Leadership prize goes to Mozambican

LONDON — Mozambique's former President Joaquim Chissano on Monday became the first winner of the Mo Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African leadership — a $5 million gift intended to promote good governance on a continent blighted by misrule.

But with only a dozen or so ex-rulers left for the annual award, some Africa-watchers wonder how many acceptable candidates are left to choose from after Chissano, widely respected abroad for his international peace work.

"He was the only viable candidate," said Stephen Chan, a professor of international law at London's School of Oriental and African Studies, adding that finding someone of his stature for the next round would be "the big problem for the Mo Ibrahim prize."

Chissano, who governed for 18 years after the death of the country's first president, Samora Machel, voluntarily relinquished power in 2004.

As president, Chissano brokered a lasting peace after Mozambique's postcolonial civil war and oversaw the nation's transition from Marxism to a free-market economy.

He was a former chairman of the African Union and worked to find solutions to wars in Burundi, Congo, Ivory Coast and Sudan.

Only former executive heads of state or government who left office in 2004, 2005, or 2006 were eligible — a total of 13 this year.

Dylan Hendrickson, an Africa researcher at King's College, London, said that South Africa's current president, Thabo Mbeki, would be a strong contender once he stepped down, but that his tenure had been tarnished by his controversial stance on HIV/AIDS.

Other former leaders, such as Nigeria's Olusegun Obasanjo, whose 1999 election ended decades of near-constant military rule, had clung too closely to power to be held up as a model of good governance, Hendrickson said. Military rulers would inevitably be controversial.

The prize, established by Ibrahim, the Sudanese billionaire, does not necessarily need to be disbursed every year, and so according to the committee's rules the money can be held in reserve if there are no suitable candidates. But a prolonged drought in awards might be embarrassing, Chan said.