Now this is indeed good news mixed with a bit of sad as well. The good news is that Joaquim Chissano, the ex-President of Mozambique, has been awarded a Leadership award. This award is meant for people who come into power through elections and then hand over power to a freely elected successor. The good thing is that there is one person who was found worthy enough to win this award. The sad bit is that most of the rest of the lot are such a venal, thieving corrupt lot (and if they aren't venal, corrupt and thieving, they are simply stupid like Mbeki).
But hey, lets clutch at straws! I quote:
Kofi Annan, former UN secretary-general who chaired the selection panel and announced the winner, said this showed the continuing dynamism of a man who had become a role model for the continent, making peace with his own rebel adversaries in 1992 and going on to establish democracy and the beginnings of economic recovery.
"This remarkable reconciliation between opponents provides a shining example to the rest of the world and is testament to both his [Chissano's] strength of character and his leadership," Mr Annan said.
"His decision not to seek a third presidential term reinforced Mozambique's democratic maturity and demonstrated that institutions and the democratic process were more important than personalities," he added.
In 2005, Mr Chissano retired after 18 years with his reputation intact, making him a relative rarity among his African peers.
He was picked from a shortlist of 11 heads of state who stood or fell down in the past three years. More than half of them took power in coups and were therefore ineligible.
Mr Chissano cut his teeth in the war against Mozambique's Portuguese colonisers, becoming head of state when his predecessor died in an air crash in 1988.
Under his rule Mozambique went from being a Marxist, single-party state at war with itself, to a multi-party democracy, still among the world's poorest countries but at peace and with a free-wheeling economy among Africa's fastest growing.
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