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| Africa Subsaharan |
| Congo- Brazzaville leaderÂ’s hotel bill: $295,000 |
| 2006-02-13 |
| The leader of one of Africa’s poorest countries paid more than £100,000 in cash towards a £169,000 hotel bill run up by his entourage during last year’s United Nations summit in New York, according to court documents obtained by The Sunday Times. Aides to President Denis Sassou-Nguesso of the Republic of Congo startled staff at the Palace hotel on Madison Avenue by pulling out wads of $100 notes to settle a bill for 26 rooms. Sassou-Nguesso, who is chairman of the African Union, representing all the continent’s governments, is negotiating with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to cancel many of his country’s debts on the grounds that it cannot afford to repay them. Yet the 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 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. The hotel bills record that about £6,900 was charged to the president’s account as room service. Congo-Brazzaville’s UN mission paid a $51,000 deposit by cheque to secure the rooms. The final entry on the group bill shows that the balance was settled by a “cash payment” of $177,942.96 (£102,000)... More than 70% of the 3m people in the republic — known as Congo- to distinguish it from its larger neighbour, the Democratic Republic of Congo — live on less than £1.15 a day. The president’s entourage of more than 50 people included his butler, his personal photographer and his wife’s hairdresser. The group also occupied 25 rooms at the Crowne Plaza hotel, near the UN headquarters. Copies of the bills show that the delegation spent a total of $295,000 (more than £169,000) for an eight-night stay in New York, including more than $81,000 (£46,400) for Sassou-Nguesso’s suite. The main purpose of the president’s visit was to deliver a 15-minute speech to the general assembly’s 60th anniversary summit. He was also entertained by an American oil firm. Details of the president’s extravagance have outraged Congo-Brazzaville’s creditors and raised new questions about the credibility of the country’s claim to qualify for debt relief under an agreement brokered by Tony Blair at last year’s G8 summit at Gleneagles. Anti-corruption campaigners have written to Paul Wolfowitz, head of the World Bank, urging him to oppose debt relief for Congo-Brazzaville until there has been a “massive cleaning up” of the country’s finances, which are heavily dependent on oil revenues. The IMF is due to discuss Congo-Brazzaville at an executive meeting on Friday. The details might never have been made public had some of Congo-Brazzaville’s creditors not been pursuing the country through US and British courts over repayment of debts. Among the creditors was a US investment fund, Elliott Management, which owns more than $100m of Congo-Brazzaville debt. Sassou-Nguesso’s hotel bills were among documents subpoenaed by Elliott lawyers. |
| Posted by:Pappy |
| #3 Damn minibar! |
| Posted by: Chuck Simmins 2006-02-13 19:25 |
| #2 We've all been there. Just remember to properly tip. |
| Posted by: Raul Duke Esq 2006-02-13 17:55 |
| #1 Send the ballance due to FEMA. You should expect reimbursement within 30 days. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2006-02-13 16:26 |