Judges withhold African leadership prize

Its a sad state of affairs that in this entire southern part of the continent, not a single exceptional leader can be found. But then again who needs US$5mln when you can get the citizenry and the poor to fund your lavish lifestyle of luxury hotels and cars!

It's easy to blame the mediocre (and worse) leaders that we have, but the problem really lies with a politically naive electorate. Until we learn NOT to forgive incompetence, corruption and arrogance, but to boot it out, we won't move forward.

I found this article to be a breath of fresh air. It no doubt has black Africans on the board and they have cleary set the bar extremely high. Not giving this prize away as a matter of course in the name of political expediency is a positive development. When it is awarded it will be of genuinely high value and a true recognition of good leadership.

Can't think of any immediate possibilities for the future.

I think it's an embarrassing endictment that African leaders need some sort of Employee of the Month award to entice them to lead properly.

And $5 million over 10 years is never going to swing it - I mean Bob can squeeze that out of Zimbabwe with blood sweat and tears (not his of course) in a few days, so why bother being good?

Ridiculous.

now thats a funny story.

I am always surprised to see that Mugabe is given as an example whenever bad governance is mentioned (see Craig's comment). My question is, is he really the only one in Africa? Look here, Africa is a continent where the imbeciles are in charge. Actually Bob is being sustained by his fellow looters in the African Union. How then do we explain the fact that the AU observer team to Zim elections said the elections were not free and fair but the AU went on to recognize Mugabe. Look around and you will see what I mean. We are hopeless.
1. We attend the G8 to urge the rich nations to honor their pledges for funds.
2. We have ministers who drive posh official cars when schools are underfunded.
3. We have peace keeping missions referred to as AU peace keeping missions when they are wholly funded by the EU.
4. We don't have a single country in Africa with a credible health system for all citizens. Our HIV/AIDS programs are funded by the "imperialists"

The lists goes on and on. And we say we can award leaders for good governance. The panel is right though I suspect it is a ploy to save money for a project that could be difficult to sustain as it is funded by a single individual.

This guy is just broke...

What about FW de Klerk? Or is the award only for black leaders?

Wasn't Mbeki removed for lack of leadership. Perhaps the lack of award is due to 'party leadership', and the award should addressed as such. No way. Leadership is at the end of a barrel of a gun, a co-opted Africanization. Mobutu, Lumumba, Kabila, endless stories, Kenya and Zimbabwe, and no wonder the biggest kook in the world Queerdaffi heads the African Union, while Mugabe heads an economic conference. Africa, get your stuff together, famine is going to hit somewhere, and you cannot continue to blame colonialism for all of your problems, or the west for aids.

Hippo crit

Fw de klerk did nothing but arrange pre election violence for '94. He also made sure that the gvmnt burnt docs and files of important cases and state owned land/finances. His mark in history is nothin but a man that inherited a bankrupt system that had run itz course and a country in turmoil, he had no other choice but to negotiate.

He definitely does not deserve any kind of reward. The fact that he is living a luxurious life from the fruits of the ANC is enuff to make any sane person sick.

Now that is a funny story!!!! A whole sub continent, not one decent leader. And 2boy, dont pull the wool over your eyes buddy, nothing forced De Klerk to the table in 1990.

Things could have gone on alot longer, but it was time for change because it was wrong. What we have now isnt much better. Its funny how you describe a bankrupt system and a country in turmoil - because nothing has changed.

And as for your pre-election arranged violence: as I recall it was black people killing black people, so of course it has to be a white man's fault.

And I think the Nobel commitee would disagree with you as well...but then I guess their all white anyway and cant be trusted...

'The fact that he is living a luxurious life from the fruits of the ANC' - Sounds like the ANC top dawg elites.

Good call!

paul vincent/Sinudeity @gmail.com

"And 2boy, dont pull the wool over your eyes buddy, nothing forced De Klerk to the table in 1990."

The country was in turmoil, it was a state of emergency, white people starting finding out the truth, businesses went bankrupt, unemployment amongst whites shot up, the cost of maintaining apartheid was too high, the economy was in a HUGE defecit, they had loans that they could not pay, etc etc etc etc...

De Klerk was forced to negotiate!! Sorry my man, but your high school history is useless in this debate, consult real investigations to see the tragic situation that SA was in and the fact that dE kLERK HAD NO CHOICE!!

"Its funny how you describe a bankrupt system and a country in turmoil - because nothing has changed."

wow, YOU TRULY ARE IGNORANT!! yeah, nothing has changed but year after year of positive economic growth which had never happened in the previous gvmnts hands. Investments still pouring into to SA, we are about to host the world's biggest event! No matter how or what you say, SA under the ANC has made more improvemenst for ALL in 14 years than the NP in half a century!

"And as for your pre-election arranged violence: as I recall it was black people killing black people, so of course it has to be a white man's fault."

Oh yeah, it was black people BUT they were dropped off by police vehicles under the instructions of De Klerk!!

"And I think the Nobel commitee would disagree with you as well"

No i think they would agree actually! De Klerk and them pulled the wool over white people's eyes during their reign of terror and used and abused their systems to push their white supremecist policies!! People in the world do not regard people like De Klerk as some kind of hero unfortunately! All he did was make an obvious decision and that was to NEGOTIATE!

Sinudeity @gmail.com

"Sounds like the ANC top dawg elites."

No it's actually racist remains of the old gvmnt who murdered, tortured and oppressed black people but were forgiven because they were white! These very same people come out to defend a constitution which they did not want YOU or any other south african to have!

They should give it to Mugabe - unbelievable leader who may lead in the wrong direction but still leads on and on and on and on.............just wont go away!The Zimbabweans seem to be happy with him so he must be very good at governance!

Peter Nel: "The Zimbabweans seem to be happy with him..." I hope [or is it wish] you're joking. I've been in Zimbabwe since 1960 and have gone through several generations of 'bad governance'. The Mugabe era has been the worst for me .... and am a political activist, and have a sense of humour, and am NOT laughing at your joke. Let's just say even the Norbel Peace Prize was not supposed to be given to anyone this year, even to Obama, but at least he's a good man. I don't know where you live, but RSA is not exactly a citadel of paradise ... at least the RSA where 'mortals' like me have visited ... Soweto, Khayelitsha, Alex etc. So far, Zimbos have NOT been blowing up ATM machines, burning tyres in the streets, barricading their homes behind 6-metre walls or shooting drivers in 'luxury cars'. I know not of a Zimbabwean who uses a bucket toilet system or attends class under a tree. Of course if someone pointed an AK47 at you, Peter, you would vote for him, or at least hand over your car keys. We Zimbos rejected Mugabe in 2000, but then he made us pay with our lives. So Peter, get off your warm b**t and make a difference by campaigning for a BLOCKADE of trade between Mugabe and Zuma so perhaps I can be voted president and take a slice off Mo's fat cheque in 2020!

If you want to understand what went wrong in Copenhagen you must read this article - he was in the room.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/dec/22/copenhagen-climate-change-mark-lynas