A section of the African Leaders attending the Commonwealth Conference in London
The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) came to an end on Friday after two days of intensive meeting held behind closed doors.
Concerns were raised by some African leaders about the relevance of the existence of the Commonwealth as a body.
On Friday, President Akufo-Addo emerged from the meeting with some good news which gave a glimmer of hope. “We are very satisfied that the Commonwealth continues to be a relevant organisation and that this consensus that is built from a variety of countries, from all the different parts of the world, is an important contribution that the Commonwealth makes to global development and growth.”
At a press conference to mark the closing ceremony, the Ghanaian leader, who addressed the media together with the British Prime Minister, Theresa May; the Secretary General of the Commonwealth, Patricia Scotland and the Prime Ministers of Samoa and Granada, representing the various blocks, told journalists, “Our particular concern was the continuing relevance of the Commonwealth; the continuing relevance of the Commonwealth to the extent that it addresses the aspiration of the Commonwealth. They constitute some 60 percent of the population of the Commonwealth.”
President Akufo-Addo admitted, “The Commonwealth continues to be relevant. It is because it is able to address their key concerns; concerns about education, skills development, concerns about jobs and about the climate of freedom and democratic values that are also very extremely important to us here in the Commonwealth.”
President Akufo-Addo took the opportunity to express gratitude to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II; the British government and the Commonwealth Secretariat for what he described as “the excellent arrangements that we had, the opportunity to visit these great monuments of British civilisation, the Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle, etc.
“They provided an exceptionally conducive background for the discussions that we have had.”
From Charles Takyi-Boadu, London