Heads of government are expected to decide this week on the next Secretary General of the Commonwealth Secretariat in Kigali.

Although the decision will be taken by consensus, if the leaders decide not to reappoint outgoing Baroness Patricia Scotland – who served her first term for six years instead of four – a vote will take place. The pandemic forced the postponement of an election to 2020.

A Commonwealth Secretary General can serve a maximum of two terms of four years each.

“The election of the new SG is one of the most important items on the agenda. The issue was already in dispute because the current SG is seeking re-election, but many members are against her,” a diplomat said. East Africa.

The incumbent faces opposition from Jamaican Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Kamina Johnson, who has already been backed by two influential bloc members, the UK and India.

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Ms Scotland was elected to the post at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Malta in 2015 and took office on 1 April 2016, becoming the second Caribbean Secretary General and the first woman to hold the position. .

Her first term was due to end in 2020. However, all 54 member states agreed to retain her as the pandemic disrupted CHOGM’s timetable and the subsequent election of an SG.

However, Ms Scotland, who belongs to Britain’s opposition Labor Party, does not have the backing of the current Conservative government led by Prime Minister Boris Johnson. The UK, the current chair of CHOGM, is said to have led the campaign to oust him, insisting that a change of leadership is needed at the Secretariat.

The UK initially backed Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Energy, Monica Juma, who eventually pulled out of the race due to insufficient Commonwealth support. Nairobi has since publicly endorsed Ms Johnson of Jamaica.

Under surveillance

Ms Scotland has come under scrutiny from the Secretariat’s main funders – the UK, Canada, New Zealand and Australia – after external auditors KPMG reported the no -compliance with procurement procedures by the Secretariat, in particular by questioning a lucrative consultancy contract awarded to a company run by his relative. friend.

Ms Scotland argued the contract was over the edge.

In February 2020, the UK withheld its annual voluntary contribution of £4.7 million ($5.76 million), demanding that the Secretariat improve financial management. New Zealand and Australia have also suspended funding, calling for the implementation of external auditors’ recommendations.

The UK and New Zealand restored funding in March 2020 and June 2020 respectively, after a procurement review concluded that “processes have improved and are now generally well designed, with some opportunities further development”.

However, since then there have been persistent calls for a change of direction within the Secretariat.

Although it was Africa’s turn to lead the Commonwealth since Caribbean candidates had already served twice, it is unclear why Africa decided not to field a candidate.

In a May 12, 2022 statement, Jamaica said Ms Johnson’s appointment had been proposed “in a context where a change in leadership was clearly seen as desirable by member states from all regions”.

“In fact, over time, two Member States [Kenya and Tuvalu] announced their candidacies for the position of General Secretary, signaling the continuation of change by two regions [Africa and the Pacific]. Kenya’s candidacy was recently withdrawn, with hopes expressed that another candidate would come forward.

Ms Johnson’s candidacy has now left Caribbean member countries under Caricom, who previously endorsed Ms Scotland, sharply divided.

In a statement released on May 17, Belizean Prime Minister John Briceno, who is also the chairman of the 15-member regional grouping, said “Community member states will vote for the candidate of their choice.”

Observers say that since the Caribbean is divided, Africa, whose turn it was to serve, will influence the outcome of the election.

The candidates

Baroness Patricia Scotland is a British lawyer and has held many ministerial positions in the UK government, including as Attorney General for England and Wales and Solicitor General for Northern Ireland.

At the 2015 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, she was elected as the sixth Secretary General of the Commonwealth of Nations. She is the first woman to hold the position.

Kamina Johnson-Smith became Jamaica’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade in 2016. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in French and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of the West Indies. She also holds an LLM in Commercial Law from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

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