Ahead of CHOGM 2024, the three candidates for Commonwealth Secretary-General joined an event at Chatham House to share their vision for the future of the Commonwealth.

At the next Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Samoa in October 2024, the seventh Commonwealth Secretary-General will be elected. Ahead of this momentous vote, the three declared candidates for Commonwealth Secretary-General convened at Chatham House in London to present and debate their vision for the future of the Commonwealth.

Africa makes up more than a third of the Commonwealth’s 56 member states and the three declared candidates are from that Region; Mamadou Tangara of The Gambia, Shirley Botchway from Ghana and Joshua Setipa of Lesotho. The new Commonwealth Secretary-General will succeed Rt Hon. Patricia Scotland, KC, who has held the post since 2016.

Candidates faced questions from Commonwealth Parliamentarians, international organisations and civil society representatives at an event titled 'The future of the Commonwealth', moderated by broadcast journalist, Zeinab Badawi.

The debate was co-hosted by Chatham House and two key Commonwealth entities, the Commonwealth Foundation, which is the inter-governmental arm of the Commonwealth mandated to advance the interests of its 2.7 billion citizens and civil society, and the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, which works to promote parliamentary democracy and good governance throughout the Commonwealth.

The next Commonwealth Secretary-General will be pivotal in shaping the organisation’s future relevance. They must ensure its central institutions remain at the forefront of international cooperation, stay true to the Commonwealth’s values and address issues that genuinely matter to Commonwealth citizens.

Click here to watch the debate in full or view below:

Commonwealth Leaders will appoint the next Commonwealth Secretary-General at CHOGM 2024. The candidates for the role are from Lesotho, Ghana and The Gambia as the next appointee will come from the Africa Region.

In this CPA blog series, we hear from the three candidates about their aspirations for the future of the Commonwealth, what they think is the role for Commonwealth Parliamentarians and the Commonwealth’s greatest challenges today.

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The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association connects, develops, promotes and supports Parliamentarians and their staff to identify benchmarks of good governance and the implementation of the enduring values of the Commonwealth. The CPA is an international community of around 180 Commonwealth Parliaments and Legislatures working together to deepen the Commonwealth’s commitment to the highest standards of democratic governance.

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