Commonwealth leaders’ meeting rescheduled to June in Rwanda

KIGALI, Rwanda, Feb 2 -The biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), which was scheduled in June 2020 but was postponed twice due to the impact of COVID-19, is planned to take place in the week of June 20 in the Rwandan capital Kigali, the Commonwealth Secretariat said Monday in a statement.

Rwandan President Paul Kagame, and Commonwealth Secretary-General, Patricia Scotland, announced the week of June 20 as the new date agreed with member countries for the CHOGM.

“Rwanda is pleased to welcome all delegates and participants to Kigali for a safe and productive CHOGM Rwanda 2022,” said Kagame in the statement.

“The long-awaited meeting will be an important occasion to come together to address the challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and to build on ‘innovative technological and economic opportunities to solve other key problems facing our citizens.”

“I am delighted that the Commonwealth family can finally be reunited, four years on from our last CHOGM in London,” said Scotland in the statement.

According to Scotland, this will be the first CHOGM to be held in Africa for over a decade.

“It is with great joy and anticipation that I look ahead to a face-to-face Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting,” she said.

The CHOGM is the Commonwealth’s high-level consultative and policy-making gathering.