UK: Former Mozambique president Chissano wins first Mo Ibrahim Prize for African leadership

Record ID: 453946

  • Title: UK: Former Mozambique president Chissano wins first Mo Ibrahim Prize for African leadership
  • Date: 23rd October 2007
  • Summary: (AD1) LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM (OCTOBER 22, 2007) (REUTERS) PEOPLE AT ANNOUNCEMENT CEREMONY OF THE MO IBRAHIM FOUNDATION TV SCREEN AUDIENCE APPLAUDING AS KOFI ANNAN WALKS TO PODIUM MAN IN AUDIENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) FORMER UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY-GENERAL, KOFI ANNAN, SAYING: "It is a prize that recognises more than just good governance. It celebrates excellence in leadership. I am delighted to announce that the winner is a former president of Mozambique, Joaquim Alberto Chissano." AUDIENCE APPLAUDING (SOUNDBITE) (English) FORMER UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY-GENERAL, KOFI ANNAN, SAYING: "President Chissano's achievement 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 that the constitution allowed." AUDIENCE AT CEREMONY (SOUNDBITE) (English) FORMER UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY-GENERAL, KOFI ANNAN, SAYING: "But it is his role in leading Mozambique from conflict to peace and democracy that Chissano has made his most outstanding contribution. It is a measure of the change that is taking place that national and regional elections have been contested in a generally peaceful manner by both sides in the bitter civil war."
  • Embargoed: 7th November 2007 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA6T0PZ2IH02XDFZESDKBVW3SMX
  • Story Text: Former President Joaquim Chissano, has been awarded for leading his country to peace and democracy after years of civil war.
    Mozambique's former President Joaquim Chissano, who stood aside after leading his country to peace and democracy after years of civil war, won the first Mo Ibrahim Prize for African leadership on Monday.
    The 5-million U.S. dollar prize was presented by former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan at a ceremony in London's city hall.
    Chissano, a former revolutionary who fought Portuguese colonial rule, served as president of the southern African country from 1986 until 2005, winning praise for his pragmatic policies in a nation once one of the poorest in the world.
    He won acclaim for stepping aside after 18 years in power, when he could have stood for a further five-year term, saying he wanted to create political space for democracy to thrive.

    "President Chissano's achievements in bringing peace, reconciliation, stable democracy and economic progress to his country greatly impressed the committee," Annan said in awarding the prize.

    "So too, did his decision to step down without seeking the third term the constitution allowed."
    Chissano, celebrating his 58th birthday on Monday, was not in London to receive the award.
    He was in the South Sudanese capital, Juba, on a mission as U.N.
    special envoy to peace talks between the Ugandan government and Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels.
    Chissano has also been working with the International Criminal Court in The Hague, which issued war crimes indictments against five top LRA commanders in 2005.
    Mo Ibrahim, a Sudanese-born telecommunications entrepreneur, established the prize as a way of encouraging good governance in a continent blighted by corruption and a frequently loose adherence to democratic principles.
    Chissano, a former leader in the Frelimo guerrilla movement which fought Portuguese rule in Mozambique for decades until independence in 1975, was only the second person to serve as president of Mozambique.
    He succeeded liberation hero Samora Machel, who was killed in a plane crash in 1986.
    A quiet man, Chissano showed his negotiating skills when he concluded a peace deal in 1992 to end a 16-year war with Renamo rebels, laying the foundation for his country's first multi-party elections in 1994.
    While highly regarded for the role he played in reviving Mozambique's economy, he has received criticism for his close friendship with Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe.
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