by Linda Straker
- Ghana’s Minister for Foreign Affairs launched a bid to be next Commonwealth Secretary-General
- Ghanian president is first African president to officially visit Grenada since 1980s
- Prime Minister Mitchell invited to officially visit Ghana
Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell has announced that Grenada will be supporting Ghana’s foreign affairs minister to become the next Secretary General of the Commonwealth when the election is held in October.
Earlier this month, Ghana’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey launched a bid to be the next Commonwealth Secretary-General, saying she wants to see a free-trade agreement among the 56 member nations.
To date, no other contender has emerged for the top role ahead of the scheduled 22 October election. A Commonwealth Secretary-General can serve a maximum of 2 terms of 4 years each. The incumbent is Dominican Baroness Patricia Scotland whose tenure ends in October.
“I will be publicly indicating that we have pledged to the President of Ghana that we will be supporting the distinguish nomination of the foreign minister of Ghana to lead the commonwealth when that time arises,” Prime Minister Mitchell told a joint sitting of the Lower and Upper House after Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, President of Ghana, addressed the sitting.
He is the first African president to officially visit Grenada since the 1980s and is the guest of honour for the 50th Independence celebrations on 7 February. The purpose of the joint sitting was for Members of Parliament to “record fervent independence wishes to all citizens of the State of Grenada.” The sitting was preceded by a military parade and Ghana’s president inspected the guards.
In his address to the Members of Parliament, he said that the Grenada and other Caribbean people may have started as slaves but the contribution they have made to the development of the western hemisphere is matchless.
Pointing out inventions of Black people such as Voice Over IP, Close Circuit TV, and caller identification on telephones, the Ghanaian President said that people should try and think what life will be like without these accessories.
Akufo-Addo expressed his appreciation for the high standard of hospitality being experienced in Grenada and used the occasion to extend an invitation to Prime Minister Mitchell to officially visit Ghana. “I look forward to returning this hospitality in Accra, and he better hurry up and come because I am in the last year of my 2-term tenure of 8 years as Ghana’s president,” he told members of the joint sitting.
