Commonwealth Secretary-General, Patricia Scotland has announced the week of June 2022 as the new date agreed with member countries for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) to be hosted by Rwanda, a statement revealed on Wednesday.
CHOGM was due to have been held in Kigali in June 2020 but was postponed twice due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the statement, CHOGM is customarily held every two years and is the Commonwealth’s highest consultative and public policy-making gathering.
Commonwealth leaders selected Rwanda as the host for their next summit when they met in London in 2018.
President Paul Kagame said in the statement that “the last two years have been made it clear to us that we are more connected than ever before and we must work together to achieve the tangible and sustainable results we want”.
Kagame added: “The long-waited meeting will be an important occasion to come together to address challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and to build on innovative technological and economic opportunities to solve other key problems facing our citizens”.
Ms. Scotland expressed delight that the Commonwealth family can be reunited, four years from the last CHOGM in London.
“Our meetings in Rwanda will give us a real opportunity to reaffirm the values, including the recovery from the COVID19 pandemic, tackling climate change and poverty, boosting trade, and promoting sustainable development -all issues that can only be dealt with decisively through multilateral cooperation and mutual support.”
“We have adapted throughout the pandemic, holding ministerial meetings online. It is with this great joy and anticipation that I look forward ahead to face-to-face Commonwealth Heads of Government meetings”.
This will be the first CHOGM held in Africa for over a decade.
CU/as/APA