Latest News

Archbishop Desmond Tutu has issued a stern warning to South African President Jacob Zuma and the ruling ANC.  The Nobel Peace laureate and patron of the African Leadership Institute told the ANC from a place of love that they were behaving in a way that was totally at variance with the things for which the country stood for.  He accused the ANC government of being worse than the Apartheid government, saying that it was acting in its own interest only and not that of the nation.  He bluntly told them to 'watch out' or fall in the way leaders had during the Arab Spring.

  The full video clip is on YouTube.

2010 Tutu Fellow Bright Simons is being called a champion of safe medicine in Africa.  The social entrepreneur and policy activist has developed software that enables consumers to instantly verify the authenticity of medicine they buy.  The person buying the medicine enters a code on the medicine at the point of sale on their mobile phone and gets a reply confirming if the medicine they are getting is authentic or not.

Ten Tutu Fellows attended the annual governance conference organized by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, which took place in Accra, Ghana, in November 2015.  The theme of the 2015 conference was African urban dynamics.  A central goal of the foundation is to put governance at the centre of any conversation on African development. It holds that effective governance and leadership are key to improving the quality of life of Africans.

Tutu Fellow Landry Signe has been recognized as one of the Junior Chamber International's 2015 Ten Outstanding Young Persons of the World. The recognition is for his 'innovative actions, extraordinary achievement, and dedication to serving others', and to 'creating sustainable impact in his community, in Africa and across the globe'.   The award was bestowed on him during JCI's International World Congress on 7 November 2015 in Kanazawa, Japan.  JCI members and active citizens from around the world voted online to participate in selecting the 2015 honorees and more than 26,000 votes were cast.

Tutu Fellow James Mwangi has been appointed to the United Nations' Foundation Global Entrepreneurs Council.  The announcement, which took place in Dubai on 24 October 2015, was made by Rick Parnell, the COO of the foundation. The council is comprised of leading entrepreneurs from around the world to incorporate innovation and sustainable economic growth to support the newly adopted U.N. Sustainable Development Goals.  Parnell said that a multi-sector, integrated approach was needed over the 15 years to accomplish the sustainable development goals.  He said that the newly appointed council members would bring a wealth of "experience, accomplishments and global reach to help the Foundation support the UN as it tackles that challenge."

The 2011 Tutu Fellow Victor Ochen has been named Commonwealth Youth Worker of the Year for 2015.  The award was announced at a ceremony in London on 5 November 2015.  Ochen and his organization, AYINET, was one of five outstanding youth workers recognised by the Commonwealth for their efforts to support young people in building peace.  Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma said: "The contribution of youth workers is vital to community cohesion and nation building. Their impact on individual development and public wellbeing is beyond measure – but not beyond recognition."

The Chief Executive of the Nelson Mandela Foundation and Tutu Fellow, Sello Hatang, has found hope in the violence-plagued student protests in South Africa.  In an article published in Business Day, he makes the case that while the physical violence during the student protests is worrying, the  #FeesMustFall movement is cause for hope.

The Washington Post has published a lengthy article by 2015 Tutu Fellow Landry Signe on the most recent coup in Burkina Faso, just a few weeks before a democratic presidential election. In it, he outlines some of the signals people should watch for when it comes to the successful transfer of power in Africa.

This essay by Samah Salman uses U.S. President Barack Obama's 2015 visit to East Africa as a vehicle to uncover some of his observations on African leadership.  It is one of the many excellent essays submitted by Fellows this year.  The essays form part of the African Leadership Institute’s annual Tutu Fellows Leadership programme.

Salman looks at Obama’s admiration for and critique of African traditions through the lens of leadership. Using his visit as a point of departure, Salman argues that bad leadership in Africa is no longer political, but cultural. Conversely, good leadership can be fostered as a cultural opportunity. She makes the case that in order for Africa’s demographic dividend to materialize, the path to consistent, good leadership will require education to be a transformational element for this kind of socio-cultural shift.

Tutu Fellow Victor Ochen addressed the United Nation General Assembly at a high-level event  called “Mobilizing Generation Zero Hunger,” in which he recounted surviving seven years of childhood having only one meal a day. He did not just know about hunger from books, he knew hunger from experience, he told the event, which also featured Brazilian footballer and WFP Ambassador against Hunger, Kaká and UN leader, Ban Ki-Moon.  Ochen's organization AYINET continues to deal with the challenge of hunger as it works with victims of war.

2012 Associate Tutu Fellow Arinaitwe Rugyendo has been appointed Chairman of the Ugandan Football Super League.  He takes over from Hajji Abbas Kaawaase, whose term had expired.  Although he says he has relatively little football administration experience, Rugyendo represents The Saints Football Club and been part of the Uganda Cranes initiative, which raises funds for the national team.

The 2015 Tutu Fellows celebrated the completion of the five-month leadership programme and the award of Tutu Fellowship certificates at a high-spirited party hosted by Trustee Lord Hacking at his home in London on 11th September.  The event embodied the welcome of the newest alumni into the family of Tutu Fellows, which now number 225 emerging leaders across 34 African countries.

2012 Tutu Fellow James Mworia is the 2015 AABLA East Africa Business Person of the Year.  AABLA is short for All African Business Leaders Awards.  The award celebrates a commitment to excellence and continued innovation in business practice and strategy.  Mworia beat four other contenders, all leading business people in their own right, for the award.  The finalists are vetted by a panel of judges drawn from across different fields in business and a key criteria used is transformational leadership on the continent.

2007 Tutu Fellow Gbenga Sesan has been featured in an Al Jazeera special that looks into the impact he is having on young people in slums in Nigeria, teaching them Information Technology skills.  With more than 50% of youth in Nigeria unemployed, having IT skills is a massive leg up in a digital world.

2014 Tutu Fellow Samuel Mensah has been featured on CNN Style in a frank interview about his fashion company Kisua.  In it, he explains his transformation from being a suit at an investment fund to rolling the dice and starting up a fashion company.