Recognising exceptional leadership

Hifikepunye Pohamba, Namibia’s 79-year-old outgoing president, whose tenure ends later this month, is only the fourth winner of the $5 million annual prize, launched in 2007 by the telecommunications magnate Mr Mo Ibrahim with the aim of encouraging and rewarding good governance on the continent. The prize, which among others is intended to free African […]

Hifikepunye Pohamba, Namibia’s 79-year-old outgoing president, whose tenure ends later this month, is only the fourth winner of the $5 million annual prize, launched in 2007 by the telecommunications magnate Mr Mo Ibrahim with the aim of encouraging and rewarding good governance on the continent. The prize, which among others is intended to free African leaders from the financial concerns that have led some of them to cling to power, with destabilising consequences for their people, has only seen three recipients since it was inaugurated, because the selection committee could not find a candidate that met the criteria.
It’s an enormous achievement for the Namibian statesman, who, by it, has followed in the footsteps of Mozambique’s Joaquim Chissano, Botswana’s Festus Mogae, and Cape Verde’s Pedro Verona Pires, past recipients of the award, who have demonstrated that providing good governance is possible without plundering the resources of the state and impoverishing the people in the process.
There is unanimous consent that Namibia under Pohamba has become something of a portrait for what can be accomplished through constitutionalism, the rule of law and good governance.
In announcing the Pohamba choice, these qualities, so rare among Africa countries, formed the basis of the decision of the selection panel headed by Salim Ahmed Salim, a former prime minster of Tanzania.
The committee recognised Pohamba’s careful but decisive moves against corruption; his respect for the Constitution, rule of law, media freedom, and human rights, among others. It also noted that Namibia enjoyed significant economic growth and a successful land reform programme under which unused white-owned land was purchased by government and distributed to blacks.
“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,” Salim said. He praised the recipient for his sound and “wise leadership”, “his ability to command the confidence and trust of his people”, his respect for the opposition, and his push for gender equality as well as his increased spending on housing and education. This is no doubt a glowing tribute that should please the ears of every aspiring statesman in Africa and elsewhere.
Pohamba did not only initiate programmes and policies that directly touched the lives of the average Namibian citizen but ensured, painstakingly, that he took personal interest in their implementation by directly supervising them.  The Prize Committee acknowledged this when it said that his efforts had taken roots even before his tenure runs out.  “Focused investment on health and education by his government has reaped benefits. High literacy has been augmented by primary school enrolment of almost 100% due to the abolition of school fees, a measure due to be extended to secondary schools next year. One of the highest HIV/AIDS prevalence rates in the world has been addressed through an effective national mobilisation plan led under his personal authority. Over 80% of people living with HIV now receive anti-retroviral therapy. HIV infections fell by an estimated 36 per cent between 2005 and 2013 and mother-to-child transmission rates are now below 4 per cent,” the committee affirmed in its citation.
 Namibia is politically and economically stable today because of those qualities of leadership that Mr Pohamba demonstrated throughout his tenure.  No doubt there were many attractions that would have tempted him off the path of rectitude that many of his colleagues on the continent would find easy to fall into, even unbidden. Pohamba’s example once more demonstrates the crucial role that leadership by example plays in the affairs of nation states.  It is a shining example we commend to many other leaders in Africa.