APIA (Reuters) -Commonwealth members chosen Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey as secretary-general of the 56-nation membership headed by Britain’s King Charles, the Commonwealth mentioned on Saturday, the ultimate day of a summit in Samoa attended by Charles and Queen Camilla.
Representatives of the nations, most with roots in Britain’s empire, are attending the Commonwealth Heads of Authorities Assembly that started within the Pacific Island nation on Monday, with slavery and the specter of local weather change rising as main themes.
“Today at #CHOGM2024, Commonwealth Heads of Government have selected the Hon Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, currently the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration of Ghana, as the incoming Secretary-General of the Commonwealth,” the Commonwealth mentioned on X.
Botchwey, a supporter of reparations for transatlantic slavery and colonialism, takes over from Britain’s Patricia Scotland, who has been within the job since 2016.
Earlier on Saturday, Britain’s king and queen flew out of Samoa, after a go to through which the monarch acknowledged the Commonwealth’s “painful” historical past, amid a push for former colonial powers to pay reparations for his or her function in transatlantic slavery.
Charles and Camilla left Samoa about 12 p.m. native time on a Royal Australia Air Power jet, waving farewell as they boarded the aircraft at Apia’s Faleolo Worldwide Airport.
Earlier than leaving, the royal pair attended a farewell ceremony on the village of Siumu, which happened in heavy rain.
Charles on Friday mentioned in a speech to the summit that he understood “from listening to people across the Commonwealth how the most painful aspects of our past continue to resonate”.
“It is vital, therefore, that we understand our history, to guide us towards making the right choices in future,” he mentioned.
The push for ex-colonial powers resembling Britain to pay reparations or make different amends for slavery and its legacies in the present day has gained momentum worldwide, significantly among the many Caribbean Neighborhood (CARICOM) and the African Union.
These against reparations say nations shouldn’t be held accountable for historic wrongs, whereas these in help say the legacy of slavery has led to huge and protracted racial inequality.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who’s on the summit, has rejected requires reparations and dominated out apologising for the nation’s historic function.
The King and Queen’s time in Samoa adopted a six-day tour of Australia, the place a big crowd turned out to see the royal couple on the Sydney Opera (NASDAQ:) Home. Charles additionally met with Indigenous elders in Sydney, after being heckled by an Indigenous senator in Canberra.