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| Africa Subsaharan |
| Malawi's leader drops bling for basic life |
| 2012-06-07 |
| [Daily Nation (Kenya)] Malawi's new leader, Africa's latest woman president, does things differently. Joyce Banda is toning down the bling and returning to basics in one of the world's poorest countries. Mrs Banda has announced the sale or lease of a $13.3-million (Sh1.1 billion) presidential jet controversially bought by her predecessor three years ago as well as 60 limousines ferrying cabinet ministers and top government officials. These steps are meant to heal breaches with international donors who pulled the plug on vital aid to the southern African nation, citing poor economic policies and governance under late president Bingu wa Mutharika. "There is urgent need in our country to change the way we do things," the 62-year-old Banda -- who was vice president from 2009 until she became president on April 7 -- told parliament. Since taking over after Mutharika's death from a heart attack in April, she has launched a national austerity drive which seeks to "cut back on government expenditure through a number of on-going measures." Africa's second woman president after Liberia's Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Banda has also signalled a desire to reform her country's ailing farm-based economy. Part of the cost-cutting schemes is getting rid of the luxury vehicles and plane, symbols of power and status in this poor nation where nearly 40 per cent of the 13 million people scrape by on less than a dollar a day. "My government has set up a cabinet committee to determine what to do with the presidential jet: whether to sell it or lease it out," Mrs Banda told parliament last month. "I can as well use private airlines. I am already used to hitch-hiking," she told a news conference later. |
| Posted by:Fred |