John Githongo Nominated for Tipperary International Award 2012

Anti-corruption tsar John Githongo been nominated for the prestigious Tipperary International Peace Award, alongside U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Githongo was nominated for the role he played in unearthing the $600 million Anglo-Leasing scandal during his tenure as the Kenya Government and Ethics Permanent Secretary from 2003 to 2005.

His story against corruption in Kenya is told in Michela Wrong's book "It's Our Turn to Eat: The Story of a Kenyan Whistle-Blower".

The former journalist is the CEO of Inuka Kenya Trust.  

Other nominees include:

Hillary Rodham Clinton

She got the nomination in her capacity as U.S. Secretary of State, with Tipperary indicating that he has looked towards "smart power" as the strategy for asserting US leadership and values, combining military strength with US capacities in global economics, development aid, and technology.

Malala Yousafzai

Pakistani schoolchild Malala Yousafzai blogged about her experiences of seeking education as a female, and of her desire to go to school without fear in a part of the country where the Taliban had once imposed strict Shari’a law.

As a result of her outspoken statements and writings, Taliban gunmen boarded her school bus last October, sought her out and shot her in the head. Eventually airlifted to a hospital in Britain, she survived her severe wounds and is now reported to be making a good recovery.

Sonia Ghandi

President of the Indian National Congress Sonia Ghandi, is an Italian-born Indian politician and the President of one of the major political parties of India. She is the widow of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. After his assassination in 1991, she was invited by the Indian National Congress to take over the Congress but refused and publicly stayed away from politics amidst constant prodding by the Congress. She finally agreed to join politics in 1997 and in 1998 was elected as the leader of the Congress.

Pax Christi International

Pax Christi International is a non-profit, non-governmental Catholic peace movement working on a global scale on a wide variety of issues in the fields of human rights, human security, disarmament, and demilitarization, just world order and religion and violent conflict.

Established in 1983, the award's aim is to “give recognition to those who promote the ideals of Peace and Peaceful Cooperation in the world.” Past winners of the award include former South African President Nelson Mandela, former U.S. President Bill Clinton, and former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev.

Adapted from: TheJournal.ie

The winner of the award will be announced on January 1st, 2013 in Tipperary, Ireland.