Today the Rt Hon Patricia Scotland, QC, Secretary General of the Commonwealth personally visited The Gambia High Commission in London to express her condolences and sympathy on the demised of late High Commissioner H.E Francis R. Blain.
Below is her remarks:
“It is with great honour and humility that I share the condolences of the Commonwealth family, and express my own personal sadness, on the passing of my dear brother, His Excellency Francis Blain.
For more than fifty years he served the people of The Gambia, in the process of diplomacy, with dedication and skill. He loved Gambians and The Gambia with his whole heart.
His role in helping The Gambia rejoin the Commonwealth and he described the raising of The Gambia’s flag at Marlborough House as one of the highlights of his careers.
To share that moment with him was a privilege. It was a thrilling moment and it is how I, and so many of my colleagues throughout the Commonwealth will remember him. He became our dear friend and brother.
I know he loved Dickens and Shakespeare so I think he would recognise himself in these lines: ‘He was simply and staunchly true to his duty alike in the large case & in the small. So all true souls ever are. So every true soul ever was, ever is, & ever will be. There is nothing little to the really great spirit.’ (Bleak House)
May his soul rest in peace & may God’s light follow him into his reward.
I ask God to bless all his family & friends and the beautiful land of his birth; The Gambia.” Rt Hon Patricia Scotland, QC
