The dynamics of Mmasekgoa Masire-Mwamba’s 2015 campaign for the Commonwealth’s secretary-generalship

ABSTRACT

Whereas scholarship has not focused on Botswana-Commonwealth relations, at least two Batswana have served in top leadership positions of the Commonwealth. Botswana’s Foreign Affairs minister, General Mompati Merafhe (1994–2008), became the longest serving chairperson of Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG). Mmasekgoa Masire-Mwamba served two-terms as Deputy Secretary-General from 2008 to 2014. She went on to contest the Secretary-General position in 2015 against a British candidate, and while she agonisingly lost by just two votes, the odds were stacked against her. This paper unravels the dynamics of the campaign and election held in Malta in 2015 and concludes that had President Ian Khama of Botswana not been aloof and engaged more with international organisations, Masire-Mwamba might have triumphed. Khama could have evoked Botswana’s historical links with the Caribbean, and capitalised on the sharp division and rivalry in the Caribbean Commonwealth community to get the critical votes Masire-Mwamba needed. Such an analysis accords with some Caribbean perspectives. Interestingly, Botswana was ingloriously linked to the Caribbean when Khama’s government was accused of having plagiarised Jamaica’s 50^th anniversary independence logo for Botswana’s golden jubilee celebration in 2016.

KEYWORDS:

• Commonwealth election
• Botswana candidate
• the Caribbean
• ‘turns’

Introduction

As a small and weak country in the turbulent Southern African region, Botswana followed a prudent foreign policy that was anchored on principle (Masire, 2006), peace and development which earned the country praise internationally (Sekgoma, 1998). At independence in 1966 the country was entirely surrounded by hostile White minority-ruled South Africa, Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) and South West Africa (Namibia) controlled by apartheid South Africa. Despite the impoverished Botswana being almost entirely dependent on South Africa for economic and infrastructural development, the country was an open critic of the apartheid system and its denial to the Black majority of political and economic rights. Botswana supported liberation movement groups in Rhodesia and South Africa as well as international economic and arms sanctions against them until the black majority attained power in the two countries in 1980 and 1994 respectively. Moreover, since attaining independence from Britain in 1966 Botswana remained a liberal democracy holding elections regularly within the five-year period stipulated in its Constitution. This was at a time when one party dictatorships and military rule were common on the African continent. Botswana also pursued a macroeconomic management that led to the country’s progressive economic development driven by efficient diamond mining. The result was provision of social amenities in the form of education, water, health, communication and social protection that lifted a significant number of Batswana from abject poverty. Therefore, the country was hailed by international observers as ‘an African success story’ (Acemoglu et al., 2003) and ‘an African miracle’ (Samatar, 1999).

Botswana pursued a multilateral foreign policy and diplomacy through membership in numerous international organisations such as the United Nations, the Commonwealth, African Union (AU), Southern African Development Community (SADC) and others (Lekoa, 2019). The country earned a reputation for rarely defaulting in paying her membership subscription to international organisations. The British played a critical role in the economic development of Botswana as investors through their Commonwealth Development Corporation (CDC) which started projects in Botswana in the 1950s (Makgala & Malebang, n.d.) and aid at independence.

However, there has been a blemish to Botswana’s seemingly impeccable record. While the country stood firm against apartheid and even endorsed sanctions against South Africa including international sporting activities, the government of Botswana allowed the Trans-Kalahari motor race dominated by white South African participants to take place in Botswana from 1975 to 1981 (Makgala, 2019). This was against the Commonwealth’s 1977 Gleneagles Agreement which banned member states from engaging in sporting activities with South Africa. The race had taken place in Botswana annually ‘under the radar’ until 1981 when Guyana in South America/Caribbean protested to the Commonwealth Secretary-General, Sir Shridath Ramphal (Guyanese), against a British cricketer Robin Jackman playing in the British cricket team on a tour of Guyana despite having previously played in South Africa against the Gleneagles Agreement. Botswana had no choice but dodge reputation-damaging international opprobrium by quietly beating a hasty retreat on hosting the motor race in response to the widespread publicity generated by Guyana’s ban of the British cricketer (Makgala, 2019).

