BARONESS Patricia Scotland has been re-elected as Commonwealth Secretary-General defeating Jamaica’s Kamina Johnson Smith during an election at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) confab held in Kigali, Rwanda, on Friday.

Baroness Scotland received 27 votes while Kamina Johnson Smith received 24 votes.
Born in Dominica and raised in the United Kingdom, Scotland had a career as a lawyer and politician before taking up the post of Secretary-General of the Commonwealth in 2016.

Her first term was scheduled to end in 2020; however, the 54-member states agreed to retain her as the pandemic prevented the hosting of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting where SGs are elected.
Speaking after her reappointment, Secretary-General Scotland said she was humbled by the confidence of the bloc.

“It is deeply humbling to have been reappointed as Secretary-General of this great Commonwealth. To continue to serve our family of nations is a true honour and a privilege and I will do so to the best of my ability. We will face the world’s challenge with unity and purpose,” she said.

“To seek high office is a profound act of service and I want to commend my colleagues who also sought to serve. The Commonwealth is richer for the breadth and depth of talented leaders who dedicate themselves to our family of nations,” the Baroness continued.

At the UK’s Home Office, Scotland was in charge of international relations and represented the UK in various international discussions, including those involving extradition.
In her remarks at Friday’s CHOGM in Kigali, the Baroness expressed her determination to take up the role for another cycle.

“I’m determined that when the role of Secretary-General rotates to Africa two years from now I will hand on the baton with a stronger and more effective, powerful Commonwealth than ever before,” the SG said ahead of her re-election.

According to reports, Scotland was the first black woman to be appointed a Queen’s Counsel (QC). At age 35, she was also the youngest woman ever to be made a QC and the first black woman to be appointed Deputy High Court Judge, Recorder and Master of Middle Temple.

She joined the House of Lords in 1997 as Baroness Scotland of Asthal and served as a minister in the Foreign Office, Home Office and Lord Chancellor’s Department.
She undertook a major reform of the criminal justice system, including the introduction of the Domestic Violence Crime and Victims Act.

Scotland was appointed Attorney General of the UK in 2007, the first woman to hold the post since it was created in 1315.
She founded the Eliminate Domestic Violence Global Foundation in 2011 and was later appointed Prime Ministerial Trade Envoy to South Africa in 2012.

She was elected as the Alderman of Bishopsgate in the City of London in 2014 and was awarded Eminent Caribbean Jurists Award in 2022. (Rabindra Rooplall in Kigali, Rwanda)