Apparently modesty wasn’t a requirement in judging the candidates for the Mo Ibrahim Prize for African Leadership.
Mozambique’s former President Joaquim Chissano, who led his country to peace after a vicious war before willingly stepping down, said he was not surprised to win the first Mo Ibrahim Prize for African leadership.
In a Reuters Television interview late on Monday in Kampala, Chissano, one of Africa’s most revered statesmen, also said that he was unsure whether the $5 million prize should be seen as an incentive for good conduct in power.
“I am not surprised … I have received many other rewards for the same reasons. Even before I left power I had been praised on several occasions and I have the appreciation of my colleagues, other African leaders,” he said.
The bearded Chissano, who was appointed last year as a U.N. special envoy for Uganda’s conflict, was speaking at a Kampala hotel after visiting delegates at Ugandan peace talks being mediated in Juba by South Sudanese officials.
The Mo Ibrahim prize, the world’s biggest individual award, was presented by former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan at a ceremony in London on Monday.
