Recently, Ghana, the most stable democracy in Africa, renewed its place in the annals of African history and by so doing made an indelible mark in the global consciousness on two fronts; capturing the attention of many millions around the globe. In the first instance, the heroic victory by the Under 20 National team over Brazil, against all odds in the premier U-20 world cup hosted on African soil in Egypt, sent the entire African continent into instant euphoria and jubilation.
The second instance, the focus of this article, also remarkable, can best be described as public humiliation of the Ex-President of Ghana under the NPP regime from 2000 to 2008. According to the Associated Press, the Mo Ibrahim foundation snubbed recent ex-presidents, including John Kufuor, denying him both the prestige and prize money of $5 million.
The truth is that massive corruption, abuse of office, and divisive politics rendered Ex-President Kufuor unfit for the Mo Ibrahim Award. Even the children who were born on the day the Kufuor led NPP took power know this, let alone the rest of us Octogenarians. To understand why our Ex-President did not get the award, it is important to explore why and to examine the factors that may have led to this snub as the Associated Press put it.
The Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership is awarded only to democratically elected heads of state who have left office in the past three years. According to former Botswana President, Ketumile Masire, a board member of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, the committee considered "some credible candidates" but could not select a winner. Big Mo Ibrahim was asked at a news conference about politicians who meet the award criteria but were not chosen and he noted that "I made clear when I started the foundation that there may be years when a winner is not chosen and this is such a year�. But the question that remains is why not a winner this year? Certainly the candidates were unfit.
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