German Africa Prize for 2011 awarded to Kenyan MP
Kenyan Member of Parliament Abdikadir Hussein Mohamed was awarded the German Africa Prize 2011 (Deutscher Afrika-Preis) on October 21, 2011 in Berlin. Abdikadir Hussein Mohamed has been a member of the Kenyan parliament since 2007 and played a key role in the implementation of the new democratic constitution in Kenya. The prize is awarded annually by the German-African Foundation.
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Abdikadir Hussein Mohamed, winner of the German Africa Prize for 2011
(© DAS e.V./ Dag Zimen)
Since 1993, the Deutsche Afrika-Stiftung (German Africa Foundation) has identified annually “modern Africans” whose outstanding personalities have contributed in a remarkable way to the continent’s well-being. Especially noted would be their involvement in the fields of human rights, peace, democracy or sustainable development. Ghanaian Dr. Ibn Chambas, the first president of the Economic Commission of West African States (ECOWAS), was the 2010 laureate.
The 2011 award was presented to Mr. Mohamed by German President Christian Wulff in a ceremony at the Berlin offices of KfW Entwicklungsbank. The DEG, the development section of the KfW banking group (Germany's development bank), hosted the event this year. Approximately 250 guests from the political, business, and diplomatic spheres, including the media, attended the event.
Wulff described Mohamed as a “constitutional patriot and beacon of hope, not only for Kenya but for the entire African continent.”
Abdikadir Hussein Mohamed has been a member of the Kenyan parliament since 2007. In his function as chairman of the "Parliamentary Constitution Implementation Oversight Committee", Mohamed, who holds a masters degree in law, played a key role in the implementation of the new democratic constitution in Kenya.
In a referendum in August 2010, 67 percent of the Kenyan population voted in favour of the constitution, which is being credited as ground-breaking.
The Africa Prize jury justified their selection of Mohamed by noting “his key contributions to implementing a democratic constitutional reform in Kenya as well as his fact-oriented and conciliatory way of working for equal opportunities and human rights in the Kenyan society."
The DEG described Mohamed as representing “the generation of young Africans who are actively working on strengthening their continent and its development.”
