By Joshua Masinde
The Independent Managing Editor, Andrew Mwenda, was listed by the Foreign Policy (FP) magazine amongst the Top 100 Global Thinkers, together with greats like US President Barack Obama, former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, Pope Benedict XI (ranked17th), billionaire Bill Gates (ranked 12th) and a host of other leaders, Nobel laureates, journalists, economists and academicians.
At rank 98, Mwenda was recognised for his vociferous criticism of all elements of the African aid structure and like the other top hundred global thinkers, for contributing to
the big ideas that shaped the world in 2009.
According to FP, Mwenda, a dogged and fiercely eloquent Ugandan journalist and editor of The Independent is a vociferous critic of all elements of the African aid structure. “Frequently harassed by the Ugandan government for his outspokenness and currently facing trial on 21 charges (including sedition), Mwenda goes even further than most aid critics: The continent, he argues, needs to fail in order to learn hard lessons as it picks up the pieces on its own. He responded with fire to Obama’s July speech in Ghana, writing, ‘Obama needs to listen to Africans much more, not lecture them using the same old teleprompter.’”
At home, Mwenda has serially castigated President Yoweri Museveni’s regime on corruption, sectarianism, human rights abuses, and for vesting the country’s leadership and resources in family rule. He has also been fighting for free speech and economic empowerment throughout Africa. His belief is anchored in the idea that western aid has been largely unhelpful to African development as it fans corrupt states and sustains wars.
US President, Barack Obama, was ranked second for re-imagining America’s role in the world. Other Africans listed amongst the top hundred include Dr. Kofi Annan, former UN Secretary-General. He was ranked 30th for his ceaseless work to create Africa’s Green Revolution. “Africa is the only region where overall food security and livelihoods are deteriorating,” he declared in 2007, vowing to create “an environmentally sustainable, uniquely African Green Revolution,” according to the FP.
Another African, George Ayittey, was ranked 76th for pushing policymakers to let Africa help itself. Sayyid Imam al-Sharif from Egypt was ranked 10th for striking a mortal ideological blow to al Qaeda. Ayaan Hirsi Ali from Somalia was ranked 48 for her provocative critique of Islam, the religion of her youth.
Ben Bernanke, the chairman of Federal Reserve in Washington, was ranked in first position for his role in staving off a new Great Depression. He topped the list for “turning his superb academic career into a blueprint for action, for single-handedly reinventing the role of a central bank, for preventing the collapse of the US economy. Having done all of these within the span of a few months is certainly one of the greatest intellectual feats of recent years.
Women bagged seventeen slots of the top hundred. They are: Zahra Rahnavard from Iran, ranked 3rd for being the brains behind Iran’s Green Revolution and the campaign of her husband, opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi; Aung San Suu Kyi, from Burma ranked 26th for being a living symbol of hope in a dark place; Elinor Ostrom from US, ranked 28 for showing us that the global commons isn’t such a tragic place after all; Esther Duflo from US ranked 41 for adding quantitative rigor to assessments of foreign aid; Ayaan Hirsi Ali from Somalia, ranked 48 for her provocative critique of Islam, the religion of her youth; Helene Gayle from US ranked 52 for putting HIV/AIDS in its big-picture context; Barbara Ehrenreich ranked 59 for her relentless efforts to understand the root causes of poverty and inequality; Esther Dyson from US, ranked 70th for accurately forecasting how the Internet will shape us; Anne-Marie Slaughter ranked 79th for helping transform Foggy Bottom from the inside out; Samantha Power from US ranked 80th for moving from moral authority to government authority on human rights; Hu Shuli a journalist from China ranked 84th for persisting in the idea that public accountability is possible even in one-party China; Jacqueline Novogratz from US ranked at 85th position for helping build a new generation of social entrepreneurs; Karen Armstrong from Britain ranked 87th for advocating a truce in the religion wars; Sunita Narain from India ranked 88 for giving voice to India’s environmental conscience; Martha Nussbaum ranked 93rd for making philosophy matter; Valerie Hudson from US ranked 97th for showing that gender imbalances have global consequences and Emily Oster from US ranked 99th for her creative research into what really helps the poor.
Some former and current prominent leaders also rated amongst the top 100 Global Thinkers include: Bill Clinton, the former US president, ranked 6th for redefining philanthropy in the modern era; Vaclav Havel, former president of the Czech Republic, rated 23rd for four decades of speaking truth to power; Fernando Henrique Cardoso, former Brazilian President ranked 11th for calling the war on drugs what it is: a disaster and former US Vice President Dick Cheney ranked 13th for his full-throated defence of American power.
Some Nobel laureates rated amongst the hundred include: Muhammad Yunus, a Bangladesh economist ranked 46th for proving that the poor are profitable, John Holdren and Steven Chu, ranked 34th for putting cutting-edge science back into power, Rajendra Pachauri from India ranked 5th for ending the debate over whether climate change matters, Joseph Stiglitz, from US ranked 25th for relentlessly questioning economic dogma, Paul Krugman, from US ranked 29th for proving that a Nobel Prize winner can also be a prolific pundit and unerringly correct doomsayer, Amartya Sen, a US economist ranked 58th for showing how democracy prevents famine.
