He took an AIDS test publicly despite a deep stigma in Africa against the disease. He pressed to cut the prevalence of mothers passing the HIV virus onto their babies. He fought to make more anti-retroviral drugs available.
Former Botswanan president Festus Gontebanye Mogae was honored on Monday with a multimillion-dollar prize for leading a campaign to tackle one of the world’s highest HIV infection rates.
Mogae, who led the diamond-rich south African country from 1998 until resigning this year, won the 2008 Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership. The prize, in its second year, is aimed at recognizing and promoting good governance in Africa.
PHOTO: AFP
He has already received widespread praise for tackling Botswana’s high HIV/AIDS infection rate — at an estimated 23.9 percent of the adult population, the world’s second-highest behind Swaziland.
In sharp contrast to other African leaders, Mogae addressed the issue of AIDS in almost every one of his speeches.
Today, the number of children being infected with HIV by their mothers in Botswana has dropped from as high as about 40 percent to 4 percent and anti-AIDS drugs are reaching most of those who need it. Lifesaving anti-retroviral drugs are known locally as “Mogae’s tablets.”
Mogae will receive US$5 million over 10 years and US$200,000 annually for life thereafter. The foundation giving the prize will consider granting a further US$200,000 annually for 10 years to causes that Mogae supports.
The foundation was created by Mo Ibrahim, a Sudanese-born billionaire who founded the African telecommunications company Celtel International.
Former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan praised Mogae for his leadership on health and economic issues.
“Botswana demonstrates how a country with natural resources can promote sustainable development with good governance, in a continent where too often mineral wealth has become a curse,” Annan said.
An Oxford-educated economist, Mogae presided over a decade of economic growth and political stability as he privatized parts of the economy.
Mogae was instrumental in making sure Botswana benefited from its mineral wealth by venturing into cutting and polishing diamonds instead of just exporting uncut stones and missing most of the profit.
Nauru has started selling passports to fund climate action, but is so far struggling to attract new citizens to the low-lying, largely barren island in the Pacific Ocean. Nauru, one of the world’s smallest nations, has a novel plan to fund its fight against climate change by selling so-called “Golden Passports.” Selling for US$105,000 each, Nauru plans to drum up more than US$5 million in the first year of the “climate resilience citizenship” program. Almost six months after the scheme opened in February, Nauru has so far approved just six applications — covering two families and four individuals. Despite the slow start —
YELLOW SHIRTS: Many protesters were associated with pro-royalist groups that had previously supported the ouster of Paetongtarn’s father, Thaksin, in 2006 Protesters rallied on Saturday in the Thai capital to demand the resignation of court-suspended Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra and in support of the armed forces following a violent border dispute with Cambodia that killed more than three dozen people and displaced more than 260,000. Gathered at Bangkok’s Victory Monument despite soaring temperatures, many sang patriotic songs and listened to speeches denouncing Paetongtarn and her father, former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, and voiced their backing of the country’s army, which has always retained substantial power in the Southeast Asian country. Police said there were about 2,000 protesters by mid-afternoon, although
MOGAMI-CLASS FRIGATES: The deal is a ‘big step toward elevating national security cooperation with Australia, which is our special strategic partner,’ a Japanese official said Australia is to upgrade its navy with 11 Mogami-class frigates built by Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Australian Minister for Defence Richard Marles said yesterday. Billed as Japan’s biggest defense export deal since World War II, Australia is to pay US$6 billion over the next 10 years to acquire the fleet of stealth frigates. Australia is in the midst of a major military restructure, bolstering its navy with long-range firepower in an effort to deter China. It is striving to expand its fleet of major warships from 11 to 26 over the next decade. “This is clearly the biggest defense-industry agreement that has ever
DEADLY TASTE TEST: Erin Patterson tried to kill her estranged husband three times, police said in one of the major claims not heard during her initial trial Australia’s recently convicted mushroom murderer also tried to poison her husband with bolognese pasta and chicken korma curry, according to testimony aired yesterday after a suppression order lapsed. Home cook Erin Patterson was found guilty last month of murdering her husband’s parents and elderly aunt in 2023, lacing their beef Wellington lunch with lethal death cap mushrooms. A series of potentially damning allegations about Patterson’s behavior in the lead-up to the meal were withheld from the jury to give the mother-of-two a fair trial. Supreme Court Justice Christopher Beale yesterday rejected an application to keep these allegations secret. Patterson tried to kill her
RSS