The emergence of post-Apartheid South Africa under the presidency of the hugely popular Nelson Mandela in 1994 eclipsed Botswana in terms of international standing and popularity. Botswana also faced serious international condemnation following the government’s forced removal of the vulnerable Basarwa (Bushmen) from their ancestral Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR) to places outside the reserve in 1998 and 2002 on the pretext of providing them with social amenities while the real reason was diamond mining (Good, 2008; Kiema, 2010). So controversial was the removal that a London-based non-governmental organisation, Survival International, put up a spirited campaign against the Government of Botswana even branding the country’s life blood (diamonds) ‘Blood diamonds’ (Taylor & Mokhawa, 2003), and also called for an international boycott of Botswana’s tourism sector (Survival International, 2010).

Poverty and economic inequality remained quite high in Botswana (United Nations Development Programme [UNDP], 2021; World Bank, 2015). Efforts at diversifying the economy away from overdependence on the non-renewable diamonds have been lacklustre; unemployment has risen to over 20% by the second decade of the new millennium. The overwhelming domination of the economy by people of foreign origin through state capture despite the government’s refrain of ‘citizen economic empowerment’ frustrated marginalised indigenous citizens to whom the country became ‘an African mirage’ (Magang, 2015). Only one political party, the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), has been in power since independence in 1966 rendering the country a dominant-party democracy. The ruling BDP is quite resistant to calls for meaningful constitutional reforms for empowerment of marginalised groups (Makgala & Malila, 2022).

Botswana’s star began to fade even further with the presidency of General Ian Khama starting in 2008. The country experienced an upsurge in erosion of civil liberties, elite corruption and mismanagement, widespread fear of the intelligence agencies and extrajudicial killings, as well as suppression of independent media (Botswana Manual Workers Union, 2016; Makgala & Malila, 2022). Happy Planet Index (2012) and subsequent ones reported that Batswana were among the unhappiest people globally. Moreover, the country adopted an adversarial foreign policy claiming a moral high ground by openly condemning countries whose governments and leaders were seen as dictatorial such as Zimbabwe, Sudan and Syria among others while at the same time embracing countries such as Swaziland and Malawi with despotic leaderships (Malila & Molebatsi, 2014). Botswana’s approach in this respect was denounced as inconsistent and amounting to grandstanding (Jordaan, 2019).

While many African countries denounced the International Criminal Court (ICC) complaining that it mainly targeted African leaders, Khama openly supported the ICC and threatened to help arrest those African leaders on its wanted list. The Khama administration even had a showdown with China and the Obama administration in the United States, and also condemned the Trump administration’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. President Trump threatened to withdraw aid to Botswana and other countries for such criticism. China was even reported to have responded by briefly closing its embassy in Gaborone in 2016 after Khama’s administration condemned controversial Chinese geopolitical involvement in the South China Sea. The government also tried to invite the Dalai Lama to Gaborone in 2017 angering China which treats him as a Tibetan separatist leader. Khama was also in a habit of not attending meetings and summits of international organisations such as the United Nations’ General Assembly, and the African Union gatherings. He also rarely attended Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), with the one held in Perth, Australia, in October 2011 being one of the very few he did show up at. His non-attendance of AU summits was believed to have cost a Botswana contestant, Pelonomi Venson-Moitoi, success in the AU chairperson contest in late 2016 and early 2017 according to President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe (Kaelo, 2017).

Nevertheless, Botswana still enjoyed residual international respect as witnessed by the country becoming a non-permanent member of the United Nations’ Security Council for one year in 1995. Botswana’s foreign affairs minister, General Mompati Merafhe, so impressed President Nelson Mandela that the latter recommended him to become chairperson of Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) from 1998 to 2004; the CMAG’s mandate is to enforce democratic and constitutional rule in Commonwealth member states (Merafhe, 2015). With further endorsement from another leader whom he also impressed, Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain, Merafhe served for six consecutive years making him the longest serving chairperson in the CMAG’s history (Merafhe, 2015). In 2008 Mmasekgoa Masire-Mwamba was appointed deputy secretary-general of the Commonwealth by Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma; she even secured a second term which ended in 2014.

