PROSPERITY, DEMOCRACY and peace were just some of the words first used as the Commonwealth was created more than 50 years ago.

Bonded together by 56 countries around the world, including those in Africa and the Caribbean, for some, the very existence of the political association ahead of the Commonwealth Games this summer is the last and eerie legacy of the British Empire’s reign.

Its colonial aftermath was most recently noted as the royals embarked on controversial tours of the Caribbean, which were fraught with calls for reparations and plagued with demands for an apology over the trans-Atlantic slave trade.

For even the black diaspora in Britain, it left unanswered questions about the role of the Monarchy in the Caribbean and Africa, and how since its gradual collapse in the early 20th century, that the role fo the Empire has still tainted two vast parts of the world that are the very product of it.

Professor Geoff Palmer, a professor in Life Sciences at Heriot-Watt University, told The Voice that despite the Empire’s bloody past, being a part of the Commonwealth still has a purpose for Africa and the Caribbean today.

“I see the Commonwealth as a group of countries that are independent and who are a part of this body, because they believe it has some political value,” he said.

“Some people say that it has no influence or no power, but I think that any organisation that has representatives at the highest level of these countries attending the Commonwealth Games there must be some power and influence there.

“I see the Commonwealth as a group of countries that are independent and who are a part of this body, because they believe it has some political value.”

Driving trade and prosperity is just one of the many benefits the Commonwealth advocates for across the 32-small states, which include “vulnerable” countries like Jamaica, Botswana and Namibia.

Fighting the climate crisis unfolding in the global south, natural disasters and financial instability are only a few of the factors that the organisation say are impacting these black majority countries which they aim to tackle.

Rashid Rose, a political commentator on Africa and the Caribbean, told The Voice that Britain’s involvement in the Commonwealth goes back as early as 2018 when discussions around Brexit were taking precedence.

As Britain prepared to exit Europe, he said talks with African nations ensued to “fill the gap or shortfall” of resources on life outside of the EU, but that black leaders needed to push back against intervention from Western nations. 

“If the Commonwealth countries were more upbeat with the strategy behind the Commonwealth, behind Brexit, there would have been a more pivotal role in leading Britain in a position in which the Commonwealth countries would have been in control,” he said.

“What I mean by that is Britain has made the Commonwealth countries to believe that there is something that is in it for them, they need to move away from financial support in terms of financial aid.”

He added: “The Commonwealth is only an extension of Britain’s continued colonial rule over these countries.”

Influence

In November 2021, Barbados was the latest country to “leave their colonial past behind” as they made a historic transition to a republic. It saw the removal of the Queen as their head of state and their exit from “Commonwealth Realms,” while still choosing to remain as part of the overall Commonwealth.

Just 14 countries out of the 56 now still recognise the Queen as their head of state after centuries of colonial markings. 

It sparked what some deemed a “domino-effect” across the Caribbean on the legacy of the British Empire and most recently further prompted Jamaica to aim to be a republic by 2025. They follow in the footsteps of Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago and Dominica to remove the Queen’s sovereignty over their nations.

Despite many countries throughout Africa and the Caribbean gaining independence and reaching republican status, many still choose to remain within the Commonwealth of Nations. Mozambique was the first member to be admitted in 1995 with no historical ties to the British Empire, Rwanda followed in 2009 while Togo and Gabon officially joined the club in July 2022.

The ex-French colonies have no bearings to the Crown, but have been reported to want to stir away from their reliance on the French.

Rashid said even though formerly colonised countries are making the move, it still lacked solid “bilateral or special trade agreements” to reap any signifcant benefits for its improvised black populations. “The Commonwealth is only for Britain’s interests.

More Caribbean and African countries need to become a republic and move away from being stewages of Britain,” he said. “The sooner African and Caribbean countries understand this, the sooner we could have better trade and travel relationships between Commonwealth countries, similar to what they are doing throughout Europe.”

“The Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Amor Mottley, has already been leading in developing trading links between Africa and the Caribbean, and recently sought to improve relations with Ghana.”

Rose believes it’s part of a wider plan to structure a “different ideology for Caribbean people” and eventually “abandon the Queen and the colonial influence on black people.”

However, Prof Palmer said these black nations have gone on to become independent and continue to make political moves free from shackles of colonialism, which include opting to join the Commonwealth. “The narrative is they belong to an organisation, which is a residue of colonialism,” he said.

“If you start to tell people or individuals what they should do about things like that, then you are behaving in a way like the slave owners,” he said. “I think it’s insulting to independent countries to say they’re being forced.

“These are governments and people have free will to decide what they think is right and if our country decides to be a part of the Commonwealth, it is that country’s decision and the people’s decision.”

As a summer of sporting excellence and national pride from around the world prepares to take over Birmingham, the Commonwealth today still carries for some after its long reign and legacy a story of a once bloody and difficult past, and for others a new, prosperous future for the black diaspora.

The decision to be a part of the Commonwealth lays in the hands of African and Caribbean nations. Bonded by past and present, the legacy of the 56 countries is still present today as millions plan to watch the 50th Commonwealth Games unfold in Birmingham this summer.