Trending in Malawi: Video of Mo Ibrahim on aged leaders, ‘are youth crazy to choose old men for Presidents?’

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXALd3C2bBA

A video clip of  renowned philanthropist, ​Mohammed Ibrahim,  famously known as Mo Ibrahim,  ​in which he  condemned the continued support for old and ailing people especially by the young people as leaders in Africa is circulating on social media amongst Malawians like fire in the dry bush.

He also condemned the sit-tight attitude of many African leaders while encouraging the youth to emulate happenings around the world where their peers are being voted in as leaders without any regard to their age.

Mo Ibrahim said this in a recent event which had  Rwandan President Paul Kagame,  retired Nigerian  president Olusegun Obasanjo, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma of South Africa  and William Ruto on Kenya  on the same panel with him discussing Leadership for the African we want.

The video of the event has since gone viral, with social media users praising the old businessman for his candid appraisal of leadership in Africa.

said: “Please allow me to be frank, don’t take offence. I wish to start from where President Obasanjo stopped about age. You have been president for so long that’s why you are careful with words.

“You see people at 90 years and about to start new terms, you guys are crazy or what (he said referring to youths in attendance).

“We see people in wheelchairs unable to raise hands standing for election. This is a joke; you are free to laugh…the whole world already laughing at us.

“The US, the most important country in the world, like it or not…Obama who is half African anyway was 46, 47 years.

“If ​Obama was in Kenya, ​what would he be doing ? ​ He would ​be driving bus​ maybe.​

“And he was not youngest president. (Bill) Clinton and (JF) Kennedy were even younger.”

Mo Ibrahim whose foundation promotes good governance asked why bigger countries like the Americans entrust their economies with nuclear weapons and all resources to be in the hands of the 40-year-olds but in Africa “we only pick up people at 90 years old to lead us; to lead us where? To the grave?”

A Sudanese-British worked for several telecommunications companies, before founding Celtel.

After selling Celtel in 2005 for $3.4 billion, he set up the Mo Ibrahim Foundation to encourage better governance in Africa, as well as creating the Mo Ibrahim Index, to evaluate nations’ performance.

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