The Commonwealth Secretariat and election of the Secretary-General

The Commonwealth consists of 56 mainly former British colonies or territories in Africa, Asia, South America, the Caribbean, Europe and the Pacific with a few former non-British colonies welcomed into the fold. The official Commonwealth website states that as a purely voluntary organisation or association without a formal constitutional structure, and independent states joining based on equal partnership

[i]t works from understood procedures, traditions, and periodic statements of belief or commitment to action. Intergovernmental consultation is its main source of direction, enabling member governments to collaborate to influence world events, and setting up programmes carried out bilaterally or by the Commonwealth Secretariat, the association’s main executive agency … The emphasis on equality has helped the association to play leading roles in decolonisation, combating racism and advancing sustainable development in poor countries.

However, critics have labelled the Commonwealth a neo-colonial arrangement for the British to hold on to their former colonies and territories which, while exercising a degree of political independence, remained tied to the former colonial master with considerable economic control by the latter. At times the British government also supported or tolerated racist white minority regimes such as apartheid South Africa where British investment was significant. This led to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher of Britain (1979–1990) branding the leading South African liberation movement African National Congress (ANC) a ‘terrorist group’ (McSmith, 2013). She was also opposed to the imposition of sanctions against the apartheid regime owing to her country’s considerable economic interests in South Africa.

The Commonwealth prides itself in executing its work through a continuous consultative process at numerous levels. For instance, we are informed that ‘Heads of Government meet regularly, as well as ministers responsible for education, environment, finance, foreign affairs, gender affairs, health, law, tourism and youth. Other ministers and senior officials meet from time to time. Consultation over particular Commonwealth programmes brings together the heads of leading institutions and policy-making officials. These regular discussions and meetings ensure that Commonwealth policies and programmes represent the views of members, and also give Commonwealth governments an understanding of each other’s problems’ (The Commonwealth Health Online, 2020). It is also indicated that ‘ … there is the work of some 100 Commonwealth organisations which promote international cooperation in a particular professional, cultural or welfare context’.

The Commonwealth Secretariat, which is located in London, UK, was established in 1965 for facilitation of consultation and cooperation between the governments of member states. It is also responsible for arranging summits, meetings of ministers and technical discussions in addition to policy development for social and economic development of members states (The Commonwealth Health Online, 2020). The head of the Commonwealth Secretariat is the Secretary-General who gets into office through election by Heads of Government for two terms of four years each. The Secretary-General has two Deputy Secretaries-General.

Canadian diplomat Arnold Smith was elected as the first Secretary-General by acclamation in 1965 for a period of five years after which he immediately served another five-year term. He was succeeded by the Guyanese Sir Shridath (Sonny) Ramphal also through acclamation with Canada providing strong support, and he served three five-year terms (Robinson, 2017). Subsequent Secretaries-General got into office through an election:

As Sonny Ramphal’s final term drew to a close two possible candidates emerged, namely Chief Emeka Anyaoku and Malcolm Fraser, and it became clear that an election would be necessary at the 1989 CHOGM. Both candidates campaigned vigorously for the post, and it was apparent that African member countries felt it was time for a Secretary-General to emerge from their continent. Chief Anyaoku was well known because of his years as Deputy Secretary-General, followed by a short period as Foreign Minister of Nigeria (which came to an abrupt end because of a military coup, after which he had returned to his old role as Deputy Secretary-General). Malcolm Fraser was also well known as he had chaired the Melbourne CHOGM and had been a forceful Prime Minister in the context of Commonwealth affairs … . [T]he issue had to be settled at the ensuing CHOGM, where it is believed a straw poll was used for the first time, and Chief Anyaoku emerged as the clear winner and was then elected unanimously after Malcolm Fraser’s nomination was withdrawn. After that, the UK Prime Minister John Major persuaded colleagues that two terms were enough for any Secretary-General and that four years were better than five in that each term could encompass two CHOGMs (Robinson, 2017).

The election process is such that ‘Candidates must be proposed by a Head of Government, the decision is taken as a first item of closed business, straw polls are held until one candidate receives 50% plus one and the others have had their names withdrawn by their proposers’ (Robinson, 2017).