At rank 98, Mwenda was recognised for his vociferous criticism of all elements of the African aid structure and like the other top hundred global thinkers, for contributing to
the big ideas that shaped the world in 2009.According to FP, Mwenda, a dogged and fiercely eloquent Ugandan journalist and editor of The Independent is a vociferous critic of all elements of the African aid structure. “Frequently harassed by the Ugandan government for his outspokenness and currently facing trial on 21 charges (including sedition), Mwenda goes even further than most aid critics: The continent, he argues, needs to fail in order to learn hard lessons as it picks up the pieces on its own. He responded with fire to Obama’s July speech in Ghana, writing, ‘Obama needs to listen to Africans much more, not lecture them using the same old teleprompter.’”
At home, Mwenda has serially castigated President Yoweri Museveni’s regime on corruption, sectarianism, human rights abuses, and for vesting the country’s leadership and resources in family rule. He has also been fighting for free speech and economic empowerment throughout Africa. His belief is anchored in the idea that western aid has been largely unhelpful to African development as it fans corrupt states and sustains wars.
US President, Barack Obama, was ranked second for re-imagining America’s role in the world. Other Africans listed amongst the top hundred include Dr. Kofi Annan, former UN Secretary-General. He was ranked 30th for his ceaseless work to create Africa’s Green Revolution. “Africa is the only region where overall food security and livelihoods are deteriorating,” he declared in 2007, vowing to create “an environmentally sustainable, uniquely African Green Revolution,” according to the FP.
Another African, George Ayittey, was ranked 76th for pushing policymakers to let Africa help itself. Sayyid Imam al-Sharif from Egypt was ranked 10th for striking a mortal ideological blow to al Qaeda. Ayaan Hirsi Ali from Somalia was ranked 48 for her provocative critique of Islam, the religion of her youth.
Ben Bernanke, the chairman of Federal Reserve in Washington, was ranked in first position for his role in staving off a new Great Depression. He topped the list for “turning his superb academic career into a blueprint for action, for single-handedly reinventing the role of a central bank, for preventing the collapse of the US economy. Having done all of these within the span of a few months is certainly one of the greatest intellectual feats of recent years.
Women bagged seventeen slots of the top hundred. They are: Zahra Rahnavard from Iran, ranked 3rd for being the brains behind Iran’s Green Revolution and the campaign of her husband, opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi; Aung San Suu Kyi, from Burma ranked 26th for being a living symbol of hope in a dark place; Elinor Ostrom from US, ranked 28 for showing us that the global commons isn’t such a tragic place after all; Esther Duflo from US ranked 41 for adding quantitative rigor to assessments of foreign aid; Ayaan Hirsi Ali from Somalia, ranked 48 for her provocative critique of Islam, the religion of her youth; Helene Gayle from US ranked 52 for putting HIV/AIDS in its big-picture context; Barbara Ehrenreich ranked 59 for her relentless efforts to understand the root causes of poverty and inequality; Esther Dyson from US, ranked 70th for accurately forecasting how the Internet will shape us; Anne-Marie Slaughter ranked 79th for helping transform Foggy Bottom from the inside out; Samantha Power from US ranked 80th for moving from moral authority to government authority on human rights; Hu Shuli a journalist from China ranked 84th for persisting in the idea that public accountability is possible even in one-party China; Jacqueline Novogratz from US ranked at 85th position for helping build a new generation of social entrepreneurs; Karen Armstrong from Britain ranked 87th for advocating a truce in the religion wars; Sunita Narain from India ranked 88 for giving voice to India’s environmental conscience; Martha Nussbaum ranked 93rd for making philosophy matter; Valerie Hudson from US ranked 97th for showing that gender imbalances have global consequences and Emily Oster from US ranked 99th for her creative research into what really helps the poor.
Some former and current prominent leaders also rated amongst the top 100 Global Thinkers include: Bill Clinton, the former US president, ranked 6th for redefining philanthropy in the modern era; Vaclav Havel, former president of the Czech Republic, rated 23rd for four decades of speaking truth to power; Fernando Henrique Cardoso, former Brazilian President ranked 11th for calling the war on drugs what it is: a disaster and former US Vice President Dick Cheney ranked 13th for his full-throated defence of American power.
Some Nobel laureates rated amongst the hundred include: Muhammad Yunus, a Bangladesh economist ranked 46th for proving that the poor are profitable, John Holdren and Steven Chu, ranked 34th for putting cutting-edge science back into power, Rajendra Pachauri from India ranked 5th for ending the debate over whether climate change matters, Joseph Stiglitz, from US ranked 25th for relentlessly questioning economic dogma, Paul Krugman, from US ranked 29th for proving that a Nobel Prize winner can also be a prolific pundit and unerringly correct doomsayer, Amartya Sen, a US economist ranked 58th for showing how democracy prevents famine.
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