Twenty four years since the Nigerian Chief Emeka Anyaoku had the honour, it’s Africa’s turn to once again produce the next secretary general of the Commonwealth in October, according to the rotational rooster of its secretariat.
The three contenders for the prestigious position are Mamadou Tangara, current foreign affairs minister of The Gambia, Ghanaian lawyer and diplomat Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey and Senator Joshua Setipa of Lesotho, who still works at the Commonwealth Secretariat.
The Commonwealth’s 56 members will vote for one from among the trio to replace outgoing secretary general Patricia Scotland at the next Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Samoa between 21-27 October, 2024.
Exactly one month before the seminal event, the stakes could never be higher as Ghana and her smaller African rivals Gambia and Lesotho go on the hunt for that ringing endorsement to lead this organisational relic owing its existence to Britain’s troubling colonial legacy but somehow still defying earlier scrutinies predicting its eventual demise.
The winner would bask in the honour and prestige reserved for leading a body which has grown from a moribund club of former British colonies into a bloc which in recent years had managed to bring into its fold other nations without any colonial baggage linked to Britain.
Tangara, Setipa and Botchwey are hoping to follow in the big foosteps of Mr. Anyaoku, the only African to have led the bloc for ten years between 1990 and 2000.
As the race heats up to lead this organisation of mainly English-speaking countries and a sprinkling of other members outside of the British colonial loop, the stellar backgrounds and rich careers of the three speak to the stringent demand for high standard which the Commonwealth has come to represent.
Despite their disparate backgrounds, the three seem to share a common conviction to rebrand the Commonwealth away from memories of the rapine plunder which colonialism witnessed to the visage of a modern club bridging cultural differences, increasing understanding and fostering economic progress for the citizens of its member nations.
Tangara who speaks immaculate French, is one of the longest-serving of diplomats in the world today, having served as foreign minister under Yahya Jammeh, a position he still holds under the former president’s immediate successor Adama Barrow.
He is the holder of master’s degrees from France’s University of Limoges and the University of Louvain (UCLouvain) in Belgium. The former University of The Gambia lecturer is the holder of a PhD in the Social Sciences.[
Born in the same year that his country attained independence in 1965, Tangara sees this coincidence as symbolic of the hand of fate tying him to one of the living vestiges of a past to which his country owes its existence as an entity and by extension the wider Commonwealth family which shares this common heritage.
As a thin sliver of land hemmed in by Francophone Senegal save a short coastline yawning into the Atlantic Ocean, The Gambia in an act of self-preservation for an ‘improbable nation’, sought membership of the Commonwealth, joining it the same day it gained independence on 18th February 1965 and becoming a UN member in September of that year.
According to Mr Tangara, the organisation’s relevance in the world today has become more distinct over the intervening decades thanks to the Commonwealth’s cultural and historical significance for members who have grown in number, its diversity thanks to the inclusion of countries such as Gabon, Togo, Rwanda and Mozambique seen as its strength. These latter members have little or no colonial ties to Britain and her immediate sphere of diplomatic influence but maybe found it a good enough club to join.
To serve his campaign well Tangara has naturally kept to the same hymn sheet singing praises to the Commonwealth despite the curious irony of being his country’s foreign minister when she withdrew from the bloc 11 years ago.
”From witnessing the history of the Commonwealth’s role in bringing about the collapse of the apartheid system in South Africa, which is regarded as one of the most remarkable achievements of the Commonwealth, to the ringing affirmation of the formidable role the organisation has played in advancing the post-independence developmental aspirations of The Gambia. This has manifested in the areas of education, democratisation and promoting fundamental human rights” Tangara tells a Commonwealth journal which runs a profile of the candidates.
”One key example is advancing the administration of justice in The Gambia through the provision of technical assistance for Judges and the judiciary, recalling the Commonwealth’s credibility as an organisation of principles anchored in advancing the lives of humanity at large” he adds.
He has not been short of overseas admirers.
Writing for the online publication ModernDiplomacy, Dr Mathew Pajares Yngson, describes Tangara as something of a dark horse in the race who ”does not fit the mold of the world’s top diplomats who typically garner attention from mainstream media…Unlike the polished demeanor of US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, the vibrant personality of UK Foreign Minister David Lammy, or the charisma and humor of former Nigerian Foreign Minister Geoffrey Onyeama, Dr. Tangara presents himself as a very serious individual, which is reflective of his character”.
