WARNING: This is Version 1 of my old archive, so Photos will NOT work and many links will NOT work. But you can find articles by searching on the Titles. There is a lot of information in this archive. Use the SEARCH BAR at the top right. Prior to December 2012; I was a pro-Christian type of Conservative. I was unaware of the mass of Jewish lies in history, especially the lies regarding WW2 and Hitler. So in here you will find pro-Jewish and pro-Israel material. I was definitely WRONG about the Boeremag and Janusz Walus. They were for real.
Original Post Date: 2005-06-16 Time: 00:00:00 Posted By: Jan
[Typically African. How many Rhodesians remember the days when Ian Smith, the Prime Minister of Rhodesia rode to work on a bicycle to set an example for people with regard to saving fuel.
He walked the streets alone – even after Mugabe came to power. No Black person ever attacked him. While Mugabe hid away and was constantly surrounded by armed soldiers – Ian Smith walked around in public.
Have you recently seen any Prime Minister or President anywhere in the world actually trying to lead by EXAMPLE? They all cower away in some corner, surrounded by Secret Service Agents – running and hiding. How pathetic. There aren”t any true leaders in the world any more. And in Africa, it is even more pathetic. Jan]
Plans to purchase a US $545,000 limousine for President Bingu wa Mutharika have sparked heated debate in Malawi, which faces yet another year of acute food shortages.
Finance Minister Goodall Gondwe told parliament on Wednesday that the Maybach 62, made by Mercedes-Benz, was necessary, as the president was without an official vehicle. The car used by former president Bakili Muluzi was involved in an accident last year, and the government intended to pay for the new vehicle in instalments.
The Malawi Economic Justice Network (MEJN) said the purchase was “unnecessary and a waste of money”, given ongoing food shortages in the country. Crop estimates indicate that Malawi”s harvest could drop by around 25 percent this season, with the number of people in need of food aid climbing beyond last year”s 1.3 million.
“It is unfortunate that government needs such an expensive vehicle, at a time when people in the country are facing food shortages. Sixty-five million Kwacha [$545,000] would buy 45,000 50 kg-bags of maize,” MEJN national coordinator Collins Magalasi told IRIN.
Rafiq Hajat, Executive Director of the Institute of Policy Interaction, said the government was sending the “wrong signals” to donors.
“President Muthatika has told us that about 1.7 million people need food. The question is: “Is it necessary to have such an expensive Maybach now?”” said Hajat.
“Donors [will] look at us and think we do not need the money because we can afford to buy luxury vehicles for the president,” he remarked.
Information Minister Ken Lipenga, who was part of the presidential convoy when it was involved in the accident, said the government had already paid $180,000 of the cost of the Maybach.
The announcement came barely a week after the finance ministry presented a budget calling for government departments to be prudent in their expenditure.
[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations ]