Egypt’s Mubarak has done one thing better than all African leaders; he’s looted the most
Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak’s people might be fed up with him, and have been trying to run him out of town for two weeks now. Of course, when a man is in trouble, the world likes to know “why”. However, news that his net worth is estimated at around $70 billion (http://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/slide-show-1-rs-319500-crore-mubaraks-net-worth/20110204.htm) requires us to give the man credit.
At least there is one thing at which Mubarak is better than any living or dead African ruler – he has stolen the most of them all.
When a few days ago the revolutionary masses of Tunisia brought this “people power” business to Africa and chased former president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali out of power, looters snatched his Ferrari – worth $300,000 when new.
Ben Ali probably wasn’t too aggrieved, because it was reported that he had stashed away $1.5 billion in private bank accounts. His wife Leila Trabelsi, who has been described as “greedy” allegedly stole 1.5 tonnes of gold on her way to the airport when they were in flight.
Trust the Europeans to rain on Ben Ali’s party, though. The man had barely settled in his Saudi Arabian exile, when European Union Foreign ministers agreed to seize his precious assets.
Now $1.5 billion is serious money. However, it is only the uninitiated who will be mesmerised by that figure. Even before world attention was drawn to Ben Ali’s stash, it had been reported three weeks earlier that Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir had stolen about $9 billion from his country’s coffers.
However, even with that amount of money, Bashir was playing in the Second Corruption League. The Big Man at the top of the Wondrous-Riche List is Teodoro Obiang Nguema, the hard man of Equatorial Guinea. Last year he was reported to be the richest man on the fair continent of Africa. He was worth $65 billion (http://www.africapedia.com/AFRICA’S-10-RICHEST-PEOPLE:-QUITE-A-FEW-ARE-POLITICIANS?).
On his tail in second place was the one and only “King of Kings”, Libya’s eccentric President Muammar al-Gaddafi with a very respectable $56 billion.
Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe was 11th, worth $3 billion. Among sitting presidents, Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni weighed in at 16th, with his $1.7 billion.
These men have obliterated the record of some of our dearly departed rulers like Democratic Republic of Congo’s (then Zaire) Mobutu Sese Seko. When he was deposed in 1997, he had embezzled at least $5 billion of that long-suffering country’s money.
In that regard, Mobutu was a pioneer—he was the first African president to swindle that amount of money.
Nigeria’s most abominable military dictator, Sani Abacha, followed closely in his footsteps. When he died in an allegedly Viagra-induced orgy with imported Russian priests in 1998, he had spirited away between 2 to 5 billion dollars (at least, after failing to make too much of an impression in Africa during the Cold War, some Russians – the Abacha prostitutes - finally did a great job).
From then on, African leaders haven’t looked back.
However, there is one thing these corrupt African leaders have failed to do – to invest their loot and multiply it after they are exiled. Mobutu, for example, died penniless. The Central African Republic’s “Emperor” Jean-Bedel Bokassa was struggling badly when he passed.
There are many reasons for that, including the fact that their bankers usually cheat them. However, it is easier to cheat a fool than a smart fellow. So the reason rich corrupt African leaders do badly when they end up in exile, is that the skills needed to steal from the Treasury are very basic – even a telephone call will ensure that the central bank transfers $250m to a dictator’s foreign account.
Managing the loot, though, is a totally different matter. Abacha, for example, had scattered his in over 50 banks in Nigeria and abroad! Their hopeless leadership style when they are in power, becomes a liability when they are out.
Also, for some reason, no good mathematician has ever become an African president, let alone dictator. I suspect that African strongmen are not able to grow their wealth once they fall from grace, because they can’t count accurately.
The evidence of that is how they conduct elections when they are in power. They can never just announce the right results. Almost always, they undercount the Opposition vote.
At least there is one thing at which Mubarak is better than any living or dead African ruler – he has stolen the most of them all.
When a few days ago the revolutionary masses of Tunisia brought this “people power” business to Africa and chased former president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali out of power, looters snatched his Ferrari – worth $300,000 when new.
Ben Ali probably wasn’t too aggrieved, because it was reported that he had stashed away $1.5 billion in private bank accounts. His wife Leila Trabelsi, who has been described as “greedy” allegedly stole 1.5 tonnes of gold on her way to the airport when they were in flight.
Trust the Europeans to rain on Ben Ali’s party, though. The man had barely settled in his Saudi Arabian exile, when European Union Foreign ministers agreed to seize his precious assets.
Now $1.5 billion is serious money. However, it is only the uninitiated who will be mesmerised by that figure. Even before world attention was drawn to Ben Ali’s stash, it had been reported three weeks earlier that Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir had stolen about $9 billion from his country’s coffers.
However, even with that amount of money, Bashir was playing in the Second Corruption League. The Big Man at the top of the Wondrous-Riche List is Teodoro Obiang Nguema, the hard man of Equatorial Guinea. Last year he was reported to be the richest man on the fair continent of Africa. He was worth $65 billion (http://www.africapedia.com/AFRICA’S-10-RICHEST-PEOPLE:-QUITE-A-FEW-ARE-POLITICIANS?).
On his tail in second place was the one and only “King of Kings”, Libya’s eccentric President Muammar al-Gaddafi with a very respectable $56 billion.
Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe was 11th, worth $3 billion. Among sitting presidents, Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni weighed in at 16th, with his $1.7 billion.
These men have obliterated the record of some of our dearly departed rulers like Democratic Republic of Congo’s (then Zaire) Mobutu Sese Seko. When he was deposed in 1997, he had embezzled at least $5 billion of that long-suffering country’s money.
In that regard, Mobutu was a pioneer—he was the first African president to swindle that amount of money.
Nigeria’s most abominable military dictator, Sani Abacha, followed closely in his footsteps. When he died in an allegedly Viagra-induced orgy with imported Russian priests in 1998, he had spirited away between 2 to 5 billion dollars (at least, after failing to make too much of an impression in Africa during the Cold War, some Russians – the Abacha prostitutes - finally did a great job).
From then on, African leaders haven’t looked back.
However, there is one thing these corrupt African leaders have failed to do – to invest their loot and multiply it after they are exiled. Mobutu, for example, died penniless. The Central African Republic’s “Emperor” Jean-Bedel Bokassa was struggling badly when he passed.
There are many reasons for that, including the fact that their bankers usually cheat them. However, it is easier to cheat a fool than a smart fellow. So the reason rich corrupt African leaders do badly when they end up in exile, is that the skills needed to steal from the Treasury are very basic – even a telephone call will ensure that the central bank transfers $250m to a dictator’s foreign account.
Managing the loot, though, is a totally different matter. Abacha, for example, had scattered his in over 50 banks in Nigeria and abroad! Their hopeless leadership style when they are in power, becomes a liability when they are out.
Also, for some reason, no good mathematician has ever become an African president, let alone dictator. I suspect that African strongmen are not able to grow their wealth once they fall from grace, because they can’t count accurately.
The evidence of that is how they conduct elections when they are in power. They can never just announce the right results. Almost always, they undercount the Opposition vote.
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