Commonwealth members have appointed Ghana’s foreign minister, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, as the new secretary general, on the final day of the group’s summit in Samoa.

Botchwey, a former lawmaker who has served as Ghana’s foreign minister since 2017, was selected ahead of two other candidates including Dr. Mamadou Tangara, the foreign minister of Gambia and Joshua Phoho Setipa, former trade and industry minister of Lesotho. 

Botchwey said on social media that she was “truly humbled” to have been selected as the incoming secretary general, adding: “The work indeed lies ahead!”

She has supported calls for reparations for transatlantic slavery and colonialism, issues which dominated the meeting. 

In a communique released on Saturday, heads of government noted “calls for discussions on reparatory justice with regard to the transatlantic trade in enslaved Africans and chattel enslavement” and “agreed that the time has come for a meaningful, truthful and respectful conversation towards forging a common future based on equity.”