The biennial gathering of the Commonwealth’s top leaders is set to see a historic transfer of leadership in 2026, when Antigua and Barbuda formally takes over the organization’s rotating chairmanship from Samoa. The handover is scheduled to take place during the upcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), which will run from November 1 to 4, 2026.
In an official statement released by the government of Samoa, it was confirmed that Deputy Prime Minister Mulipola Anarosa ‘Ale Molio’o will lead the Samoan delegation to the 2026 summit, after the nation’s Cabinet signed off on her travel plans for the event.
This transfer of leadership will bring a close to Samoa’s two-year tenure at the head of the Commonwealth, a term that began when the small island nation hosted the 2024 CHOGM in its capital city of Apia back in October 2024. That 2024 gathering marked a landmark moment for Pacific region governance: Samoa made history as the first ever Small Island Developing State (SIDS) from the Pacific to host the major summit. The 2024 Apia meeting drew more than 3,000 attendees, including sitting heads of government and senior official delegates from across the Commonwealth’s 56 member nations.
Mulipola, who will helm Samoa’s delegation at the 2026 handover summit, is no stranger to high-profile global negotiations. Most recently, she represented Samoa at the annual joint meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Group, where she took part in key deliberations on pressing global economic and development priorities that affect small island and developing nations across the world.
CHOGM, the preeminent regular gathering of the Commonwealth bloc, is convened once every two years to bring national leaders together to deliberate on shared cross-border challenges, align collective priorities, and strengthen cooperation between member states. Beyond the core heads of government talks, the full summit also includes parallel sessions and engagements for cabinet ministers, private sector representatives, civil society leaders, and youth organization delegates from across the 56-nation bloc.