Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, a former lawmaker who has served as foreign minister for the past seven years, including leading Ghana’s two-year term on the UN Security Council, which ends in December 2023, was named the new secretary general of the 56-nation Commonwealth, which is primarily composed of former British colonies.
Botchwey was one of three candidates running for the position, all of whom have supported calls for Britain to address the legacy of colonialism and slavery. She has previously stated that she supports reparations and has backed the creation of a free trade agreement among Commonwealth member states.
At a London event earlier this year, she declared, “Financial reparations is good.” A Commonwealth Secretary General may hold office for a maximum of two four-year terms. Patricia Scotland, a Dominican baroness, is currently in office. The position of secretary general is traditionally rotated among the four geographic blocs of the organisation: Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Pacific.
Now it was Africa’s turn. She wrote on social media, “I am incredibly humbled by the overwhelming support of the Commonwealth Heads of Government in choosing me to be the next Secretary-General of the Commonwealth.” “Yes, there is work ahead!” The Commonwealth encourages financial system openness, trade and educational collaboration, democratic governance, and climate advocacy.
King Charles III is in charge of it, although the secretary general is in charge of managing the secretariat in London. Botchwey was appointed during a Samoan summit that was supposed to be about climate change but instead got caught up in a contentious reparations dispute. Many countries in Africa, the Caribbean, and the Pacific want Britain and other European powers to at least make political atonement or provide monetary compensation for slavery.
They urge the leaders of the United Kingdom to pledge to have a conversation on reparatory justice, which may entail monetary compensation. However, Britain’s financially beleaguered government has made a concerted effort to steer clear of the discussion. Philip Davis, the prime minister of the Bahamas, said that it was essential to have a serious conversation about the past.
“The time has come to have a real dialogue about how we address these historical wrongs,” he said. “Reparatory justice is not an easy conversation, but it’s an important one.”
“The fight for justice and reparatory justice is far from over, as the atrocities of slavery left a deep, generational wound in our communities.” According to experts, over 10–15 million slaves were transported from Africa to the Americas over the course of four centuries. It may never be known how many people were killed. Around 1870, the practice was eventually discontinued. There have been requests for the British royal family to issue an apology after they profited from the slave trade for centuries.
King Charles’ request for summit participants to “reject the language of division” on Friday fell far short of that. Speaking to individuals around the Commonwealth, he remarked, “I understand how the most painful aspects of our past continue to resonate.” “The past cannot be altered by any of us. However, we can sincerely dedicate ourselves to absorbing its lessons and coming up with innovative solutions to address persistent injustices.
