The Managing Editor of the Insight newspaper, Kwesi Pratt Jnr, has rubbished the Mo Ibrahim-award for African ex-leaders, saying the prize is skewed towards further enriching the pockets of the affluent and does not serve the interest of the underprivileged and the deprived.
Questioning the rationale for setting up the initiative in the first place, Mr. Pratt strongly asserted that �it is not about fighting poverty�.
��what�s the purpose of this award? (Instead of tackling) the problems of Africa, this award is intended to make the rich and powerful, richer. It is not about fighting poverty, it is not about the development of Africa. It is simply about making the rich, richer,� he said on Peace Fm�s Kokrokoo.
The Mo Ibrahim award, which is in its third year, is given to a democratically elected ex-leader from Sub-Saharan African, who has shown good governance. However, the Price Committee, this year, after an in-depth review, failed the select a winner for the coveted $5m (�3m) reward.
But, Mr. Pratt believes the initiator of the incentive has his own selfish business interests in mind and accused Mo Ibrahim of �cultivating African leaders to strengthen his business ties.�
Mr. Pratt continued: �for some three days now, I have been conducting research about Mo Ibrahim�his business interests in Africa are worth about 3.5 billion US Dollars,�he needs to protect that business interest. How better than to cultivate the African�? How better than to cultivate our Presidents? How better than every ex-President having the hope that he�s likely to earn $5m?...Ex-President Kufuor should even be glad he was not awarded this prize.�
<<Print>>