Mo Ibrahim Foundation Honors Archbishop Tutu

One of Africa's great voices for justice, freedom, democracy and responsible, responsive government

This man in an Enigma, he won the Nobel Peace Prize - and 10m Swedish Krona (£935,000) - in 1984 for his campaign against apartheid and towards the end of 2012, he has done it again.

This is no other person than the anti-apartheid hero, Arcbishop Desmond Tutu, was Thursday in Senegal, awarded $1 million, by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation that promotes good governance in Africa. Although Tutu is not in government, the Foundation adjudged him courageous and frank in telling those in power the truth always, without caring whose ox is gored.

Since the prize was established in 2007, it has been awarded only three times:

1. to Joaquim Chissano of Mozambique in 2007

2. Festus Mogae of Botswana in 2008

3. Pedro Verona Pires in 2011.

Other years it could find no former chief of state that met the necessary qualifications. That has been taken as an indictment of the quality of leadership by African chiefs of state.

The Foundation reasoned that such courage, in a way, helps to also promote god governance. In announcing the award, the Mo Ibrahim Foundation remarked that Tutu “is and has throughout his life been one of Africa’s great voices for justice, freedom, democracy, responsible, responsive government”.

Tutu who is also a Nobel Peace Laureate has been vocal in condemning the acts of governments anywhere in the world, be it, Israelis against Palestinians, or China against Tibetans. He survived the apartheid regime where he was a fiery critic, and has remained critical of governments ever since South Africa abolished racial discrimination.

The Foundation which also gives out $5 million every year to a democratically-elected former president or head of state in Africa who steps down from power in accordance with the country’s constitution, failed to give the award in 2009 and 2010, because no such former leader was adjudged qualified for the prize. The award was instituted in 2006.

“The lack of outstanding leadership is not only an African problem. It is a global problem. We don’t just hand out the award for the sake of announcing a winner,” Ibrahim said.

The London-based Foundation called the cleric "one of Africa's great voices for justice, freedom, democracy and responsible, responsive government".

He won the Nobel Peace Prize - and 10m Swedish Krona (£935,000) - in 1984 for his campaign against apartheid.

Archbishop Tutu responded by thanking his wife, Leah, for her guidance.

"I have been very fortunate throughout my life to be surrounded by people of the highest calibre, beginning with my extraordinary wife," said the archbishop in a statement.

"It is these generous people who have guided, prodded, assisted, cajoled - and ultimately allowed me to take the credit."

The statement said the retired archbishop of Capetown was celebrating his and his wife's birthdays with family and staff - he turns 81 on Sunday, while Mrs Tutu's birthday is a week later.

The South African cleric remains outspoken on international affairs, and has been a fierce critic of Israel's treatment of the Palestinians as well as China's treatment of Tibetans.

In August, he pulled out of a leadership summit in Johannesburg because he refused to share a platform with former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Archbishop Tutu said Mr Blair and former US President George W Bush should be tried at the International Criminal Court in The Hague for lying about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction in order to justify invading the country.

Mr Blair issued a strongly worded defence of his decisions, rejecting the archbishop's allegations as "completely wrong as every single independent analysis of the evidence has shown".

The Foundation has made an “extraordinary award” once before, to Nelson Mandela, who left office long before the prize was established. The fact that it has announced a special award for Archbishop Tutu fuels speculation that this year, again, no former chief of state will be found eligible. It should be noted that the award to the archbishop is substantially less than would be made to a chief of state.

The archbishop is perhaps Africa’s most influential moral leader at present. Mary Robinson, former president of Ireland and UN Commissioner for Human Rights, observed that South Africa has produced the “two great moral giants of my lifetime, Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.” The archbishop continues to call for South Africa to live up to its calling to be the “rainbow nation” of God, and he does not hesitate to criticize—in blistering terms—the current government when it falls short.

He compared President Jacob Zuma’s government to the apartheid state when it declined to issue a visa to the Dalai Lama in 2011 out of fear of offending Beijing. He does not restrict his prophetic utterances solely to Africa: he is also calling on the International Criminal Court to indict former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair and former president George W. Bush for undertaking the Iraq war on “false pretenses”–the alleged presence of weapons of mass destruction.

Mo Ibrahim, who established the foundation, is of Sudanese origin and now based in London. A billionaire entrepreneur in mobile communications, his company, Celtel, had twenty-four million phone subscribers in fourteen African countries at the time he sold it in 2005 for U.S. $3.4 billion. The Foundation also produces an annual index on the state of government in Africa.