Gambia’s foreign minister Dr Mamadou Tangara has made a strong pitch to become the next secretary general of the Commonwealth organisation. 

Dr Tangara sets out his plan to lead the 56-country organisation at a debate hosted by the Chatham House think-tank in London on Wednesday.

He is one of three African candidates vying to replace outgoing secretary general Baroness Patricia Scotland. 

The two other candidates include Shirley Botchwey, Ghana’s foreign minister and Joshua Setipa, a former trade minister for Lesotho. 

On the issue of reparations, Dr Tangara said he supports it for countries that were affected by slavery and colonisation. 

He said: “I am fully in support of reparatory justice. The Commonwealth can use its convening power to facilitate the dialogue and make it happen.”

“Financial reparations is good,” said Shirley Botchwey, Ghana’s foreign minister.

 “Whether or not the Commonwealth has a role to play will depend on the heads of government, who will give the secretary general her marching orders.”

Joshua Setipa, a former trade minister for Lesotho, added: “I support the idea of reparative justice.”  

“The Commonwealth has a long history of facilitating discussions around difficult issues.

“We’ve dealt with racism, which was even more divisive than this.”

The Commonwealth evolved from the ashes of the British empire. Its 56 members, all but four of them former British colonies, have a combined population of 2.7 billion. 

King Charles is the ceremonial head of the organisation, having taken over after the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth, who was its most enthusiastic proponent.