KIGALI, Rwanda — Prime Minister Andrew Holness is leading a confident Jamaican team heading to the 2022 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) which takes place from June 20-25 here under the theme ‘Delivering a Common Future: Connecting, Innovating, Transforming’.

Up to press time on Sunday there was no official confirmation of the members of the Jamaican delegation to be led by Holness, with Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Senator Kamina Johnson Smith — who is bidding to become the first Jamaican to head the Commonwealth Secretariat — the only confirmed member of the team.

On Sunday Jamaican Government officials refused to comment publicly on the number of votes they have been promised for Johnson Smith who is trying to oust Baroness Patricia Scotland as the head of the Commonwealth Secretariat.

Instead, people close to the Holness Administration pointed the Jamaica Observer to the seven Commonwealth leaders, including British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who have publicly thrown their support behind Johnson Smith.

But Observer sources in Kigali claimed that the Jamaican team was heading to the African State confident of victory.

The sources also rejected claims that African countries could derail Johnson Smith’s bid.

“The African countries know that Mrs Johnson Smith is fully capable and ready to address their concerns and those of most other countries,” said one Government source on the margins of the first day of the Commonwealth Youth Forum.

“Kamina has the right management skills and experience, and Africa will be happy to take over a better Commonwealth when she leaves in 2026,” added the source.

The source alleged that Johnson Smith’s campaign has forced Scotland to change her strategy from arguing that she was entitled to a second term to saying that she wants to serve two years more to complete her second term.

“Kamina has run a very positive campaign based on her competencies, her vision — which is fuelled by the position of many member states — of the need to transform the Commonwealth Secretariat into an entity that looks out for all the member states.

“We are very confident, as we have received support from numerous countries which are supporting the campaign [but] which will not come out and say so because that is not the tradition,” added the source.

Supporters of Scotland have claimed the UK Government has been working behind the scenes to oust her and, in a BBC interview last week, Johnson Smith was asked if she is a proxy candidate for the UK, but Johnson Smith was quick to reject this claim.

“Absolutely not. And I have denied it before; and I’m a little offended, not only personally, but nationally,” she said.

“If you look at our history, and you look at my practice of the role of minister of foreign affairs and foreign trade of Jamaica over the past six years, the argument doesn’t lend itself to any credibility whatsoever, so it’s actually surprising to me that people repeat it unthinkingly,” Johnson Smith stated.

“Those are clearly convenient narratives for a political campaign but they would bear no relevance to reality. Jamaica has been a leader on the world stage so far beyond our size for years,” Johnson Smith told the BBC.

The result of the secretary general election is expected to be announced before the end of the CHOGM on June 25.