Dr Yngson, a member of the Caribbean ASEAN Council, and Diplomatic Affairs Envoy of the Eastern Caribbean-Southeast Asia Chamber believes Tangara’s virtues and qualities ”align perfectly with the needs of the Commonwealth to make a global impact.
He says these qualities include a strong sense of realism and irrepressible wit.
”Dr. Tangara possesses a deep understanding of the issues that hinder the growth and influence of the Commonwealth and is committed to collaborating with his team from the outset to devise effective solutions” he points out concluding that the organisation should consider itself lucky to have someone of the Gambian diplomat’s ilk running to lead it.
However, Mr Tangara faces a backlash in the form of a vociferous opposition from human rights activists at home who have visited his chequered past under Jammeh, Gambia’s exiled former ruler blamed for gross human rights violations during his 22-year rule.
As foreign minister, Tangara was the head of Gambian diplomacy when Jammeh in a burst of whimsical energy ordered The Gambia out of the Commonwealth on October 2nd 2013. Captious critics have been using this against Tangara’s bid to lead the organisation. Gambian petitioners have been garnering signatures on a petition meant for current Commonwealth chair Paul Kagame over his alleged role in aiding and abetting the ”Jammeh dictatorship” at a time of egregious violations which included killings, arbitrary arrests, incarcerations, disappearances, torture and rape.
He is best remembered by his detractors for infamously going into fisticuffs with his compatriots picketing Jammeh and his entourage outside a New York hotel lobby during a trip to the UN general assembly in September 2013. One of his adversaries came off the scuffle injured and with a torn shirt as Jammeh was hastily whisked away by his US security details. A lot has passed under the proverbial bride since then but this continues to besmirch Tangara’s otherwise illustrious career in the eyes of many among his compatriots.
”It’s a case of unholy acts coming back to haunt you when you least expect it” says a neutral observer who otherwise believes Tangara should be given a chance to fly his country’s flag at a global organisation which should be giving smaller member states like The Gambia a big break to reflect the multi-diversity and equality from within the group.
Although he has to contend with Ms. Botchwey, a fellow West African for votes in the region, garnering support elsewhere may carry more weight in numbers especially in East Africa where Commonwealth members (8) outnumber those in West Africa (4). It remains to be seen whether Commonwealth members in Asia, the Caribbean and the Pacific who carry the bulk of the votes will warm to his personality. Tangara might have recognised that there is fairly little for him to play for in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) whose votes Lesotho’s Joshua Setipa has sown up while casting his proverbial fishing net beyond his home region. SADC boasts of 11 members of the Commonwealth.
Seen as a leading light in his country, the erudite politician embodies the hope and aspirations of the entire SADC region on his bid to lead the Commonwealth, a bloc he believes was founded on the principles of unity in cultural diversity, understanding, tolerance and universal human rights.
Setipa served Lesotho in various capacities including as trade minister and is a respected veteran with international bodies including the World Bank. His backers including Lesotho Prime Minister Sam Matekane’s government believes he fits the profile demanded by the position.
He holds a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Public Administration and Political Science from at the National University of Lesotho and a diploma in International Relations and Trade from the Australian National University. He is also an MBA holder from the University of Bradford.
His country and SADC hold that Setipa’s efficiency and integrity manifested while working with the United Nations and the World Trade Organisation makes him a natural candidate for the post.
Already, the Southern African is a known quantity within the Commonwealth Secretariat where he still serves as the Senior Director, Strategy, Portfolio, Partnerships and Digital Division. Those backing him hold that his colleagues would know what to expect from him in terms of passion, competence and accessibility.
Speaking about the 55-year-old last April Prime Minister Mpotjoane described Setipa’s candidacy as representing a milestone for Lesotho, heralding his nation’s growing clout on the international stage and giving the candidate a strategic advantage over his West African rivals.
Wooing for votes is a diplomatic chess game, usually unforgiving to the unmeticulous and faint-hearted.
SADC also expects his candidacy to initiate a shift of focus on the region as a priority area on the future agenda of the Commonwealth.
Given that Southern Africa has more countries in the Commonwealth than West Africa which has just four which would be split down the middle because of the two candidates from The Gambia and Ghana, Setipa can easily win the majority of votes in Africa, and enter the scramble for endorsement by members in Asia and the Caribbean. His candidacy is seen as the right answer to the Commonwealth’s challenges about equity among member states, big or small, rich or poor, powerful or weak.
The man who began life in Lesotho’s Foreign Service as a protocol officer many years ago engaged with the Commonwealth and in his name is the signature act of writing the proposal championing the cause of 41developing countries, 33 of which are Commonwealth members.
