There has been an unprecedented show of unity in Uganda’s parliament, as opposition and pro-government ministers of parliament (MPs) have joined together to demand a temporary halt in the completion of oil agreements until an independent regulator is established. This move was prompted by a collective sense of suspicion about Production Sharing Agreements (PSAs) signed between the Ugandan government and two oil companies, the Italian firm ENI and the Irish company Tullow Oil. Ugandans had hoped that the emerging oil sector would help to create jobs, improve infrastructure and boost the economy. However,as the government continuously refused to make public the details of PSAs, suspicions grew that ordinary Ugandans were not going to benefit from the emerging oil sector.
The campaign for transparency in the oil, gas, mining and forestry industries was given a big boost today with the publication of European Commission proposals for a new law guaranteeing all company payments to governments will be published. This means Europe will soon have matched (and in some places gone beyond) the landmark transparency amendment by Senators Cardin and Lugar which was passed as part of Dodd-Frank last July. ONE activists played their part in passing that law with calls to Congress -– and now it is going global!
Yesterday, the government of Equatorial Guinea announced that President Obiang has issued a Presidential Decree to appoint his son, Teodorin, currently the subject of recently escalated corruption investigations in France and the US, the country’s Permanent Assistant Delegate to UNESCO position. The motive behind the move is unclear; however, it is possible that the move could serve to provide Teodorin with diplomatic immunity from any potential charges stemming from the ongoing corruption inquiries. It is also possible that the decision it could be a new, though strange, strategy in Obiang’s ongoing campaign to secure the UNESCO prize. Either way, continued vigilance is necessary to ensure that this prize does not become a reality.
Joseph Kraus of EG Justice provides an update on the status of the controversial UNESCO-Obiang prize.
Irina Bokova and Teodoro Obiang
As ONE blog readers will recall, in late September the executive board of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) was considering reinstating a prize named for and funded by Equatorial Guinea’s president, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, who has accumulated an impressive résumé of human rights abuses and corruption during his 32-year rule. In October 2010, following a global outcry, the executive board suspended the prize until a consensus could be reached. Given the strong opposition to the prize voiced by many delegates, such an agreement seemed unlikely at the time.
Liberian elections. Photo courtesy of United Nations in Liberia
Liberians defied the rains this week and turned out in the thousands to participate in the country’s second election since it emerged from a 14-year civil war in 2003.
This year’s elections are historic for Liberia, as they are the first Liberia-controlled elections. They are being described world over as a test of Liberia’s fragile democracy. The 2005 election was managed by the United Nations.
The Mo Ibrahim Foundation works to encourage good governance and leadership in Africa and to put citizens at the centre of governance. The Foundation considers governance to be the single most important issue affecting development in Africa. In an article in the New Yorker, Mo Ibrahim, the Foundation’s founder and ONE board member, puts the blame for the disparity between the riches of Africa and the poverty of many of its people squarely at the door of Africa’s leaders. He cites “a catastrophic failure of leadership and governance…too many dictators, too many megalomaniacs, too many thieves, who bled this continent for their personal and family interest.” Ibrahim’s message is that Africa needs to take responsibility for itself and that getting rid of bad leaders is an important first step.
Mo Ibrahim is often hailed as a hero in Africa. His mobile-phone company, Celtel, has helped to open up communication across the continent, enabling people – civil society activists included – to access and share information. He is now spending the money he earned to try to change the values of African leaders. Each year, he offers the Ibrahim Prize, which bestows five million dollars on an African leader who is elected to office, promotes democracy, does not steal from the people, and transfers power peacefully. The Prize is intended to reward and perhaps to incentivize good leadership. The prize has previously been won by Festus Mogae of Botswana and Joaquim Chissano of Mozambique. Due to a lack of suitable candidates the prize was not awarded in 2009 and 2010. The 2011 Ibrahim Prize winner is Pedro Verona Pires, former president of Cape Verde. He is credited with steering his country from autocracy to a prosperous democracy and leaving power at the end of his second presidential term. Cape Verde has consistently ranked second on the Ibrahim Index over the past four years.
For last week’s ONE Act, ONE members from around the world wrote a message to UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova, asking her to end the UNESCO-Obiang International Prize. The $3 million award, funded by Equatorial Guinea President Teodoro Obiang (the longest-ruling head of state in Africa), should go toward his country’s development, not showy projects — and is an example of his misplaced spending priorities.
ONE is campaigning to ensure that the Congressional budget does not cut foreign assistance programs like Feed the Future that help people break the cycle of poverty and hunger.
The Horn of Africa is experiencing its worst drought in 60 years. More than 11 million people, mostly nomadic pastoralists and farmers in south-central Somalia, north-eastern Kenya, and south-eastern Ethiopia, are severely lacking access to food.
2011 marks 30 years since the first cases of AIDS were documented. Take a closer look at the specific, achievable goals we must hit by 2015 to make this year the beginning of the end of AIDS.
As aid agencies warn more than 9 million people could be affected by a food crisis in East Africa, world leaders are failing to keep their 2009 promises to tackle the causes of chronic hunger and support farmers in the world's poorest countries.
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