living large while asking for debt relief

the issue of aid to africa has its pros and cons, with corruption being particularly alarming.

some of the players involved make the issue more unpalatable (found via lucianne.com)

President Denis Sassou-Nguesso of the Republic of Congo visited the new york to request debt relief for the continent of africa. during the week long stay, the president and his entourage certainly lived it up

[T]he president spent a week last September in the Palace hotel, one of Manhattan’s most prestigious addresses.
He paid $8,500 (about £4,875) a night for a three-storey [sic] suite with art deco furniture, a Jacuzzi bathtub and a 50in plasma television screen. His room service charges on September 18 alone came to more than £2,000.
More than 70% of the 3m people in the republic — known as Congo-Brazzaville to distinguish it from its larger neighbour, the Democratic Republic of Congo — live on less than £1.15 a day. [emphasis added]

the whopping bill totaled out to $295,000 for 26 rooms and 8 rooms, all "to deliver a 15-minute speech to the general assembly’s 60th anniversary summit."

check out the infuriating details of the spending orgy

¶ - nitish @ 9:16 AM