Candidates’ profiles and campaign in Malta

The election at the Malta CHOGM in late November 2015 had three candidates with strong backing from their supporters. There were two female candidates namely Masire-Mwamba of Botswana and British citizen Baroness (Patricia) Scotland originally from the Caribbean island nation of Dominica as well as a male candidate, Sir Ronald Sanders, who hailed from another Caribbean island nation, Antigua and Barbuda. Masire-Mwamba and Baroness Scotland were the first women to contest for the Secretary-General position. Masire-Mwambe is the major focus of this paper. Masire-Mwamba is the daughter of Botswana’s second President, Sir Ketumile Masire (1980–1998). She was appointed Deputy Secretary-General by the Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma (from India) in April 2008. Secretary-General Sharma said that ‘I am truly delighted to be able to make this appointment. From an exceptional field of candidates from six countries, Masire-Mwamba offered a wealth of experience in a broad range of areas of our work. I am confident that the Commonwealth will benefit enormously from the significant contribution that Masire-Mwamba will make’ (Mmegi, 2008). She ended her service as Commonwealth’s Deputy Secretary-General in May 2014. She led the political, human rights, legal and youth portfolio of the Commonwealth Secretariat’s responsibilities. She also oversaw the Commonwealth Secretariat’s Corporate Services Division, Human Resources Section and the Human Rights Unit. According to her portfolio:

She also represented the Commonwealth on global development and democracy issues. As the most senior woman in the organisation, she actively encouraged women as agents of change, in leadership and at different levels throughout the Commonwealth. She … has extensive management experience in technical, development and the diplomatic fields. She was previously the Chief-Executive Officer at the Botswana Export Development and Investment Authority (BEDIA), Botswana’s national Investment Promotion Agency. Mmasekgoa’s role included attracting Foreign Direct Investment and promoting national exports as a key to diversifying the economy from diamond mining. Her top priority was to promote Botswana as a premium investment destination. There was need to refocus and profile Botswana’s image, differentiating and branding Botswana, something for which Mmasekgoa had a lot of passion. She initiated and successfully managed the process of Branding Botswana. Her engineering and commercial experience at the Botswana Telecommunications Corporation (BTC) placed her at the forefront of addressing challenges of the digital divide. She gained an appreciation of the pivotal role that telecommunications and information communication technology play in addressing the broad economic objectives. Almost 16 years after joining BTC, she emerged as one of the most influential female executives’ and continued to apply her skills and experiences in a broad range of economic fields … . She has also served on various boards and community service institutions in the fields of tourism, business, civil aviation, and banking among others. (Masire-Mwamba, n.d.)

She was also the UK Business Development Manager for the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation. Understandably, it was reported that the SADC, which is headquartered in Botswana’s capital Gaborone, endorsed Masire-Mwamba at meetings of its Council of Ministers. According to the Botswana Guardian (2015), ‘Botswana’s campaign for Masire-Mwamba is led by President Ian Khama who takes advantage of every platform to canvass votes for her. In June Khama launched a campaign for Masire-Mwamba to become the next Secretary General of the Commonwealth’.

Personally, history was on Khama’s side. His father, Sir Seretse Khama had married a white Englishwoman in 1948 while studying in London which greatly offended South African apartheid authorities but received overwhelming support among Blacks in the colonies including the Caribbean territories. The British government tried to protect their strategic interests in South Africa by banishing Seretse Khama into exile in Britain from 1949 to 1956. They tried to appease him with a ‘plum’ job offer in Jamaica which he declined. The massive international publicity the controversial marriage generated inspired the publication of numerous books and a biographical romantic drama movie United Kingdom based on Susan Williams’ 2007 book Colour Bar. While studying for a law degree in London, Seretse Khama became close friends with a fellow black student from Guyana, Forbes Burnham, who later became Prime Minister of his country. Ian Khama himself was born in Britain in 1953 during his father’s exile. As founding president of Botswana, Seretse Khama even made a state visit to Guyana in 1975 (Parsons et al., 1995). The legacy of this visit was an impactful impression on Seretse of the Guyanese youth national service programme which the government of Botswana introduced as Tirelo Sechaba youth national service. However, this historical link was not exploited by President Khama who did not travel outside the country to campaign for Masire-Mwamba.

