Posted on 06/02/2012 5:47:37 PM PDT by bruinbirdman
Joyce Banda, Malawi's new president, has announced the presidential jet and fleet of 60 Mercedes limousines would be sold in a move applauded by a British cabinet minister as an example to other African leaders.
Mrs Banda said she was happy to "offload" the presidential perks, adding: "I can well use private airlines. I am already used to hitchhiking."
It means that the 62-year-old head of state – the second woman to hold the position in Africa – will fly to the Queen's Jubilee celebrations in London this weekend with British Airways.
Andrew Mitchell, the UK International Development Secretary who is currently visiting Malawi, delivered a £33m cash injection for Mrs Banda's government.
He said the move was a sign of the "seriousness Mrs Banda is applying to overturn bad decisions taken under the previous government".
The former vice-president in Bingu wa Mutharika's government, she stepped into the presidency in April when he suffered a heart attack. The jet had annual running costs of £220,000.
Since then, she has sacked former members of the "old guard" in the cabinet and security services, brought back Malawi's old flag and pledged to lift the country's ban on homosexuality.
Most recently, she followed long-standing International Monetary Fund advice to devalue Malawi's currency by a third.
The move caused panic buying and a sharp rise in the prices of basic foods and fuel.
But her decisions have seen donors including Britain, the EU, Germany, Norway and the World Bank, re-establish warm relations with Malawi.
Mr Mitchell announced that Britain, Malawi's biggest bilateral aid donor, would send Bank of England expert to help stabilise the currency, and handed £23 million to the Finance Ministry.
He said that Mrs Banda had sent a signal of her intent and her priorities at a time
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
Meanwhile, back in the US.......
GOOD START... Hope she makes a trip to DC....
Is she going to give the island back to Argentina?
Wrong Island, you are thinking of the Falkland Islands ( or the Malvinas if you are a dilusional Argentine)
Good for her. I hope she puts the money to good use
Oh, I know, I was thinking of the Maldives!
If things are this bad, maybe Malawi should should
think about rejoining it’s mother country Argentina.
He’s livin” the dream!
It is a country in Africa. It has a large lake with the largest number of fish species in the world. If you scuba dive at night there is a predator fish that will attack any fish you shine your light on. If you do dive there top predator are crocodiles and the propose fish(?) may be a local name. The biggest issue are the parasites that live in the lake. Interesting place if you are careful. When the government went into election crisis it was a great time to exchange currency on the black market.
Is she Africa’s Sarah Palin?
Seems like a nice sensible lady.
Put her on the cover of Vogue.
Malawi has always been a benign country, I hope their new Presidennt will bring prosperity to them...maybe they have a trillion feet of natural gas they can crack!
Malawi has always been a benign country, I hope their new Presidennt will bring prosperity to them...maybe they have a trillion feet of natural gas they can frack!
And may 0bama stay away from them.
Maybe she could run for President here someday. Malawians seem to be more sensible than Kenyans.
The USAF maintains a fleet of VIP aircraft. I think congresscritters and the like can use them.
In this era of closing bases, the USAF should be forced to dump them along with the golf courses they own.
Let the critters either fly airliners or rent a plane.
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