Namibia’s Pohamba Wins Mo Ibrahim Prize

By ADF Last updated Jul 10, 2015

Namibia President Hifikepunye Lucas Pohamba (L) talks with President of Mozambique Armando Guebuza (R) during Session Three: Governing the Next Generation at the US-Africa Leader Summit in Washington, DC, August 6, 2014. AFP PHOTO / Jim WATSON (Photo credit should read JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images)

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

Namibia’s outgoing president has won the Mo Ibrahim Prize for good governance in Africa, the world’s richest award that has seen a dearth of worthy candidates.

Hifikepunye Pohamba, 79, is only the fourth winner of the $5 million annual prize, launched in 2007 to encourage and reward good governance across the continent. Although elections are now the rule in Africa, many leaders try to push through constitutional changes to stay in power, sometimes well into old age, while others die in office or are forced to flee. Pohamba was honored by choosing a different path.

“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,” said Salim Ahmed Salim, chairman of the Mo Ibrahim Prize committee and a former prime minister of Tanzania, during the announcement of the award in Nairobi, Kenya.

The award, founded by Sudanese-British telecommunication entrepreneur and billionaire Mo Ibrahim, is given to a democratically elected former head of state who left office in the previous three years and who demonstrated “exceptional leadership” while abiding by constitutional term limits.

Winners are given $5 million over 10 years with an additional $200,000 a year for life — seen as inducement to good behavior by offering enough money that leaders need not indulge in large-scale corruption before retiring.

Salim praised Pohamba’s “sound and wise leadership” and his “humility” during two constitutional terms. Pohamba did not contest national elections in December 2014 and left the presidency in March 2015.

The soft-spoken Pohamba has been hailed for reconciling with opponents, pushing for gender equality in politics, and increasing spending on housing and education. The prize has only been awarded three other times — in 2007, 2008 and 2011 — due to a lack of suitable candidates. The winners were ex-presidents of Mozambique, Botswana and Cape Verde.