Kibaki awarded for unity efforts

By AUGUSTINE ODUOR

President Kibaki has been awarded for his efforts towards national cohesion and stability of the country by an international organisation.

The president will receive the prestigious Lifeline Africa Achievement Prize alongside his Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni and John Atta Mills of Ghana.

The award by the Millenium Excellence Foundation based in Ghana recognised the three leaders as statesmen who have “displayed an exceptionally high level of Statesmanship that recognises no tribal barriers, political colorations and religious discrimination.”

The African Heads of States will be conferred with the Prize as African Laureates for their Leadership roles in Africa.

Museveni will receive the prize for Nation Building and African Leadership while Mills will receive the memorable Prize for Democratic Governance and Development in Africa.

They join a long list of former recipients who include Desmond Tutu of South Africa, Wole Soyinka of Nigeria and Cyril Ramaphosa from South Africa.

Others are Dr Kofi Annan, the former Secretary General of the United Nations, Ismail Serageldin from Egypt, James Wolfensohn, former President of the World Bank in the USA.

According to a media brief to the newsroom, the major event to confer the awards will be hosted at State House Nairobi on December 15.

Several African Heads of States, the leadership of the African Union (AU), the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and eminent dignitaries from countries across the continent are expected to attend the ceremony.

“By these nominations, the Great Continent and all Sons and Daughters of Africa can verily attest to their value and unwavering pursuit of fairness, tolerance, excellence, peace, stability and justice for all Africans,” read the statement.

The statement praised the three leaders as “an exemplar of dynamic leadership to Africans.”