Ian Khama demonstrated his aversion to the United Nations and AU summits, which he never attended (including the one in which a Botswana candidate and a long-serving cabinet minister in his cabinet, Pelonomi Venson-Moitoi, vied for the coveted chairperson position of the AU in 2016 and 2017). However, Ian Khama seemed to have something of a soft spot for Commonwealth summits. In some quarters it was opined that this was a result of his part-British ancestry. Despite being a kgosi (chief) of the historically most influential and populous Bamangwato territory/district he was seen as deculturalised as he had not been socialised into Setswana culture and had grown up speaking only the English language (Makgala et al., 2020). Botswana sociologist Sethunya Mosime observes that Seretse’s strong ties with Britain made his post-independence Botswana project a ‘decolonisation deferred’. Her argument is that ‘Seretse Khama drew from the notion of culture – to invent a neo-liberalism friendly cultural hegemony that would help maintain British support for the newly independent and economically fragile state. It would also maintain the dominance of the ruling Botswana Democratic Party, and much later lay a fertile ground for the younger Khama to be “culturally” accepted to take up the Presidency’ (Mosime, 2020, p. 188). As noted above Ian Khama attended the 2011 CHOGM in Perth, and in June 2015 hosted the Commonwealth Local Government Conference in Gaborone in which he gave a keynote speech and canvassed support for Masire-Mwamba.

She got her campaign to a good start with the government support as a reporter from the government owned Daily News said:

The cadence has almost gained momentum as three of Ms Masire-Mwamba’s competitors from the Caribbean community are yet to decide on who among them represents the bloc in the run for the secretary-generalship of the 54 [sic] member multi-lateral institution (Motsamai, 2015).

It was further noted that ‘Botswana is not leaving anything to chance: apart from bilaterally lobbying other countries for support, President Lt Gen. Seretse Khama Ian Khama pushed for Ms Masire-Mwamba’s endorsement during Commonwealth Local Government Conference in Gaborone last June [2015]. This week, the business community, family, friends and well-wishers gathered at Phakalane-Golf Estate [in Gaborone] to lend support to Botswana’s nomination of Ms Masire-Mwamba as the candidate for Commonwealth Secretary General position’ (Motsamai, 2015). For her part, Masire-Mwamba said that she would be travelling to engage with the Caribbean and other Commonwealth member states to share her vision while also soliciting their support. She also aimed to approach all High Commissions in London for a vote at the election billed for 27–29 November 2015 in Malta. The Botswana embassy in Sweden, a non-Commonwealth European country, also lent support to the Masire-Mwamba campaign (Botswana Guardian, 2015).

It was noted that ‘Masire-Mwamba will be the first woman to be elected Secretary General of Commonwealth and the second African after Chief Emeka Anyaoku’ (Weekend Post, 2015). In drumming up support for Masire-Mwamba the Weekend Post (2015), an independent newspaper in Botswana noted that:

The election of Masire-Mwamba as the Secretary General will also afford her the opportunity to have a seat at the United Nations, as an observer, which is good for us as a country and as a continent. Having an African representative at the UN adds an alternative view to that of the heads of states and other delegates.

We must also be confident that as a country, we have been ranked as one of the best democracies, and a country which is transparent and has a good governance system in place. This should be the basis for which Masire-Mwamba must be elected for.

Masire-Mwamba is conversant with issues relating to the politics of Africa, not only because she is the daughter of former head of state, Sir Ketumile Masire but because of the sacrifices she personally made for the love of her country and continent.

We should as a country and continent continue to strongly lobby for her support and favour of her election [sic]. Many nations believe in Botswana and we should believe in our people as well and afford them opportunities.

This sentiment can be attributed to patriotism and nostalgia on the part of the local newspaper because as noted above the Khama administration became notorious for declining governance indicators characterised by human rights abuses, and for growing corruption and mismanagement. International watchdog institutions which had previous lauded Botswana also became apprehensive about the country’s governance.

Interestingly, while African representation narrowed down to Masire-Mwamba, in the Caribbean a divisive rivalry emerged between two candidates in the form of Sir Ronald Sanders from Antigua and Barbuda and Baroness Scotland originally from Dominica. She had migrated to Britain at the age of two and this did not sit well with some sections in the English-speaking Caribbean. She is a former Attorney-General in the Labour government and is currently a sitting member of the House of Lords. She was made a Queen’s Counsel (QC) in 1991 and went on to become a Minister of State at the Home Office in 2003. From 1999 to 2001, Scotland was the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Bowcott, 2015). There ‘emerged a revealing and challenging issue on “nationality” qualification for [the Caribbean] candidates’ (Singh, 2015). Noted Guyana-born Caribbean journalist, Rickey Singh, observed that:

While, for instance, accepting that someone may have multiple nationalities, Baroness Scotland’s detractors argue that for all intent and purposes ‘in fact and in law she is currently British … She has lived by far the greatest part of her life in Britain’ … Further, she still resides in Britain with her family – husband and children (all British); she has homes in Britain; pays her taxes in Britain; her law practice is in Britain. She has been a member of the British government and still serves the interests of the government as a lawmaker in Britain.

