Former Mozambique president Joachim Chissano won a new $5-million prize
for African leadership on Monday and was hailed as "a powerful voice
for Africa on the international stage".
Former United Nations
secretary general Kofi Annan, who chaired the committee th
"It
is [for] his role in leading Mozambique from conflict to peace and
democracy that Chissano has made his most outstanding contribution,"
the Ghanaian said, reading from a citation. "The prize celebrates more
than just good governance. It celebrates leadership; the ability to
formulate a vision and to convince others of that vision."
The
award gives its recipient $5-million over 10 years and $200 000
annually for life thereafter, as well as $200 000 a year for 10 years
towards the winner's public-interest activities and good causes.
The
winner was selected by a six-person committee headed by Annan, chosen
from every sub-Saharan African leader who has left office in the past
three full calendar years.
Chissano, Mozambique's president from
1986 to 2005 and chairperson of the African Union from 2003 to 2004,
was widely credited with helping end a bloody 16-year civil war in the
Southern African country.
A former Portuguese colony, Mozambique
gained independence in 1975, but was torn by civil war between the
Mozambique Liberation Front and the Mozambique National Resistance,
until a peace accord in 1992.
About one million people died in the conflict, which also displaced millions of others.
Annan
said: "It is a measure of the change that has taken place that national
and regional elections have been contested in a generally peaceful
manner by both sides [that took part] in the bitter civil war. This
remarkable reconciliation between opponents provides a shining example
to the rest of the world and is testament to both his strength of
character and his leadership."
He added: "He was a powerful
voice for Africa on the international stage and played an important
role in pushing debt relief up the agenda."
Chissano, one of the
few African leaders to have voluntarily stepped down from office, was
appointed by the AU in 2005 to try to help solve Zimbabwe's political
problems, but President Robert Mugabe rejected him as mediator.
In
December last year he became the UN special envoy to help end the
20-year conflict in northern Uganda, which has claimed tens of
thousands of lives and displaced about two million.
Chissano,
whose persuasive skills are legendary, managed to get the Ugandan
government and the rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) to renew their
ceasefire and agree to resume peace talks to end the brutal insurgency.
The
foundation behind the prize was created last year by Mo Ibrahim, a
wealthy Sudanese businessman and the founder of the Celtel
International telecommunications firm.
In September, the
foundation released its first annual Ibrahim Index of African
Governance, ranking 48 African countries against 58 individual measures.
Somalia
was named and shamed as the worst-governed country in sub-Saharan
Africa, while island nation Mauritius was on top, followed by the
Seychelles, Botswana, Cape Verde and South Africa.
The Mo
Ibrahim award is the second leading honour Chissano has won in little
more than a year. In September last year, London-based foreign affairs
think tank Chatham House awarded him its annual prize for his
contribution to international relations. -- Sapa-AFPat selected
the inaugural award by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, particularly
trumpeted Chissano's role in bringing reconciliation to his homeland.
SOURCE: AFP,October 22,2007
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More comments
ina eey wuxuu ku guuleeystay koobka dhiigyacabnimada iyo
xasuuqa caruurta iyo haweenka.
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To be governed is the problem in Somalia, that is why anyone who had been nominated to be president is not given chance, no matter who he/she is or where they from. Always there is different excuses of not having a functioning government.
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We could have been a great contender, have we allowed someone to govern our nation. Instead we have to settle being the last on everything in this world.
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Kudos to Chissano, he sure deserves this award and money. What happen to us "Somalia was named and shamed as the worst-governed country in sub-Saharan Africa". It is high time that we get our acts together stop the nonsense insurgency and the anarchy.
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