A few bulletins ago, a study by Macleans magazine in
Canada was mentioned. It established
what is called an “admiration index”, which rates leaders in what is
essentially an opinion poll. An Angus
Reid statement said: “Politicians fare less well than activists in the rankings
because they are in the business of trying to be all things to all people. Humanitarians, on the other hand, can stand
up for one noble cause, and can compromise less. It found Nelson Mandela and Bill Gates to be
the most esteemed leaders among the 5,800 people polled in 20 countries. Bono and the Dalai Lama scored high on the
list as well.”
Among these philanthropists, artists and religious leaders
is Jimmy Carter. He was not re-elected
for a second term in the Oval Office, so he founded the Carter Centre. It is celebrating its 25th
anniversary as a nonprofit organization, prompting the publication of a new
book – Beyond the White House. In
a recent interview in TIME magazine, he reflects: “Ethiopia has one of the
highest incidences of blindness on earth because of trachoma, which is caused
by filthy eyes. To eliminate flies, we
taught people how to build very simple latrines. Women have adopted building them as a kind of
liberation movement – there had been a rigid taboo against a woman relieving
herself in the daytime – so although we thought we'd have about 10,000
latrines, we've passed 340,000. Now
instead of my being famous for negotiating peace between Israel and Egypt, I'm
famous in Ethiopia for being the No 1 latrine builder.”
Now Mo Ibrahim, the mobile phone billionaire, has launched
an index measuring how African countries are governed. Later this year they will unveil a prize to
be awarded to democratically elected presidents who step down after democratic
elections. Remember that when Joaquim
Chissano stepped down as President of Mozambique, he was only the seventh out
of 153 heads of state to have done so, since 1957 - when colonialism began to
be replaced by African nations.
Yoweri Museveni has many credentials. He was the first black African leader to
start a liberation movement to overthrow another African leader (as opposed to
a colonial regime). He was the first to
succeed in turning back a rising AIDS prevalence rate – by breaking another
rigid taboo. He was the first leader to
say publicly that he would not seek a Third Term, as his first elected term was
in fact his second term.. But he is not
the first to have outstayed his welcome; “Presidents for Life” regress to the
pharaohs and slow down progress to Democracy.
Only a few former presidents like Nelson Mandela in South
Africa and Joaquim Chissano in Mozambique have followed the trajectory of Jimmy
Carter – establishing foundations that allow them to continue being influential
while promoting rotation of leadership.
Too few. Hopefully, Mo Ibrahim's
new foundation might point retiring presidents in this direction?
In South Africa, the “Third Term” issue is presenting itself
in a different way. By staying on as
party leader, rather than head of state, Mbeki could keep pulling the strings
from behind the scenes. Many believe
that this would be better than the alternative – a Zuma presidency. They worry that the political debts that Zuma
is accumulating in his bid to succeed are in all the wrong places – far to the
left. Those who are backing him are
likely to fill the vacuum left by his lack of a clear fiscal policy, and that
would have the knock-on effect of re-nationalizations, scaring away investors,
etc. But is that any reason to
perpetuate Mbeki in the upcoming leadership race?
One often-mentioned prospect is Cyril Ramaphosa, who has
experience in the public sector, the private sector and also the nonprofit
sector (he has also started a foundation).
Or what about Trevor Manuel, the Finance Minister? His record is almost flawless and one only
has to think of Gordon Brown to see him taking on the mantle. (Although this would test whether the ANC is
ready to practice what it preaches about inclusiveness.)
One of the possible compromise candidates is Tokyo
Sexwale. This week he spoke out against
the harassment of Sunday Times editor Mondli Makhanya, who recently ran
an exposé of the Health Minister that raises questions about her fitness for
office, especially in the context of the AIDS pandemic. Sexwale challenged other newspaper editors to
speak out against the police harassment.
In the same workshop for MPs, former Mpumalanga premier
Mathews Phosa said: “We should ensure that our democracy remains vibrant and we
should not move away from these values.”
He rebuked parliamentarians by pointing out that the newspapers are
leading the national debate. He said
that members of the legislature feared being called unpatriotic for criticizing
ministers (another rigid taboo). “It's
not true. It's a short cut to political
suicide, because those ministers will behave in that manner, expecting the
party will protect them.”
Parliament, he said, should not be a “junior partner” to the
executive. He is a member of the
ANC's national executive committee (NEC)
and among the staunchest critics of the president's centrist leadership
style. Phosa said service delivery
protests could be blamed on Parliament's failure to hold the executive to
account. He described the nomination
process of the Board of the national broadcaster as flawed, resulting in a
“puppet SABC”.
For Democracy to work, there are several prerequisites. Among these are:
·
freedom of expression including a free press
·
separation of powers – legislature, judiciary
and executive branches
·
rotation of leadership
·
a strong civil society including nonprofit
foundations
.
·
a profitable private sector with a culture of
“corporate social investment” (CSI)
The examples of Jimmy Carter and Nelson Mandela are instructive. There is plenty that former presidents can do
after stepping down. There is life after
departure from the highest office!
In fact, philanthropists can compromise less, as noted above
by the Angus Reid poll - because the focus is so narrow. They don't have to be all things to all
people, like politicians do. In the end,
Mandela will be better remembered for his philanthropy than for his
presidency. Bill Gates will be better
remembered for his generosity than for all his wealth. As Jimmy Carter so wryly put it: “Now instead
of my being famous for negotiating peace between Israel and Egypt, I'm famous
in Ethiopia for being the No 1 latrine builder.”
An Egyptian proverb says: All people fear Time, but Time
fears the pyramids...
Can anyone remember even the names of pharaohs who built
them, let alone their policies? But as
the single last wonder of the ancient world remaining, they have been voted
back in as one of the seven wonders of the modern world. Egypt's number one industry is tourism – over
5,000 years later! Leaving a legacy - a
foundation, a library, an endowment fund for education, a hospital, a bridge, a
cathedral, a museum - says so much more about you than “he was president for
life”.
No comments:
Post a Comment