Liberia's Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Wins Africa Leadership Prize

Former Liberia President, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, is photographed after the ECOWAS Heads of State and Government summit in Abuja, Nigeria. The Mo Ibrahim Foundation says it has awarded the $5 million African Leadership prize to former Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.

DAKAR, SENEGAL (AP) — Former Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has been awarded a $5 million African Leadership prize by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation which honors role models on a continent where many leaders have stayed in power for decades, the foundation said Monday.

Sirleaf, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Africa's first female president, is also the first female and only the fifth person to receive the Ibrahim leadership award since it was established in 2006. The prize committee on Monday praised Sirleaf's "exceptional and transformative leadership, in the face of unprecedented and renewed challenges" in leading Liberia's recovery following years of civil war.

Sirleaf, who was Liberia's president from 2006 through 2017, stepped down in January, handing power to President George Weah. She lifted Liberia from the destruction of back-to-back civil wars and saw it through an Ebola outbreak that killed nearly 5,000 Liberians in 2014-2015.

"Throughout her two terms in office, she worked tirelessly on behalf of the people of Liberia," said prize committee chair Salim Ahmed Salim. "In very difficult circumstances, she helped guide her nation toward a peaceful and democratic future, paving the way for her successor to follow. I am proud to see the first woman Ibrahim laureate, and I hope Ellen Johnson Sirleaf will continue to inspire women in Africa and beyond."

Although Sirleaf has been criticized for not being tough on corruption, the Mo Ibrahim foundation said that her record of government was good, highlighting that since 2006 Liberia was the only country out of Africa's 54 nations to improve in every category and sub-category of the Ibrahim Index of African Governance.

Candidates are African heads of state or government who have left office in the past three years, been democratically elected and served their constitutionally mandated term. They must also show "exceptional leadership."

The last award was given in 2014 to Hifikepunye Pohamba of Namibia. Previous winners also include former leaders of Cape Verde, Botswana and Mozambique. Former South African leader Nelson Mandela was named the inaugural honorary laureate in 2007.

The prize pays out the money over 10 years and $200,000 annually for life thereafter, the foundation said. It also considers granting $200,000 per year toward public interest activities supported by the laureate.

Liberian President's Son Resigns From Oil Company

Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf addresses reporters after being awarded the 'Grand-Croix de la Legion d'Honneur' by French President Francois Hollande, unseen, at the Elysee Palace, in Paris, France. A statement from Liberia's Executive Mansion Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2013 said that President Sirleaf had accepted the resignation of her son, Robert Sirleaf, from his positions as chair of the National Oil Company of Liberia and as senior presidential adviser. His appointment had prompted allegations of nepotism from the president's critics. Two of Sirleaf's other sons have also worked in top government posts, one at the Central Bank and another at the National Security Agency. Image: AP

MONROVIA, Liberia (AP) — The son of Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has resigned from his position as head of the state oil company, an appointment that had prompted allegations of nepotism from the president's critics.

Sirleaf accepted the resignation of her son, Robert Sirleaf, from his positions as chair of the National Oil Company of Liberia and as senior presidential adviser, according to a statement from the Executive Mansion Tuesday.

"With your departure, this government will lose one of its most valuable assets," the president wrote in a letter to her son that was included in the statement. The resignation comes just days after Liberia's lawmakers suspended debate on new oil laws until after they return from break in January. Liberian non-governmental organizations had urged lawmakers not to pass the laws, complaining of the lack of public consultation.

The oil company has refused to make copies of the draft laws public. One law governs the oil company itself while the other governs production and exploration. The Senate passed the laws on Sept. 10, but the House of Representatives on Friday voted to suspend debate.

The attempt to rush the laws through the legislature was unacceptable, said Chloe Fussell, a campaigner at the environmental watchdog Global Witness. "These bills are supposed to be open for public debate — for months, the drafters have been promising us consultation — and at the very least, the legislature should have more than a day or two to read them," she said.

The government appeared eager to pass the laws so that it could auction off new offshore blocks, Fussell said. "But passing these laws without anyone seeing them could have resulted in an oil sector that is badly regulated," she added. "In a country marred by corruption, that would be a recipe for disaster — just look at Angola and Nigeria."

Critics of the president welcomed her son's resignation, saying his removal from the government posts was overdue. "There is a need to critically examine what he's done," said Jefferson Koijee, youth wing leader for the opposition Congress for Democratic Change. He added that Robert Sirleaf's holding of two portfolios was "causing some embarrassment" for the government.

President Sirleaf has two other sons in top government positions. Fumba Sirleaf is director of the National Security Agency, and Charles Sirleaf is deputy governor of the Central Bank, though he was temporarily suspended last year for failing to declare his assets.

Sirleaf has repeatedly defended her sons' appointments, saying they are qualified public servants. She appeared to address the criticism obliquely in her letter to her son Robert published Tuesday. "Perhaps it will be many years before Liberians realize the scale of the profound debt our country owes to you, but I am certain that day will come," she said. "Today, the President and the Nation thank you for your patriotic service, and wish you well."

Corey-Boulet reported from Dakar, Senegal.

2012 Time's 100 Most Influential People In The World

When Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan made the list for Time's poll to pick the magazine's top 100 people that influence our lives, there was this feel that Time magazine editors had begun to recognize a volatile and troubled state that is Nigeria. Jonathan had been picked on "the twin imperatives of trying to end a bloody northern Nigeria Islamist rebellion led by Boko Haram and dismantle the fuel subsidies that are one of the country's main sources of corruption, requires bold leadership of Jonathan, who is finishing his first year in office."

However, the opening shot for Time's 2012 100 most influential people was the wonder Asian-American kid, Jeremy Lin picked against all odds that nothing is impossible. According to the Time editors, the 100 most influential people in the world are "the people who inspire us, and change our world -- from politicians and revolutionaries, to statisticians and roboticists. Nigeria's Goodluck Jonathan made the list.

THE FULL LIST


ELLEN JOHNSON ON GOODLUCK JONATHAN


BARTON GELLMAN ON ANONYMOUS


JOE KLEIN ON PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA


CHARLIZE THERON ON SAMIRA IBRAHIM


ARNE DUNCAN ON JEREMY LIN


CICELY TYSON ON VIOLA DAVIS