I like the way we analyze issues from a political angle, and now that the $5 million prize for former African leaders who set examples of honest, democratic government will not be awarded this year, I can almost figure out the kind of headlines we might spot on our streets or on the Internet in the coming weeks trying to educate us why no African leader deserved the prize this time round.

Already there is a suggestion that Mo Ibrahim, a Sudanese born telecommunications entrepreneur who set up the award came to the decision as a snub to leaders such as South African president Thabo Mbeki or former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo who would have been eligible.

Committee members have not given a reason for their decision, citing the confidentiality of their discussions, or to say if it meant no leader had met the standard required.

Ibrahim founded the world’s largest individual award as a way to encourage good governance in a continent blighted by corruption and a frequently loose adherence to democratic principles.
When Ibrahim set the prize, he was clear that there would be years when there was no winner and this happens to be one of them as Ibrahim has also stated that this has nothing to do with global financial crisis.

The prize is awarded to a democratically elected former leader of a sub-Saharan African country who served his constitutional term and left office in the past three years.

This year, the committee considered about 11 leaders who had left office between 2006 and 2008.

Last year, the prize went to former Botswana President Festus Mogae, who was honoured for steering his country along a stable, prosperous path and for leading the fight against AIDS.

The first winner of the prize in 2007 was Mozambique’s former President Joaquim Chissano, who stood aside after leading his country to peace and democracy after years of civil war.

The winner receives $5 million over 10 years and then $200,000 a year for life, with another possible $200,000 a year for 10 years for “good causes” that he supports.