Namibian President’s $5m Mo Ibrahim Prize
by Our Reporter on Mar 9, 2015
Nigerian National Mirror Editorial
Africa featured prominently in the news last week and for the right reason, with reports that outgoing Namibian President Hifikepunye Pohamba emerged the winner of the 2014 Mo Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership. Pohamba became Namibian leader in March 2005, having won the 2004 election overwhelmingly as the candidate of SWAPO, the ruling party. He was re-elected in the 2009 election.
Salim Ahmed Salim, the Chair of the Prize Committee, while declaring Pohamba as the 2014 Ibrahim Laureate, said before an impressive local and international audience in Nairobi, Kenya: “President Pohamba’s focus in forging national cohesion and reconciliation at a key stage of Namibia’s consolidation of democracy and social and economic development impressed the Prize Committee. His ability to command the confidence and the trust of his people is exemplary. During the decade of his presidential mandate, he demonstrated sound and wise leadership. At the same time, he maintained his humility throughout his presidency… During the decade of Hifikepunye Pohamba’s presidency, Namibia’s reputation has been cemented as a wellgoverned, stable and inclusive democracy with strong media freedom and respect for human rights”.
Mo Ibrahim, founder of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, said the outfit was pleased that the Prize Committee has selected Pohamba as the 2014 Ibrahim winner. “He has served his country since its independence and his leadership has renewed his people’s trust in democracy. His legacy is that of strengthened institutions through the various initiatives introduced during his tenure in office. He is a role model for the (African) continent”, he said. Dr. Mohamed ‘Mo’ Ibrahim (born 1946) is a Sudanese-British mobile communications entrepreneur and billionaire.
Established in 2007, the Ibrahim Prize recognises and celebrates excellence in African leadership. It encourages leaders who fully dedicate their tenure of office to surmounting the development challenges of their countries, improving the livelihoods and welfare of their people and consolidating the foundation for sustainable development. The Ibrahim Prize is a US$5 million award paid over ten years; and another US$200,000 annually for life thereafter. Mo Ibrahim Foundation will, in addition, consider granting a further US$200,000 per year for ten years towards public interest activities and good causes espoused by an Ibrahim Laureate.
President Pohamba will now join the ranks of past winners of the prize, like Joaquim Chissano, Mozambique (2007); Festus Mogae, Botswana (2008), and Pedro Pires, Cape Verde (2011). Nelson Mandela was made the inaugural honorary laureate in 2007, while in 2009, 2010, 2012 and 2013, the Prize Committee, after in-depth review, did not select a winner. The chairman of the Prize Committee, Salim, is a renowned diplomat who served as President of the Thirty-Fourth Session of the United Nations General Assembly in September 1979. Some eminent members of the team, each of them endowed with a sound measure of integrity, include Martti Ahtisaari, a diplomat and mediator renowned for his international peace work, and awarded the 2008 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts towards the resolution of international conflicts; and Aïcha Bah Diallo, a champion of girls’ and women’s learning and adviser to the Director-General of UNESCO on girls’ education in Africa.
Others are Mohamed ElBaradei, who served with distinction for more than four decades as an Egyptian diplomat, international civil servant and scholar and former Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); and Graça Machel, a leading social and political activist and a renowned international advocate for women’s and children’s rights. For many decades and with Mozambique and South Africa as her operational points, she traversed the entire African continent, fighting for increased literacy and access to education, greater assistance for community development and children’s rights. There is also Mary Robinson, President of the Mary Robinson Foundation – Climate Justice. She served as President of Ireland from 1990- 1997 and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights from 1997-2002.
It is clear, therefore, that a prize like the one bagged by the Namibian president is not reserved for corrupt and visionless African leaders; or leaders who plunder their nation’s resources, levy instability, insecurity, economic hardship and underdevelopment, disrespect for human rights and intolerance of the media on their peoples. Nor is the prize for African leaders bent on clinging to power through fair or foul means after impoverishing and plunging their nations into all manner of avoidable crises. We therefore salute The Mo Ibrahim Foundation and congratulate President Pohamba.
