Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, has urged that past differences should not be allowed to define her current relationship with the Minister of Foreign Affairs Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, insisting that she holds no grudge against him.

According to Botchwey, whatever disagreement existed between them belongs to the past and has already been dealt with through the appropriate channels.

In a video sighted by GhanaWeb on September 4, 2026, she said her current position as a diplomat requires her to put past political disagreements behind her.

“Whatever happened is in the past. As a former politician and now a diplomat, you can’t hold grudges,” she indicated.

Botchwey was responding to questions about her relationship with Ablakwa and whether she still harboured any resentment towards him.

She said she was not aware of any grudge on her part and noted that the two still engage whenever they meet.

The heated brawl between Ayorkor Botchwey and Ablakwa that made 'camera man' Sam George cry foul to the speaker

“I don’t believe there is any grudge, not one that I know. I can’t say same for him, but we talk when we meet. We talk; he hasn’t shown any form of grudge,” she said.

She added that the matter had gone to court and had since been settled, describing herself as a “free person.”

“What matters is the case went to court and it has been settled. I am a free person,” she stated.

Botchwey maintained that she had moved on from the matter, stressing that there was no reason to continue holding on to past disagreements.

On December 17, 2018, a heated brawl erupted on the floor of parliament between Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the Member of Parliament for North Tongu, and Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, the foreign affairs minister.

The altercation stemmed from allegations that the minister's office, on behalf of the government, had inflated the cost of a six-bedroom residence for Ghana's new mission in Norway by $8 million.

Watch the video below

“Whatever happened is in the past. As a former politician and now a diplomat, you can’t hold grudges.” - Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, responding to questions about her relationship with Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa.#UTVGhana pic.twitter.com/md5U8JvNGX

— UTV Ghana (@utvghana) September 4, 2026