The 56-nation Commonwealth announced Ghana's foreign minister Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey as the new secretary general of the organisation at a rancorous summit in Samoa on Saturday.

Botchwey was one of three candidates vying for the post -- all who have backed calls for European nations to address their past of colonialism and slavery.

A former lawmaker, she has served as foreign minister for the past seven years, notably steering Ghana's two-year tenure on the UN Security Council, ending December 2023.

She has backed the drafting of a free trade agreement among Commonwealth member states.

She also previously said she stands for reparations. "Financial reparations is good," she said earlier this year.

A Commonwealth Secretary-General can serve a maximum of two terms of four years each. The incumbent is Dominican Baroness Patricia Scotland.

By convention, the secretary-general role is rotated around the body's four

Source: BARRON'S

BDST: 1704 HRS, OCT 26, 2024
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