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Namibia President Wins $5 Million Prize for African Leadership

The Mo Ibrahim Foundation awarded its multimillion-dollar prize for African leaders who step down from power to Namibia’s departing president Monday—making him the first winner after two years in which no one was deemed worthy of award.
The prize committee said they chose Namibian President Hifikepunye Pohamba, who leaves office later this month, not only because he didn’t try to hold on to power, but because he welcomed political opposition, invested massively in the fight against AIDS and abolished school fees to make education free for Namibian children.
“We have heroes in Africa. It is not only Mandela,” said Mohamed ElBaradei , an Egyptian diplomat and member of the selection committee.
The Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership is sought-after not just for its prestige but because it offers a lucrative retirement. It comes with $5 million over the first 10 years and then a yearly stipend of $200,000 for life. To win, a former head of state has to have been democratically elected, served only the constitutionally mandated term and demonstrated exceptional leadership. Only those who have left office in the last three years are considered.
The awarding of the 2014 prize comes as many were starting to wonder if the foundation had been overly optimistic about the possibility of finding qualified candidates.
Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe and Equatorial Guinea’s Teodoro Obiang Nguema have both ruled for decades. Meanwhile, the presidents of Burundi and Congo both have made moves in the past year suggesting they may be trying to extend their tenures beyond constitutional limits.
And for the past two years, the committee found no one to honor.
Asked about the difficulty finding candidates, the prize committee chairman said they are fine with going many years without giving the award because they are searching for people who are true role models for the continent.
“We are not giving an award simply for the sake of giving an award,” said Tanzanian diplomat Salim Ahmed Salim, the chairman.
Like many of Africa’s elder statesmen, Mr. Pohamba started as a rebel leader. But after independence in 1990 he took a ministerial post. He was first elected to the presidency in 2004 and served two terms—the maximum allowed by the constitution—before stepping aside for last year’s vote. During his time in office, Namibia has been peaceful but plagued by poverty despite large diamond and uranium reserves.
Mo Ibrahim—a British-Sudanese businessman who has become an African telecommunications magnate—created the prize in 2007. Many have described it as a sort of “democracy incentive”—a golden parachute offered to autocratic leaders who might otherwise be tempted to hang onto power for life.
But Mr. Salim said that those who win are seldom those who are seeking the prize. When he called Mr. Pohamba with the news, he said the president was surprised and “overwhelmed.”
Previous winners are Pedro de Verona Rodrigues Pires of Cape Verde, Festus Gontebanye Mogae of Botswana and Joaquim Alberto Chissano of Mozambique.

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