cooperation in trade, education, climate advocacy and transparency in financial systems.
GNA