Africa’s democratic ‘laggards’ must listen to calls for change- Liberia’s Johnson Sirleaf

KIGALI, (Reuters) - African leaders resisting “democratic transformation” must heed their citizens’ calls for change, former Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf said yesterday after receiving an award aimed at promoting good leadership on the continent.

Without naming specific countries or leaders, she referred to “laggard” countries in the region of one billion people who are “not meeting democratic transformation”.

“Their own citizens are making the call for change and I don’t think they can continue to resist or deny that call for change,” Johnson Sirleaf told Reuters after accepting the award in Rwanda’s capital Kigali.

Long-serving African leaders who have changed the law to stay in power include Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, 73, and Cameroon’s President Paul Biya, in power for 35 years.

Johnson Sirleaf was awarded the 2017 Mo Ibrahim award, designed to improve the quality of African political leadership, after handing over power in her West African country’s first peaceful democratic transition in seven decades.

“The pressure builds (for democracy),” she said. “The young people today are educated, skilful, demanding, and eventually we have to listen and I think that will happen to all those that are still lagging behind.”

Africa’s first elected female head of state, and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Johnson Sirleaf stepped down as president of war-scarred Liberia last month, making way for ex-international soccer star George Weah.

She is only the fifth person to win 10-year-old Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership, founded by Sudanese telecoms tycoon Mo Ibrahim, which has several times not been awarded for lack of a suitable candidate.

The prize is $5 million paid out over 10 years, with another $200,000 annually throughout the winner’s lifetime.

Johnson Sirleaf, a former World Bank and United Nations official, said this was unsurprising because many African nations do not meet the Foundation’s high standards.

“Democracy is now moving at a fast pace but it hasn’t got everybody yet,” she said in an interview.