No winner for Mo Ibrahim leadership award

There is no winner for this year’s Mo Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership. Ghana, however, ranked seventh out of 52 countries featured on the 2013 Ibrahim Index of African Governance which assesses performance in terms of safety and rule of law, participation and human rights, sustainable economic opportunity and human development.

At a press conference in London yesterday, which was live on the foundation’s website, Dr Salim Ahmed Salim, chairman of the award committee said every African head of state or government who retired in the last three years was considered.

“After careful consideration, we determined not to award the 2013 Prize for Excellence in Leadership,” said Mr Salim, who is the former Prime Minister of Tanzania.

This is the fourth time the foundation has failed to find a suitable candidate. But in its seven years history, there have been three winners. Former Cape Verde President, Pedro Verona Pires won in 2011, Festus Mogae of Botswana 2008, and in 2007, Joaquim Chissano of Mozambique was named the laureate. No award was given in 2009, 2010 and 2012.

Since 2007, the Mo Ibrahim Foundation has been awarding $5 million as prize to African leaders who excel in office and step down after serving their term. Winners receive an annual amount of $5 million for 10 years, and then $200,000 annually for the rest of their lives.

Dr Salim Ahmed Salim explained that “This Prize honours former Heads of State or Government, who, during their mandate, have demonstrated excellence in leading their country and by doing so, serve as role models for the next generation.”

No winner

In a telephone interview, Mr Festus Mogae, former President of Botswana who is currently a member of the committee told the Daily Graphic that “the fact that we did not find a winner does not mean there are no good leaders in Africa. The fact that nobody gets a distinction does not mean the professor is bad, there could be very good students in the class.”

When asked if he thought the prize of $5 million was enough to prevent bad leaders from changing their ways he said “It is a personal opinion. The intention is to encourage good leadership and award good leaders who would not oppress or cheat their people, or waste national resources… as we talk about performance of leaders we will surely have an impact.”

Ghana in Top 10

Lord Cairns, a member of the board of directors of the foundation, also commended Ghana for its performance on the index.

He said Ghana was one of eight countries to have remained consistently at the top 10 since the beginning of the index along with Mauritius, Botswana, Cape Verde, and South Africa.

The 2013 Ibrahim Index shows that 94 per cent of Africans live in a country that has experienced overall governance improvement since 2000, while six per cent of people living in Madagascar, Eritrea, Guinea-Bissau, Somalia, Libya and Mali have been experiencing governance deterioration since 2000.

Ghana ranked second out of the 16 countries in the West African sub region after Cape Verde and although it scored high in Safety and Rule of Law, its score in the category of sustainable economic opportunities and infrastructure were low.

By Emelia Ennin Abbey/Daily Graphic/Ghana