Therefore, according to established laws, norms and practices being advanced by her detractors, Baroness Scotland’s bid for election as the new Commonwealth Secretary General, as a citizen of Dominica ‘could and should’ be seriously challenged at next month’s summit in Malta. So, stay tuned (Singh, 2015).

Whereas Dominica backed her candidature it was reported to have sparked a fierce inter-Caribbean rivalry with her Catholic faith also questioned even a few days before the election in November 2015. For instance, European reporter Owen Bowcott said:

One news website, Caribbean News Now!, has questioned whether Scotland would have to resign from her position as Dame of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of St George, an organisation that promotes Catholicism, if she became head of a secular Commonwealth whose estimated population of 2.4 billion encompasses multiple religions. One issue likely to feature at Friday’s meeting is the persistence of laws criminalising homosexuality in many Commonwealth countries. A report by the Human Dignity Trust, which campaigns for repeal of such laws, accuses the colonial era regulations of ‘encouraging mob violence, boosting rates of HIV infection, [and] hindering economic development’. It adds that 40 of the 53 [sic] Commonwealth member states still criminalise consensual same-sex sexual relations between adults – that is over half of more than 75 jurisdictions worldwide where homosexuality is considered illegal (Bowcott, 2015).

The diplomat Sir Ronald Sanders was the Antigua and Barbuda’s incumbent Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the United States and the Organisation of American States. He had twice been High Commissioner to the United Kingdom for his country and Ambassador to the World Trade Organisation. With an MA in International Relations, he was reported to be an international business consultant and writer, and he had been knighted by Queen Elizabeth in 2002 (The Commonwealth, 2015). He was also currently a senior fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies in London. It was reported that he had officially chalked up nine votes among the eligible dozen within Caribbean Community (CARICOM), ‘with a possibility of another assured vote shortly before heading to some African states’ (Singh, 2015).

The election and its aftermath

While Scotland, Masire-Mwamba and Sanders carried out gruelling campaigns ‘ … the ultimate decision was made at the beginning of CHOGM in Malta through a series of straw polls’ (Robinson, 2017). What are considered reliable sources indicate that the first round of voting saw Masire-Mwamba garner 24 votes 18 of which were believed to have come from the African block and the rest from some of the Asian representatives (Stabroek News, 2015). The same source noted that Baroness Scotland clinched 16 votes probably from her native Dominica, Barbados, UK, Australia, Cyprus, Malta, Canada, New Zealand and the Pacific nations. With Sir Ronald Sanders trailing with just 13 votes believed to be from the rest of the Caribbean he had no choice but to drop out of the race. The second round of voting between the two women was said to have been so stiff that the election took longer than expected (Sansone, 2015). However, Baroness Scotland gained 10 of Sanders’ votes which helped raise her tally to 26 and managed to overturn Masire-Mwamba’s 24, hence losing by a thin margin of just two votes. The remaining three votes for Sanders were suspected to have either been abstentions or spoilt (Stabroek News, 2015). The Caribbean members were blamed for their failure to ‘agree on a single regional consensus candidate for the post, which might well have pre-empted the nomination of the Botswana candidate. This was most unfortunate’ (Stabroek News, 2015).

Award-winning Nigerian journalist and author Kayode Soyinka writing in 2019 provides an interesting post-Malta CHOGM election perspective which smacked of neo-colonial agenda on the part of the British officialdom:

Many African leaders were displeased by the way that Patricia Scotland got elected as Secretary-General of the Commonwealth in Malta in 2015. But the truth be told, Africans only have themselves to blame for the choice of Baroness Scotland by putting forward a candidate of their own for whom, eventually, they could not get enough support, and at a time when it was the widely held view in Commonwealth circles that it was the turn of the Caribbean, not Africa, to produce a S-G … .

