SPEECH BY H.E. KOFI ANNAN ON OCCASION OF THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE WINNER OF INAUGURAL MO IBRAHIM PRIZE FOR ACHIEVEMENT IN AFRICAN LEADERSHIP
London - Monday 22nd October 2007
I am very pleased to be here this morning and to be joined by so many of my colleagues, not least my fellow Prize Committee members.
I have been joined on the committee by Aïcha Bah Diallo, former Minister for Education in Guinea and Special Advisor to the Director General of UNESCO.
By Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who served as both Finance and Foreign Minister of Nigeria, and who has recently been appointed as Managing Director of the World Bank with responsibility for Africa.
By Mary Robinson, the former President of Ireland and highly regarded United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
By my old friend Salim Ahmed Salim, who was Prime Minister of Tanzania and served as Secretary-General of the Organisation of African Union, and is now the African Union’s Special Envoy for Darfur.
And the committee was completed by Martti Ahtisaari, the former President of Finland and, of course, the former UN Special Representative to Namibia who can’t be with us today but he did participate in the decision that we took regarding the winner.
Collectively they brought an unrivalled wealth of experience and expertise to this difficult decision.
I would also like to thank Mo Ibrahim for his vision in establishing this foundation and this prize. Our aim today is to celebrate, reward, and highlight excellence in African leadership.
It is an important initiative which has come at an important time.
Africa is changing. Africa is on the move, with momentum moving in the right direction.
Africans have to face directly the challenges that confront them. But the international community has the responsibility to support them and to demonstrate that international solidarity is not only necessary but is also possible.
This foundation is just one example of Africa shaping its own future. This is an African initiative, lead by Africans and endowed through African commercial success.
It shares the spirit of ordinary Africans who are taking responsibility for their own continent. And it captures the demand in Africa for greater responsibility.
It sets the standards not just for Africa but for the world. In the last few years we have seen a new generation of able, talented, and inspirational leaders come to the fore.
Our committee’s task was to decide who the most fitting inaugural winner of this prize was.
To be eligible, leaders had to have been freely elected and to have stepped down at the end of their constitutional term.
Although this will be in future an annual prize, we were able this first year to consider all those leaders who have left office over the last three years.
We then judged their performance against their record in delivering progress for their country.
We also took into account their influence for good beyond their own national borders.
We hope the prize will make it easier for the winner to carry on using their experience and talents to make a contribution to Africa and the wider world.
We also hope it will be another incentive, if needed, to encourage political leaders to follow the highest standards by offering them financial security following retirement from active political life.
Importantly, we hope it will also persuade a new generation of young leaders to come forward and to use their talents for the good of their countries.
It’s why the committee took their responsibility so seriously.
It now remains for me to announce the first ever winner of the Mo Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership
It is a prize that recognizes more than just good governance. It celebrates excellence in leadership.
I am delighted to announce that the winner is the former President of Mozambique, Joaquim Alberto Chissano.
The prize committee found a number of compelling reasons for selecting Mr Chissano as the inaugural winner of the Mo Ibrahim Prize.
I will now read the citation of the Prize Committee.
[Text of Prize Committee’s citation]
This Award, from an African Foundation, is a celebration of achievement in Africa.
President Chissano’s achievements in bringing peace, reconciliation, stable democracy and economic progress to his country greatly impressed the committee. So, too, did his decision to step down without seeking the third term the constitution allowed.
President Chisssano took office after winning his country’s first multi-party elections in 1994. The historic elections were held just two years after he had helped the country end, through negotiations, the 16-year civil war which had devastated Mozambique, left thousands dead and forced many to flee their homes. He led a country whose infrastructure and economy were ruined, its society deeply divided and which suffered from severe natural disasters.
Huge challenges remain but, under his two terms, Mozambique established a stable economy with robust growth and increased foreign direct investment. Its economy has been one of Africa’s emerging success stories.
Although Mozambique remains one of the poorest countries in the world, poverty levels have fallen. The poverty reduction programmes also saw, from a low base, an increase in the number of children in education and improvements in health care. In addition, women were empowered to participate in the political and economic life of the country.
Solid efforts have been made to rebuild hospitals and schools destroyed during the prolonged civil war. The Government showed strong leadership in trying to tackle the HIV / AIDS epidemic.
But it is in his role in leading Mozambique from conflict to peace and democracy that President Chissano has made his most outstanding contribution. 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 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.
His decision not to seek a third Presidential term reinforced Mozambique’s democratic maturity and demonstrated that institutions and the democratic process were more important than personalities.
President Chissano also made a major contribution outside his country’s borders. He was a powerful voice for Africa on the international stage and played an important role in pushing debt relief up the agenda. He served as Chairman of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union. His skills and experience in conflict resolution have been used more recently during the elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo and as the United Nations Special Envoy to Northern Uganda. For the manner in which he held high office as President, and his more recent contribution, he is held in high esteem throughout the African continent.
For these reasons, President Joaquim Alberto Chissano is the first winner of the Mo Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership.
Address by HE Kofi Annan - Chairman, Mo Ibrahim Prize Committte (London, 22nd Oct 2007)