‘‘This proposal was instrumental in establishing a new recognised group of countries known today as the SVEs, showcasing the Commonwealth’s capacity to bring about significant change’’ he tells the Commonwealth online journal.
‘’While serving at the World Trade Organisation, I facilitated cooperation between the Commonwealth and developing member states to provide trade-related technical support, enabling them to engage effectively in the global economy under the Doha Development Agenda’’ he adds.
Like his rival Tangara who comes from a small country, Setipa says his native Lesotho’s geography presents challenges to its citizens striving to break into the global scene.
‘’When people glance at a map, they often overlook us and only see South Africa’’ he ruefully points out.
Setipa says he will bring to the position decades of experience in managing international organisations, strong political skills gained as a minister, and a profound understanding of the Commonwealth and its realities while upholding its values and principles.
He will also look to ‘’upscale the capacity of the Secretariat, work with Commonwealth-accredited organisations, and develop qualitative human capital with the relevant skills for today’s realities’’.
Perhaps no other candidate has a more personal relation with the Commonwealth than Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, the diplomat and politician who benefitted from a scholarship programme which had strengthened her understanding of human resource development ”as a vital condition for building resilience”.
She was university-trained in Ghana and the United Kingdom.
Ms. Botchwey 61 is Ghana’s foreign affairs minister since 2017 and speaks of a personal affinity with the Commonwealth, an organisation she hopes to lead with a fierce conviction which would leave a profound legacy in the form of educational exchange, uniting peoples and breaking new grounds in the socio-economic development of its 2.4 billion people, representing one third of the world’s population.
Ghanaian diplomacy is one of the most formidable in Africa and this is being deployed in full throttle to help Botchwey, the only woman in the race to win the leadership of one of the world’s most enduring organisations.
The winner would bask in the honour and prestige reserved for leading a body which has grown from a moribund club of former British colonies into a bloc which in recent years had managed to bring into its fold other nations without any colonial baggage linked to Britain.
Many see her as something of an iron lady, being not one to flinch from making tough decisions as long as the end renders it justifiable. Ghanaians got more than a hint of this when last year she demonstrated her knack for toughness by sacking a coterie of officers at the Accra passport office incriminated in corruption. It is this hard exterior that her backers expect will burnish throughout her stint as head of the Commonwealth. They reason that if the Commonwealth begs for strong leadership, it is inconceivable to look beyond her. A single mother of two, Ms Botchwey brings a touch of feminine energy into the fray given her experience as a member of the Gender and Children Committees of the Ghanaian parliament. Widely respected in some circles for being instrumental in shaping policies on gender and children which culminated in protective legislation, Botchwey will take this activism to the power circles of the Commonwealth where such issues have been gaining traction under the stewardship of past secretaries-general since the turn of the century beginning with the New Zealander Sir Don McKinnon (2000-2008).
Her chance of making the cut ahead of her male rivals while not cleanly clear-cut, she is reportedly profiting from Ghana’s diplomatic pedigree fashioned sharp since the formative years under Kwame Nkrumah whose gravitas shone beyond the immediate bounds of his country and the continent. Botchwey will face stiff competition in West Africa where her Gambian foe Mamadou Tangara has also been vigorously campaigning for the backing of Nigeria and Sierra Leone. Although the region’s paltry four ballots may not amount to a decisive count in the overall tally spanning East and Southern Africa and other countries in far flung corners of the world, the tendency to leave nothing to chance speaks to the do-or-die sensation riding on the leadership contest. The Ghanaian government thanks to its far superior diplomatic leverage over anything small Gambia and Lesotho could muster may hand Botchwey an advantage, albeit a marginal one. Wooing for votes is a diplomatic chess game, usually unforgiving to the unmeticulous and faint-hearted. The hard-nosed Botchwey may be wary of the inherent pitfalls especially in trying to fish for votes in the unfamiliar terrains of Asia, North America, the Caribbean and the Pacific.
On the sidelines of the 79th UN general assembly in New York, Botchwey has been scurrying from one diplomatic engagement to the next with counterparts from other member countries including the Singaporean foreign minister to stake her claim for the Commonwealth hot seat and deepen ties with her own country – all of this done in one fell swoop.
Although Africa may be the only winner in all this irrespective of the outcome, Botchwey’s diplomatic chess games with her two male rivals already puts the weight of expecation back on the continent which has come a long way from the 1990s to the early 2000s when one of its illustrious citizens bossed the Commonwealth.
WN/as/APA