The popular Caribbean candidate who had the endorsement of 10 of the 12 Commonwealth Caribbean countries was Sir Ronald Sanders. The British government, however, wanted a S-G over whom they could exercise influence, particularly as they were concerned about the successor to Queen Elizabeth as Head of the Commonwealth. They desperately wanted Prince Charles to succeed his mother. Had the headship shifted away from the British Monarchy, it would have been a blow to the pride of the British Government. Therefore, the British Government persuaded the Government of Dominica to act as a surrogate for Britain in nominating Baroness Scotland …

In addition to wanting to influence the incoming S-G over the headship of the Commonwealth, the British Government also wanted to retain their influence over the agenda of the Commonwealth, having experienced S-Gs who had asserted the independence of the Secretariat from Whitehall and favouring direction from a broader range of Commonwealth leaders (Soyinka, 2019).

Soyinka further indicates that ‘According to Sanders [he] had received firm indications of support from African governments, including the Presidents of Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya and Tanzania. But, Mmasekgoa Masire-Mwamba of Botswana … [had] decided to run for the post, even though it was not Africa’s turn – a point that even many African governments had accepted’. ‘However’, continues Soyinka, ‘their efforts failed to persuade Botswana not to persist with its candidate, even though they emphasised that this would break solidarity with the Caribbean and probably rupture the strong co-operation between the two regions’. He further writes that ‘The Botswana candidate won greater support from African countries at the last minute, largely because Nkosazana Clarice Dlamini-Zuma, the South African Foreign Minister, was Chair of the African Union Commission. In the absence of [South African] President Jacob Zuma, who had personally pledged his support for Sanders, she persuaded some African Foreign Ministers to stand behind an African candidate, particularly a woman. She was joined in this last-ditch effort by Amina Chawahir Mohamed Jibril, Secretary for Foreign Affairs of Kenya, whose President Uhuru Kenyatta also did not attend the Conference and who had personally given Sanders his support’. We are further told that:

In the meantime, the British had marshalled the support of the ‘old’ Commonwealth countries behind its ‘Caribbean’ candidate, Baroness Scotland. Prime Minister David Cameron was especially active, describing the Baroness to Justin Trudeau, who was elected Prime Minister of Canada on the eve of the 2015 Malta CHOGM, as ‘one of us’. Australia was also particularly active in pressuring Pacific countries to back Scotland. At the Malta vote, Sanders polled the lowest number of votes, largely because his African supporters dwindled as a result of some key heads of government not attending the meeting, and the Pacific countries bowed to pressure from Australia. On the second run-off, several votes were deliberately spoiled by Heads of Government who supported neither of the two candidates, but Caribbean countries that had supported Sanders decided to cast their votes for the other nominal Caribbean candidate. Only one vote separated the two when the tally was taken, including several spoilt votes. Botswana called for a third vote, but the Conference Chair, the Prime Minister of Malta, and an EU colleague of David Cameron (the Brexit referendum had not yet been held), ruled the contest over (Soyinka, 2019).

Nevertheless, according to Sir Ronald Sanders (2021) ‘there is no such thing as “turns” in the rules of the Commonwealth. And, the concept of “turns” has never been used as a criterion for proposing candidates for the job. “Turns” is a contrivance utilised by governments of countries in regions of the world that have not held the post’. Nonetheless, former University of Botswana Vice Chancellor, Professor Bojosi Otlhogile, avers that ‘Despite what Sanders says turns or rotation is very much alive in international circles. Geopolitics always feature whether it’s UN, EU, AU, SADC etc. Look at all UN S-Gs they followed geopolitics throughout. It is either geography generally or language. With Masire-Mwamba it was obvious that Anyaoku had taken Africa’s turn. It had to move elsewhere. We blundered regarding Venson-Moitoi. Again geopolitics. There was no way she could win when Dlamini-Zuma (English-speaking from South Africa/SADC) was the immediate past chair’ (author’s communication with Prof. Otlhogile, 23 May 2023).

