Congratulations, Ms Ayokor Botchwey!
Yesterday, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Ms Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, returned home from Apia, Samoa, in her newly-acquired capacity as the Secretary-General-elect of The Commonwealth of Nations, waiting to take office on April 1, next year.
Her new global position takes her to the Commonwealth Secretariat in London to serve a first four-year term after which she is likely to do the second to accomplish the office’s maximum of two terms of four years each.
The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as The Commonwealth, is a free association of sovereign states comprising the United Kingdom (The UK) and its former dependencies or colonies, who have chosen to maintain ties of friendship and practical cooperation, acknowledging the British monarch as the symbolic head of their association.
Currently, it is made up of 56 countries of various sizes, including small island states, headed by King Charles.
This means that Ms Ayorkor Botchwey is now a global leader and deserves all the associated honour and congratulations.
Already, congratulatory messages have poured in from home and abroad, including those from President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, and the outgoing Secretary-General of The Commonwealth, the woman handing over the baton to Ms Ayokor Botchwey on April 1, 2025, Baroness Patricia Scotland.
Ghana’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration since 2017 deserves more congratulations and The Ghanaian Times wishes to dedicate this editorial to her honour for her splendid achievement.
The tumultuous welcome given her at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) yesterday is the echo of what all the nation is telling Ms Ayorkor Botchwey: “Well done for bringing honour to our dear country, Ghana, and to Africa as a whole, particularly to the girls and young women who should look up to you and other illustrious African women and aspire to achieving big dreams.”
For beating no mean personalities other than Senator Joshua Setipa of Lesotho, and Dr Mamadou Tangara of The Gambia, in an election held during the 27th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Apia should tell these girls and women that the world is no more a chauvinist stage, where females are out-played.
Today’s world promotes merit and the one who makes the expected mark gets the nod.
The contest for the position shows that the position had to come to Africa but what is unique about Ms Ayorkor Botchwey’s case is that she has become the first African woman and the second African after Chief Emeka Anyaoku Emeka of Nigeria to hold that prestigious position.
While we cannot stop congratulating Ms Ayorkor Botchwey on her global achievement, we wish to remind her that she should always be guided by the ideals of The Commonwealth, which can be captured as promoting democratic governance, trade cooperation, educational advancement, climate advocacy, and transparency in financial systems among its member states.
The Ghanaian Times upholds all these but wishes that you would strongly advocate against corruption in member states, particularly in Africa, where it has become unsurmountable.
We pray that you chalk up an achievement that can surpass those of your predecessors, not because you are a super human but for the fact that by the end of tenure, which is going to be two terms, you would have improved on what you inherited, a record that can ginger your successor too to take The Commonwealth to “another higher level”.
Once again, congratulations, Ms Ayokor Botchwey!
BY