Perspective: Secretary General Of The Commonwealth

May 22, 2022 | By Hopeton O’Connor-Dennie | Senator Kamina Johnson-Smith has been gaining ground on the incumbent Baroness Patricia Scotland, a Dominican. Britain, through their PM Boris Johnson has publicly thrown their support behind Senator Kamina Johnson-Smith candidature for Secretary General of the Commonwealth. He did so on Twitter.

Baroness Patricia Scotland has ended her first term of four years, but due to the pandemic and no meetings were held of the grouping, she was allowed to serve for a further two years. In June 2022 this default is likely to be regularized. We are therefore likely to have a new Secretary General.

Interpretation

Whether by error or dishonesty, the Baroness Patricia Scotland for her own reasons has said she should be allowed to finish her second four year term. She was not voted in for a second term. She is occupying the position by default. She does not know that?

Cliff Hughes, executive director of Nationwide News Network (NNN) has opined inter alia:

“Baroness Patricia Scotland is fully aware that her term has ended, but due to the pandemic she has been occupying the position of Secretary General by default. Her interpretation that she has been serving a second term is disingenuous. She is a politician”

So asserted the award winning Emmy Journalist Cliff Hughes. He was speaking to Hopeton O’Connor-Dennie of vision newspaper.

Commentary

Baroness Patricia Scotland cannot be allowed to get away with such a blatant misinterpretation of a fact which she should be clearly aware of. Scotland is a lawyer.

Dishonest

Her assertion is similar to me not knowing if I am a Canadian. If I am so ignorant of such a basic fact then it can be argued that a person so ignorant is not a fit and proper person to occupy such a high office of Secretary General of a 54 nation Commonwealth which has a vast population of almost half the world’s population. This appears to be gross dishonesty on the part of Baroness Patricia Scotland. We dismiss her interpretation as contrived and akin to an attempt at trying to mislead deliberately. Is this what she has been demonstrating, a lacked credibility, hence a vacancy for a new Secretary General?

What is your perspective? This is ours. We hope we are not unfair in our interpretation on what Baroness Patricia Scotlands’ utterance was communicating.

May the better candidate win. Integrity is nothing to gamble with. There is too much at stake. Can we take that chance? You be the he judge as usual.

Hopeton O’Connor-Dennie is a poet, elegist, author, and senior international journalist who writes for Vision newspaper.