Namibian President wins 2014 Ibrahim Prize
By Edmund Smith-Asante, ACCRA
 |
| President Pohamba |
Outgoing
79-year-old Namibian President, Hifikepunye Lucas Pohamba’s decade-long (2005 –
2015) sound and wise leadership and humility, has won him the 2014 Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African
Leadership.
The
prize, which is a US$5 million award paid over ten years and US$200,000
annually for life thereafter, was announced by the Chairman of the Prize
Committee, Mr Salim Ahmed Salim, in front of an audience of the diplomatic
community, civil society representatives and the media at a press conference in
Nairobi, Kenya, on Monday (today).
Announcing the 2014
Ibrahim Laureate, Mr Salim, who is also a former Secretary General of the
Organisation of African Unity (OAU), said: “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.”
Mr Salim also praised President Pohamba’s
commitment to democracy and governance, saying, “During the decade of
Hifikepunye Pohamba's Presidency, Namibia's reputation has been cemented as a
well-governed, stable and inclusive democracy with strong media freedom and
respect for human rights.”
In
an interview with the Daily Graphic
on Monday, March 2, 2015, a member of the Prize Committee, Ms Aicha Bah Diallo,
discounted the assertion in certain quarters that during those years that no
winners were found, the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, which provides the prize money,
did not have money.
“No,
no, no. The money is there but the head of state must be eligible she said,
adding that none of the African heads met the criteria that was required to win
the prize during those years.
Speaking
on the criteria used to select a winner, she said “You have to be excellent,
develop your country to economic satisfaction and you have to have a vision.”
Ms
Diallo said President Pohamba was selected out of African Presidents who left
office peacefully in the last three years after exhausting their mandate, which
he did after the November 2014 polls in his country.
“So
he is among the people that left government within the three years which are
2014, 2013 and 2012. So he left that office as an eligible head of state,” she
stated.
The prize
Established
in 2007, the Ibrahim Prize recognises and celebrates excellence in African
leadership.
The
Ibrahim Prize aims to encourage leaders who fully dedicate their tenure of
office to surmount the development challenges of their countries, improving the
livelihoods and welfare of their people and consolidating the foundation for
sustainable development.
Selection of the
Ibrahim Laureate is done by an independent Prize Committee, consisting of seven
eminent individuals who assess democratically elected former Executive Heads of
State or Government from African countries, who have served their term in
office within the limits, set by their country’s constitution and have left
office within the last three years.
$2 million for public interest activities
According to a
statement issued by the prize committee, the Mo Ibrahim Foundation will
consider granting a further US$200,000 per year for ten years towards public
interest activities and good causes espoused by the Ibrahim Laureate.
Mr Mo Ibrahim, the
founder of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, said after the announcement: “The Mo
Ibrahim Foundation is pleased that the Prize Committee has selected President
Pohamba as the 2014 Ibrahim Laureate. 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 continent.”
Former laureates
President Pohamba
follows Presidents Joaquim Chissano, Mozambique (2007), Festus Mogae, Botswana
(2008) and Pedro Pires, Cape Verde (2011) as Ibrahim Laureates. Nelson
Mandela was made the inaugural Honorary Laureate in 2007.
More
*The 2014
Ibrahim Prize Laureate is due to be succeeded by President-elect and
incidentally current Prime Minister, Mr Hage Geingob, on March 21, 2015.
*The Ibrahim Prize was launched
by Mo Ibrahim, is a British-Sudanese mobile communications entrepreneur and
philanthropist who made billions from investing in Africa, to encourage African
leaders to leave power peacefully.
·
*Hifikepunye
Lucas Pohamba is a Namibian politician who has been President of Namibia since
March 2005. He won the 2004 election overwhelmingly as the candidate of SWAPO,
the ruling party, and he was re-elected in the 2009 election.
·
*President
Pohamba was born in 1935 in northern
Namibia - a region that would become a base for the Swapo liberation movement
*He is a co-founder
of the South West Africa Peoples’ Organisation (SWAPO) and a close ally of
Namibia's first President, Sam Nujoma.
*The
outgoing Namibian President was jailed for political activism by South
African-backed authorities and he later left to study in the Soviet Union.
*He worked
on land reform as minister in post-independence Namibia and was chosen by Mr Nujoma to succeed him as
president in 2004.
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