Kudos Ellen Sirleaf for winning coveted Mo Ibrahim 2017 Prize

Former Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. PHOTO | SIA KAMBOU | AFP

What you need to know:

  • Ms Sirleaf was chosen for her excellent leadership during her time in office and for peaceful transition of power to successor George Weah.

Congratulations go to former Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf for winning the coveted African Governance Mo Ibrahim Prize for 2017. The prize is awarded for great achievement in African political governance and leadership.

Ms Sirleaf was chosen for her excellent leadership during her time in office and for peaceful transition of power to successor George Weah. She is the fifth recipient of the $5 million award that is paid over 10 years and $200,000 annually for life thereafter.

Dr Salim Ahmed Salim, chairman of the prize committee, on Monday said: “Sirleaf took the helm of Liberia after it was destroyed by civil war and led a process of reconciliation that focused on building a nation and its democratic institutions. Liberia continues to face many challenges. Nevertheless, during her 12 years in office, she laid the foundations on which Liberia can now build.”

There are many other qualities that made Sirleaf become the first woman and fifth African leader to win the award — after three years during which there were no worthy winners.

PROACTIVE

Sirleaf had a proactive approach to social matters of national cohesion, discrimination of women and children, regional diplomacy, poverty, gender mainstreaming, rule of law, respect of the constitution, universal basic education, national and regional security, restoring youths from child-soldiers to school pupils and focusing on voices of reason.

Above all was her capacity to manage the electoral process and to work towards maturation of electoral democracy, as well as a willingness to observe peace and hand over power to her successor without tinkering with the law and security organs to make herself a dictatorial president.

The social and governance virtues that Sirleaf promoted are the key categories of the Mo Ibrahim Index of African Governance.

HUMAN RIGHTS

Other leaders who have won the prize in the past include Namibian Hifikepunye Pohamba (2014), Pedro Pires of Cape Verde (2011), Festus Mogae of Botswana (2008), and Joaquim Chissano of Mozambique (2007), the same year Nelson Mandela was made the inaugural honorary laureate of the prize.

The Mo Ibrahim Prize is faulted for ignoring African leaders who excel in arts, science, corporate world, environment, music, human rights activism, medicine and literature.

Indeed, African countries need more than political governance to achieve their social and economic goals. The prize is also too small and insignificant compared with what a dictator can get if he loots and remains in power.

ALEXANDER OPICHO, via email