Prime Minister Hon. James Marape has congratulated Hon. Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration of Ghana, on her election as the new Secretary-Gen- eral of the Commonwealth.

Hon. Botchwey was voted in unanimously on Saturday, 26 October 2024 during the final day of CHOGM, and takes over from outgoing secretary-general, Rt. Hon. Patricia Scotland KC.

“Papua New Guinea offers its congratulations to the General-Secretary-elect, Hon. Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey. I gave our commitment to support her when she came to meet me at the last Pacific Islands Forum meeting in Tonga. We looking forward to working with her, and to see her continuing the good work that the outgoing secretary-general has done, especially in the area of climate change which has become existential threat to those of us in the Pacific.

“On the same note, I wish to offer Papua New Guinea’s gratitude to outgoing secretary-general, the Rt. Hon. Patricia Scotland, for her commitment and ser- vice to the Commonwealth of Nations. She has brought relevance once more to the Commonwealth through her efforts and we commend her for all she has done,” said the Prime Minister.