By Iddi Yire
Accra, Oct 26, GNA – Dr Mohamed Ibn Chambas, the African Union (AU) High Representative for Silencing the Guns in Africa, has congratulated Ms Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, Ghana’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and African Integration, on her election as Commonwealth Secretary-General.
He said that the selection of Ms Ayorkor Botchwey as the next Secretary-General of the Commonwealth was not just a personal achievement but also a victory for Ghanaian diplomacy and a recognition of the capacity of African Women.
Reached by the Ghana News Agency (GNA) at an AU Retreat in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Dr Chambas, revealed that all the delegates there were elated about the selection of the Ghanaian Minister as it placed an African in the seat; the second woman of colour and first woman from Africa to occupy the position.
“I was privileged to work on our Minister’s campaign in the Caribbean and the Pacific Island Countries, so you can imagine that I’m especially pleased that Hon Botchwey has gotten the nod to assume this high office,” Dr Chambas said.
He said she had brought glory to Ghana, saying she brought to the post more than a decade at the Foreign Ministry of Ghana, seven of which she was Ghana’s Chief Diplomat.
Dr Chambas, who is also the AU Chief Mediator in Sudan, said she had a keen appreciation of the particularity of small island countries facing existential threats of climate change, the needs of young people, institutional reform to adapt the organisation to contemporary challenges in tackling global inequalities, fighting poverty through economic growth and shared prosperity and improving governance.
“She will make us all proud. We wish her every success,” Dr Chambas stated.
GNA