Tabu Butagira
21 October 2008
Kampala — Botswana' former president Festus Mogae, was yesterday named this year's winner of the $5 million Mo Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership; the second time in a row for the continental good-governance award to be taken by a country in southern Africa.
Mr Kofi Annan, the former UN secretary-general and chairman of the Prize Committee, said the panel selected Mr Mogae as the 2008 Ibrahim Laureate because of his "outstanding leadership (that) has ensured Botswana's continued stability and prosperity in the face of an HIV/Aids pandemic which threatened the future of his country and people."
The country that neighbours President Robert Mugabe's troubled Zimbabwe and the politically struggling South Africa is a stellar democracy and has huge deposits of diamond, copper and nickel among other precious gems, whose proceeds are said to have been used by the government to uplift the welfare of all citizens.
"Botswana demonstrates how a country with natural resources can promote sustainable development with good governance, on a continent where too often mineral wealth has become a curse," Mr Annan, a 2001 UN Nobel Peace Prize winner, said. Mr Mogae, who will formally pick the prize next month, is set to receive $5 million over the next decade and another $200,000 every year for life afterwards.
The Mo Ibrahim Foundation has announced it is considering an additional $200,000 to be disbursed annually for 10 years to bankroll "public interest activities" championed by the Laureate.
Uganda gave a jaded response to the announcement, saying giving a financial package for past leaders is "useless" and diverts attention of elected officials from undertaking "serious and core issues that matter to Africa."
"What is five million dollar (reward)?" Mr Kirunda Kivejinja, the government spokesman, asked rather cynically yesterday, "We are not excited about those rewards because the problems of Africa are more than monetary offers."
He said the core things that matter for Uganda's political leadership include ensuring reduced infant and maternal mortality, increased per capita income for citizens and that the continent is independent of foreign influences, and not for "others to tell us that we are now prosperous."
These comments come as no surprise from a government whose President Yoweri Museveni publicly derided the $5 million Mo Ibrahim Award at its inception as a scheme to bribe leaders from power.
But the prize, launched in October 2006, is to recognise and celebrate the exceptional works of democratically elected African leaders who leave State power after expiry of their constitutional tenure.
In 2005, the Ugandan President instead engineered amendment of the constitution to scrap presidential terms limits, something the regime critics claim showed Mr Museveni's intent to rule for life.
The announcement of this year's Ibrahim Laureate comes a fortnight after the publication of the 2008 Ibrahim Index of African Governance in Addis Ababa, whose 57 criteria were used by Mr Annan's selection committee as independent and authoritative references to vet the pack of potential candidates before them.
Mr Mo Ibrahim, the founder of the Foundation, said,
"I am delighted that the Prize Committee has selected President Mogae as the second Ibrahim Laureate. He is another example of outstanding leadership from the African continent. I offer President Mogae my warmest congratulations and best wishes."
Mr Joaquim Chissano, the former President of Mozambique, now serving as the UN secretary-general's special envoy in northern Uganda was the pioneer winner in October 2007.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 The Monitor. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
