Former president John Mahama has declared his support for Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, the foreign minister of Ghana, in her campaign to become the next secretary-general of the Commonwealth.
Patricia Scotland, the current Commonwealth Secretary-General, will step down at the end of 2023, and Ms. Botchwey hopes to take her place.
“I’m learning for the first time that our minister of foreign affairs is considering running for secretary-general of the Commonwealth.”
“It’s Africa’s turn, why not, I mean we will have a Ghanaian Secretary-General, female. It’s something I will support,” Mr. Mahama stated this last Friday during a public speech at Chatham House in the United Kingdom (UK).
At the end of this term, the current Secretary-General will have served a maximum of two four-year terms.
The Secretary-General may be elected to a maximum of two terms of four years each by Commonwealth leaders.
At the 2015 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Malta, Ms. Scotland was chosen.
She is the first woman and second Secretary-General from the Caribbean to hold the position.
