I had written an article when I first heard about this award mentioning the payout was significantly less than what our "great leaders" stole while in office and therefore less of an incentive.
I believe Mo is onto something though. This award will grow in prominence and become a relevant attraction for future leaders (although I doubt it matters for current and past presidents).
I don't think Africa can get to improve living standards without addressing political leadership, economic, social, educational and environmental aspects that affect all of us. This is Mo's way of addressing leadership. Now what we need are various Mos addressing different aspects and providing creative solutions to our problems. While this award won't put a dent in leadership today, I think it will be instrumental in upcoming governments.
I might not advocate for Chissano as a choice but that is besides the point. I think the comparison to Norway doesn't work since Norway's citizens haven't been complaining about their leadership. How many times have we heard complaints in Tanzania or the US (in the last few years) for that matter. Have there been leadership voids to back up these complaints? I think so.
We need more solutions but I think this should be just one incentive to promote better leadership and not the final one.
By: Joshua Added: November 06, 2007 03:30 PM
Joshua,
Thanks for the comment and the link to your article, which I hadn't seen before. I'm glad we agree on most of the issues and, fundamentally, on the bottom line - your "black list" and the billions they've illicitly taken from the African poor is very illustrative.
I'm not sure that I entirely got your point about the Norwegian example, but it is interesting that, if you read the article from which I've taken Kristin Halvorsen's comment, you will notice that it was made in a context where precisely she was being criticised by Norwegian citizens for allegedly being the Finance Minister of a "greedy state" which saves so much yet taxes them too heavily on their cars and fuel, just to protect the environment... But then we are talking about "other values". I would like to make it clear that these "other values" do not necessarily imply any sort of "superiority" of their holders over us, Africans. The point I was trying to make in the article is precisely that these "other values" can be developed in our societies through democracy and good governance, among other pre-requisites.
But all in all I agree with what you say about Mo Ibrahim's prize at these initial stages since its creation.
I think one of the ways this prize could be improved would be for the juri to draw a shortlist of up to three candidates, depending on the number of available eligible former presidents. Then this shortlist should be submitted to reputable civil society, national NGOs and community organisations in their respective countries for evaluation and the juri would select a winner on the basis of these country evaluations. I think this could give more credibility and reputation to the entire selection process. Thank you.
By: Ed Leal Added: November 17, 2007 01:32 PM
Good Proposal
Ed, I think your proposal is very interesting and should be considered by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation. Thanks.
2 comments:
Comments from Africanpath
Added: November 05, 2007 03:06 PM
Not a great start but a start nonetheless
Koluki,
I had written an article when I first heard about this award mentioning the payout was significantly less than what our "great leaders" stole while in office and therefore less of an incentive.
http://www.africanpath.com/p_blogEntry.cfm?blogEntryID=553
I believe Mo is onto something though. This award will grow in prominence and become a relevant attraction for future leaders (although I doubt it matters for current and past presidents).
I don't think Africa can get to improve living standards without addressing political leadership, economic, social, educational and environmental aspects that affect all of us. This is Mo's way of addressing leadership. Now what we need are various Mos addressing different aspects and providing creative solutions to our problems. While this award won't put a dent in leadership today, I think it will be instrumental in upcoming governments.
I might not advocate for Chissano as a choice but that is besides the point. I think the comparison to Norway doesn't work since Norway's citizens haven't been complaining about their leadership. How many times have we heard complaints in Tanzania or the US (in the last few years) for that matter. Have there been leadership voids to back up these complaints? I think so.
We need more solutions but I think this should be just one incentive to promote better leadership and not the final one.
By:
Joshua
Added: November 06, 2007 03:30 PM
Joshua,
Thanks for the comment and the link to your article, which I hadn't seen before. I'm glad we agree on most of the issues and, fundamentally, on the bottom line - your "black list" and the billions they've illicitly taken from the African poor is very illustrative.
I'm not sure that I entirely got your point about the Norwegian example, but it is interesting that, if you read the article from which I've taken Kristin Halvorsen's comment, you will notice that it was made in a context where precisely she was being criticised by Norwegian citizens for allegedly being the Finance Minister of a "greedy state" which saves so much yet taxes them too heavily on their cars and fuel, just to protect the environment... But then we are talking about "other values".
I would like to make it clear that these "other values" do not necessarily imply any sort of "superiority" of their holders over us, Africans. The point I was trying to make in the article is precisely that these "other values" can be developed in our societies through democracy and good governance, among other pre-requisites.
But all in all I agree with what you say about Mo Ibrahim's prize at these initial stages since its creation.
Thanks again.
By:
Koluki
More Comments from Africanpath
Added: November 13, 2007 11:02 AM
Improvement
I think one of the ways this prize could be improved would be for the juri to draw a shortlist of up to three candidates, depending on the number of available eligible former presidents. Then this shortlist should be submitted to reputable civil society, national NGOs and community organisations in their respective countries for evaluation and the juri would select a winner on the basis of these country evaluations.
I think this could give more credibility and reputation to the entire selection process.
Thank you.
By:
Ed Leal
Added: November 17, 2007 01:32 PM
Good Proposal
Ed, I think your proposal is very interesting and should be considered by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation.
Thanks.
By:
Koluki
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