Mo Ibrahim's Prize

The problem with Mo Ibrahim's prize is that it rewards ex-leaders. But few of Africa's leaders want to be LIVING ex-leaders. Museveni, RGM, Biya, Mubarak etc, all want to be Presidents-for-life, and DIE IN OFFICE. They do not want to be living ex-leaders -- perish the thought! Furthermore, the prize amount (US$5m) is an amount that most African leaders would sniff at. I can almost see Pres Biya asking his secretary if the amount he was reading was not a typo..... "Are you sure that's not $500 million, ma cherie?"

Kudos to Mo Ibrahim for at least trying and putting his heart into it, but our present crop of African leaders, and ex-leaders do not share his righteousness. Thabo Mbeki, John Kuffour, Quett Masire, Albert Rene - don't know if he's still alive - and probably Godfrey Binaisa are the ex-leaders who are worthy of the prize.

It's Our Turn To Eat

Just read the book by Michaela Wrong, "It's our turn to eat". What a great book. Michaela Wrong is a great wordsmith, and she knows her Africa. She doesn't spout useless cliches like some other "experts" on Africa. The main character in all of this, John Githongo, had the guts to take on the whole, corrupt, Kenyan establishment. I wish there were more Africans like him. The man has got b***s!

It's good to know that Ndugu Githongo is still alive-and-well, still in the fight against corruption. In the book, Michaela Wrong describes how some of Githongo's ex-workmates traveled to London to try to get him to drop his endeavours and return to the fold. At least the Kenyan establishment still has some decency; they don't kill all of their enemies, unlike their cousins in Zimbabwe.