leadership

Namibia's outgoing president, Hifikepunye Pohamba, has won the Mo Ibrahim Foundation's US$5 million African leadership prize, an award meant to recognise good governance that has been presented only three times in eight years.

Announcing the award in Nairobi, the Mo Ibrahim committee praised Pohamba's commitment to the rule of law and his respect for the constitution, as well as his promotion of gender equality.

Kenny Dlamini writes that during the United States of America-Africa Leaders’ summit which took place on August 2014 in Washington, one of the shared commitments outlined by the United Sates and African governments is to increase investment in the next generation; investment in Africa’s youth.

Dlamini says the call to invest in the youth was in line with the theme of the summit ‘Investing in the Next Generation’, which focused on ways of stimulating growth, unlocking opportunities and creating an enabling environment for the next generation.

The United Nations (UN) secretary-general, Ban Ki-Moon, has described former president, Nelson Mandela as ‘a giant for justice’ whose ‘selfless struggle for human dignity, equality and freedom’ inspired many people around the world.

Ban told reporters soon after Mandela’s death was announced by President Jacob Zuma that, "No one did more in our time to advance the values and aspirations of the United Nations."

African National Congress (ANC) national executive committee member and Minister of Public Enterprises, Malusi Gigaba, has criticised opposition parties and non-governmental organisations for telling foreign countries that South Africa has failed since democracy.

Gigaba told the South African Democratic Teachers' Union (SADTU) that, "All around us, the opportunists, the pessimists, the opposition and the counter-revolutionists are telling us what we have achieved in the last 19 years has been nothing and this revolution faces its inevitable doom."

Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, executive director of United Nations Women says the leadership of women is central to reconciliation and conflict resolution.
 
Mlambo-Ngcuka, addressed the United Nations Security Council moments after the body unanimously adopted a resolution reaffirming the central role of women in the peaceful resolution of conflicts and peace building.