Nigerian National Mirror Editorial
Africa featured prominently in the news last week and for the right reason, with reports that outgoing Namibian President Hifikepunye Pohamba emerged the winner of the 2014 Mo Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership. Pohamba became Namibian leader in March 2005, having won the 2004 election overwhelmingly as the candidate of SWAPO, the ruling party. He was re-elected in the 2009 election.
Salim Ahmed Salim, the Chair of the Prize Committee, while declaring Pohamba as the 2014 Ibrahim Laureate, said before an impressive local and international audience in Nairobi, Kenya: “President Pohamba’s focus in forging national cohesion and reconciliation at a key stage of Namibia’s consolidation of democracy and social and economic development impressed the Prize Committee. His ability to command the confidence and the trust of his people is exemplary. During the decade of his presidential mandate, he demonstrated sound and wise leadership. At the same time, he maintained his humility throughout his presidency… During the decade of Hifikepunye Pohamba’s presidency, Namibia’s reputation has been cemented as a wellgoverned, stable and inclusive democracy with strong media freedom and respect for human rights”.
Mo Ibrahim, founder of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, said the outfit was pleased that the Prize Committee has selected Pohamba as the 2014 Ibrahim winner. “He has served his country since its independence and his leadership has renewed his people’s trust in democracy. His legacy is that of strengthened institutions through the various initiatives introduced during his tenure in office. He is a role model for the (African) continent”, he said. Dr. Mohamed ‘Mo’ Ibrahim (born 1946) is a Sudanese-British mobile communications entrepreneur and billionaire.
Established in 2007, the Ibrahim Prize recognises and celebrates excellence in African leadership. It encourages leaders who fully dedicate their tenure of office to surmounting the development challenges of their countries, improving the livelihoods and welfare of their people and consolidating the foundation for sustainable development. The Ibrahim Prize is a US$5 million award paid over ten years; and another US$200,000 annually for life thereafter. Mo Ibrahim Foundation will, in addition, consider granting a further US$200,000 per year for ten years towards public interest activities and good causes espoused by an Ibrahim Laureate.
President Pohamba will now join the ranks of past winners of the prize, like Joaquim Chissano, Mozambique (2007); Festus Mogae, Botswana (2008), and Pedro Pires, Cape Verde (2011). Nelson Mandela was made the inaugural honorary laureate in 2007, while in 2009, 2010, 2012 and 2013, the Prize Committee, after in-depth review, did not select a winner. The chairman of the Prize Committee, Salim, is a renowned diplomat who served as President of the Thirty-Fourth Session of the United Nations General Assembly in September 1979. Some eminent members of the team, each of them endowed with a sound measure of integrity, include Martti Ahtisaari, a diplomat and mediator renowned for his international peace work, and awarded the 2008 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts towards the resolution of international conflicts; and Aïcha Bah Diallo, a champion of girls’ and women’s learning and adviser to the Director-General of UNESCO on girls’ education in Africa.
Others are Mohamed ElBaradei, who served with distinction for more than four decades as an Egyptian diplomat, international civil servant and scholar and former Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); and Graça Machel, a leading social and political activist and a renowned international advocate for women’s and children’s rights. For many decades and with Mozambique and South Africa as her operational points, she traversed the entire African continent, fighting for increased literacy and access to education, greater assistance for community development and children’s rights. There is also Mary Robinson, President of the Mary Robinson Foundation – Climate Justice. She served as President of Ireland from 1990- 1997 and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights from 1997-2002.
It is clear, therefore, that a prize like the one bagged by the Namibian president is not reserved for corrupt and visionless African leaders; or leaders who plunder their nation’s resources, levy instability, insecurity, economic hardship and underdevelopment, disrespect for human rights and intolerance of the media on their peoples. Nor is the prize for African leaders bent on clinging to power through fair or foul means after impoverishing and plunging their nations into all manner of avoidable crises. We therefore salute The Mo Ibrahim Foundation and congratulate President Pohamba.
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