A perspective or opinion by one contributor to the Nassau Guardian of The Bahamas in the Caribbean claimed that the country’s Foreign Affairs minister, Fred Michell, had ‘implied that the candidate who had the support of the majority of Caribbean Prime Ministers, including [Prime Minister] Perry Christie [of The Bahamas], Sir Ronald Sanders … was flawed and therefore deserved to lose. The Baroness Patricia Scotland of the UK did the Caribbean a favour by standing and agreeing to serve as Secretary General of the Commonwealth’ (The Graduate, 2015). While the hostility may have been a result of the division and rivalry in CARICOM as noted earlier, it is interesting to note the contributor’s support for Masire-Mwamba:

But the Minister knows better and ought to be scolded for his clumsy attempt to spin the situation to his liking. If one follows the Minister’s logic that Sir Ronald was flawed then he ought to have advised Perry Christie to throw our support behind the African candidate in the race, not the British one. After all, she too is a woman. And her credentials are beyond reproach. The waters of Caribbean unity are so muddied by the bungling of this election that even the Baroness Scotland had to take to radio in Antigua to ‘ham up’ her Caribbean credentials. She went further and said, essentially, that because she is a black woman she is simultaneously Africa’s candidate for the job of Secretary General. … One can just about hear the true-true African candidate … Mmasekgoa Masire-Mwamba of Botswana fall off her chair laughing … .

The Caribbean didn’t help its own cause with multiple candidates in the race. Dr. Bhoe Tewarie, a minister under the former People’s Partnership government in Trinidad and Tobago; Sir Ronald Sanders and, of course, Baroness Scotland. Smartly, the new Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Dr. Keith Rowley, withdrew Dr. Tewarie in the interest of Caribbean unity and backed Sir Ronald. Many lobbied the Dominicans to withdraw the Baroness. It is doubtful that Fred [Michell] was one of them (The Graduate, 2015).

The Graduate also said that prior to the imposition of Baroness Scotland, Britain had tried a candidate of Guyanese origin and also a member of the House of Lords, Baroness (Valerie) Amos of Brondesbury (a suburb of London), but the then President Donald Ramotar of Guyana saw through the imperial machination as he ‘demurred saying she had no ties to the Caribbean and was not “Caribbean enough”.’ It was also the no-nonsense Guyana that banned a British cricketer, Robin Jackman, from playing test cricket in Guyana in 1981 because he had violated the Commonwealth’s Gleneagles Agreement of 1977. The Graduate went on to give several examples of failure by the Caribbean nations at unity among which was ‘The ill-fated West Indies Federation [which] splintered when Jamaica decided not to play ball back in 1962’. At any rate, the hitherto divided ‘Dominica’s politicians closed ranks and congratulated Baroness Patricia Scotland’ (Pride, 2015) on her victory. Incidentally, Botswana, led by President Khama, would celebrate its 50^th anniversary of independence in 2016 with a logo controversially claimed to have been plagiarised from Jamaica’s logo for its 50^th anniversary in 2012 (Makgala et al., 2016).

Interestingly, after Khama’s Vice President, Mokgweetsi Masisi, replaced him as President in April 2018, the two immediately fell out as Masisi reversed many of Khama’s unpopular measures. He even travelled to China and Zimbabwe to mend fences after relations were strained by Khama’s rhetorical posturing. Masisi also visited countries in the SADC region to canvass support for a top Botswana civil servant, Elias Magosi, vying for the coveted Executive-Secretary of the regional body (Magosi triumphed). Masisi had learned the lessons of Batswana candidates failing to make it in the contests for the Commonwealth and AU top posts owing to the Khama’s aloofness – an attitude which the Botswana Manual Workers Union (2016) said made him think he was above such international institutions. Nevertheless, Professor Otlhogile observes that ‘Elias Magosi too benefitted from the language factor. SADC had gone full circle – from English (Simba Makoni from Zimbabwe) to Portuguese/French speaking Stergomena Lawrence Tax. So, we were back to English. And BW [Botswana], the host, had never contested’.

Conclusion

The paper has demonstrated the dynamics of campaigning and election of the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth. The focus is primarily on the road traversed by Botswana’s candidate, Masire-Mwamba, who received support from the government of President Ian Khama which, however, was not enough as Khama did not go the extra mile by physically visiting some members of the Caribbean community for their support.

Masire-Mwamba’s opponent was an equally formidable personality but most critically she had the backing of the British Government with massive influence as well as experienced diplomatic and other resources. Whereas Khama was favoured by history he did not evoke and capitalise on it as a strategy for the benefit his candidate.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).