The Commonwealth Secretariat has given assurance that this year’s Commonwealth Heads of States and Government’s Meeting (CHOGM) scheduled for June 21st this year will take place as planned. This comes amidst global uncertainty occasioned by the Covid-19 pandemic as well as resultant measures to curb it such as travel restrictions. The meeting was initially scheduled to be held in Kigali last year but was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In an exclusive interview with The New Times, Patricia Scotland Commonwealth Secretary-General said that they are committed to having the meeting held in Kigali as a face to face meeting. Scotland is in the country for a three day visit to review preparatory activities as well as engage various industry stakeholders. “We are committed to having CHOGM in Kigali Rwanda in June. The world has gone through the most terrible time since last March when there was consideration of CHOGM taking place in June 2020. We didn’t fully understand fully how Covid-19 was going to permeate our lives. We are determined to do everything we can to make sure that June 21st we will be here in Rwanda,” she said. She added that they were aware that the summit would be taking place amidst a pandemic and other challenges and were working to identify any challenges that would pose a hindrance and plan mitigating measures. She said that following a visit and review of multiple sites and engagement with various stakeholders, Rwanda is ready to host the summit. “Rwanda is absolutely ready. There are venues that have been constructed specifically for CHOGM. The CHOGM task force is monitoring, 100 per cent. I don’t think we have ever seen a country as ready, prepared and hopeful as we have seen this time in Rwanda,” she said. The Commonwealth is a voluntary association of 54 independent and equal countries. Representing a third of the world it is home to 2.4 billion people and includes both advanced economies and developing countries. Leaders of the Commonwealth countries meet every two years at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. The theme for CHOGM 2021 is “Delivering a Common Future: Connecting, Innovating, Transforming.”
