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Outgoing Namibian President Wins $5 Million Africa Leadership Prize

Published

9 years ago

March 2, 2015

FILE - In this Friday, Sept. 26, 2014 file photo, Namibian President Hifikepunye Pohamba addresses the 69th session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters. Pohamba has won the 2014 Ibrahim Prize for African leadership, the first African leader deemed worthy of the honor since 2011. Chairman of the prize committee Salim Ahmed Salim announced that Pohamba won the $5 million prize Monday, March 2, 2015 in Nairobi. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

In this Friday, Sept. 26, 2014 file photo, Namibian President Hifikepunye Pohamba addresses the 69th session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

NAIROBI, Kenya (Reuters)—Namibia’s outgoing president, Hifikepunye Pohamba, has won the Mo Ibrahim Foundation’s $5 million African leadership prize, an award meant to recognize good governance that had been presented only three times before in eight years.

To win the prize, set up by the Sudanese telecoms tycoon in 2007, a leader must have been democratically elected and have left office in the last three years, serving only their constitutionally mandated term. The winner must also have displayed “exceptional leadership.”

The prize committee praised Pohamba’s commitment to the rule of law and respect for the constitution, as well as his promotion of gender equality.

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