How Mills Scuttled Kufuor's Award

…Akilakpa, Arnold Quainoo sent to do dirty work

TODAY has established that the decision by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation not to award former Ghanaian President, John Agyekum Kufuor, with the prestigious Mo Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership prize, was masterminded by Ghanaian President John Evans Atta Mills.

A high-powered government delegation led by a former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Professor Akilakpa Sawyerr, was hastily dispatched on the orders of the President to make an underground move to meet The Prize Committee to make a case against the nomination of former President Kufuor as the recipient of this year’s award.

Another prominent member of the delegation was former General Officer Commanding the Ghana Armed Forces, Lt. General (ret’d) Arnold Quainoo, currently a member of the Council of State.

Akilakpa and his group referred the Prize Committee to the many corrupt revelations at the on-going Ghana @50 public hearing; the Dagbon Chieftaincy dispute where the Overlord of the area, Ya Na Yakubu Andani II was murdered in daylight under the Kufuor administration and the controversial purchase of the West Airport Regent Hotel by the first son of Mr. Kufuor. These were tended in as some of the bad governance practices of the Kufuor administration.

The delegation also met Mo Ibrahim himself where he was virtually blackmailed for what government considers as his gift-purchase of WESTEL from then President Kufuor. It was made clear to him that his $120 million offer for the purchase of WESTEL was below the prize target of $250 million offered by his main competitor-CELTEL and the only way to ensure that business and his other interests in the country were not reviewed, as was happening in the case of VODADONE, was to use his influence to stop the Prize Committee from giving the award to former President Kufuor.

With the obvious threat and the anticipated negative implications on his business interests in Ghana, Mo Ibrahim had no other option than to acquiesce to the pressure mount of the Ghanaian government by lobbying the Prize Committee to stall this year’s award.

The Prize Committee had no choice. They had to state to the international media that although it considered some credible candidates, an in-depth review of the Prize Committee could not select a winner.

This is what Mo Ibrahim, the founder himself said:

“The Prize Committee is independent of the Board. It is the Prize Committee’s decision not to award a Prize this year and we entirely respect it. We made clear at the launch of the Foundation that there may be years when there is no winner.

This Foundation was established to stimulate debate around, and improve the quality of, African governance. Although there is much focus on the prize, the Foundation is engaged in many other activities to help improve governance. Central to these is the Ibrahim Index of African Governance, which the Foundation published earlier this month, which gives powerful information to all citizens about the performance of their countries.”

The Board of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation also confirmed that despite the fact that there is no laureate this year, the planned events in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania on 14 and 15 November 2009 will go ahead. These events will include a discussion forum that will bring together stakeholders to discuss issues that are key to Africa’s future progress including climate justice, agriculture and food security and regional economic integration. The aim of the forum is to articulate shared aspirations and a common vision for the future around these issues”.

The Mo Ibrahim Foundation is committed to supporting great African leadership that will improve the economic and social prospects of the people of Africa. The Foundation’s focus is the promotion of good governance in Africa and the recognition of excellence in African leadership.

The Prize Committee is chaired by former United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan and comprised of Martti Ahtisaari, former President of Finland and Nobel Laureate; Aïcha Bah Diallo, former Minister of Education in Guinea and Director of Basic Education at UNESCO; Mohamed ElBaradei, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency and Nobel Laureate; Graça Machel, Chancellor of the University of Cape Town, and former Minister of Education and Culture in Mozambique; Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (and Board member of the Foundation); Salim Ahmed Salim, former Secretary-General of the Organisation of African Unity and former Prime Minister of Tanzania (and Board member of the Foundation).

The Mo Ibrahim Foundation was launched in October 2006 and is committed to supporting great African leadership. It was founded by Mo Ibrahim, one of Africa’s most successful business entrepreneurs, and has the support of a number of global figures, including Kofi Annan, Nelson Mandela and Amartya Sen. The Foundation aims to stimulate debate around, and improve the quality of, governance in Africa

The previous winners of the Ibrahim Prize are Festus Mogae, the former President of Botswana, Joaquim Chissano, the former President of Mozambique and Nelson Mandela, who was made an Honorary Laureate in recognition of his extraordinary leadership qualities and achievements.