For too long African progress has been measured and metered from outside the continent. Be it the United Nations, the global think-tanks or international civil society, it’s been up to others always to keep us on our democratic toes.
So the inaugural Ibrahim Index of African Governance, released this week, is a vital symbol of a continent attempting to take its own bull by the horns. Mo Ibrahim, a Sudanese businessman who founded Celltel, has invested a sizeable chunk of his fortune in the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, which will publish the annual index of good governance.
The list rates sub-Saharan African countries by a set of indicators, including safety and security, rule of law, participation and human rights, sustainable economics and human development. Mauritius and Seychelles top the list, followed by Botswana, Cape Verde and South Africa. The bottom five are Guinea-Bissau, Sudan, Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Somalia.
The award, in excess of $5-million, dwarfs the Nobel Peace Prize and is meant to become as coveted. It is also a way to incentivise heads of state and government to give up power instead of hanging on to it.
In October, Ibrahim will award the prize to a former head of state who most closely complies with the standards of the index.
It is a visionary example, which other business leaders should follow.
As far-sighted is the continent’s first 24-hour news channel to be launched shortly by the Kenyan journalist Salim Amin. His mission: to ensure that Africa tells its own story rather than being a news receiver from the global wires and channels.
This — with strong growth rates, new investor interest, and tentative steps towards peace in Darfur, the Niger Delta and Zimbabwe — suggests 2007 might go down as a good year in sub-Saharan Africa.
If South Africa gets through the Polokwane meeting of the ANC with a clever outcome, if Musa Yar’Adua’s new government in Nigeria finds it feet and if Kenya holds a successful election in December, these will build on processes of hope.
By no means do we suggest that all is well. Darfur is so violent and its people so hopeless that it will take statesmanship we have not seen yet to bring it back from the brink. In the eastern DRC a new war is being waged. And in South Africa the government seems less sure of itself every day, if this week’s unexplained axing of Scorpions boss Vusi Pikoli is anything to go by.
Still, it is worth noting the efforts of leaders and visionaries on the continent to ensure a brighter future.
Sting in the tale
The abrupt suspension of National Director of Public Prosecutions Vusi Pikoli over a long weekend and immediately before President Thabo Mbeki’s departure for New York is a poor reflection on the state of government in South Africa and has implications for the crucial area of law enforcement.
Was the matter really so urgent that it could not await the president’s return? As the country seethed with speculation about the reasons for the suspension, Mbeki was reportedly ringing the bell at the New York Stock Exchange. Inevitably the matter has been linked to the ANC leadership struggle and there have been damaging — and almost certainly inaccurate — media theories that Pikoli was punished for failing to bring fresh charges against Jacob Zuma.
Pikoli’s mysterious suspension can only weaken public confidence by suggesting levels of government disarray. It is not reassuring to be told, in quick succession, that he cannot get on with Justice Minister Brigitte Mabandla, that axed deputy health minister Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge cannot work with “the collective” and that Mbeki does not trust former NIA chief Billy Masetlha.
And it is likely to compromise the fight against crime. Despite recurrent corruption scandals and staff exodus, the Scorpions have been a relatively successful experiment and Pikoli a successful leader. Their conviction rate — 85% of prosecutions in the past year — stands in stark contrast to the record of the South African Police Service.
Pikoli appears to be the victim of a wider campaign, driven by police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi and the intelligence fraternity, and enthusiastically endorsed by the Zuma camp, to clip the Scorpions’ wings. This has nothing to do with law enforcement and everything to do with the internal politics of the ANC. Zuma’s sole purpose is to thwart the corruption case against him and the threat it poses to his political ambitions. It was pressure from the antiÂScorpions lobby that led to the Khampepe Commission and its hopelessly incoherent recommendation that oversight of the Scorpions should be divided between two ministers. And, as we report today, Pikoli’s suspension is closely intertwined with the Scorpions’ investigation of Selebi’s alleged links with organised crime. There is a persuasive view that Mbeki wishes to head this off before the ANC’s Polokwane conference, for fear of the political harm it might do him.
When Mbeki was accused of discussing the Zuma prosecution with the NPA boss during a trip to Chile in 2005, this was hotly denied amid protests about the Scorpions’ independence. Yet excessive independence now appears to be Pikoli’s offence. Ultimately at issue here is the question of what should drive our security agencies: political infighting or a crime-busting agenda.