Africa’s brutal kleptocrats laugh at the West’s stupidity

Britain’s aid budget will be around �11.5bn this year. With about 30 million people working in Britain, this means that about �383 is being taken from every worker in direct and indirect taxes to be given to some of the world’s worst-governed, most corrupt and most hopeless basket-case countries.

Here are just five of Africa’s worst kleptocrats, almost all of whom receive hundreds of millions of aid each year from the West:

Omar Al-Bashir, President of Sudan – $1,128m/year in aid

Sudan�s President seized power in 1989 and then dispersed all political parties in the country, disbanded the country�s parliament and shut down all privately-owned media outlets. His reign has been characterized by a civil war in which over one million have been killed, while several millions have been displaced. Al-Bashir is still wanted by the International Criminal Court for instigating crimes against humanity, particularly in directing and funding acts of violence against the Southern Sudan. Famously corrupt, a diplomatic wikileaks cable revealed that Al-Bashir likely siphoned some $9bn of his country�s funds into his private bank accounts in the UK.

Robert Mugabe, President of Zimbabwe – $715m/year in aid

The 87 year-old megalomaniac has vowed not to step down despite having ruled the Southern African state for over 27 years. He has almost single-handedly wrecked the country’s economy, transforming the ‘breadbasket of Africa’ into an impoverished hell-hole while slaughtering hundreds of thousands of his own people. The average life expectancy for those not killed by Mugabe’s stooges is around 50 years.

Jos� Eduardo dos Santos, President of Angola – $200m/year aid

Jos� Eduardo dos Santos is Africa�s second longest serving president � 35 years. He has always run his government like it�s his personal, privately-owned investment holding company. His cousin serves as the Angola�s vice president, and his daughter, Isabel Dos Santos is arguably the wealthiest woman in the country. Angola is extremely resource-rich. But the vast majority of Angolans still live in the most horrid socio-economic conditions. 68% of the country�s total population lives below the poverty line of $1.7 a day, while 28% live on less than 30 cents. According to the U.N. Children�s Fund, 30% of the country�s children are malnourished. The average life expectancy is about 41 years while child and maternal deaths are extremely high.

King Mswati III, King of Swaziland – $125m/year in aid

Sub-Saharan Africa�s last absolute monarch presides over a country which has one of the world�s highest HIV prevalence rates -�over 35% of adults. Its average life expectancy is the lowest in the world at 33 years; nearly 70% of the country�s citizens live on less than $1 a day and 40% are unemployed. But for all the suffering of the Swazi people, King Mswati has barely shown concern or interest. He lives lavishly enjoying�luxury German cars, first-class leisure trips around the world and women. He once famously spent �450,000 on a fleet of top-range BMWs for his eleven wives while many of his people were starving. But his gross mismanagement of his country�s finances is now having dire economic consequences. Swaziland is going through a severe fiscal crisis. The kingdom�s economy is collapsing and pensions have been stopped.

Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, President of Equatorial Guinea – $24m/year aid

Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo is Africa�s longest serving ruler. He has ruled Equatorial Guinea, a tiny, oil-rich West African country, since August 1979 when he overthrew his uncle, Francisco Mac�as Nguema, in a bloody coup d��tat. Equatorial Guinea is one of the continent�s largest producers of oil and has one of the highest per capita incomes in the world, but the vast majority of Equatorial Guineans hardly have access to clean drinking water. The country also has one of the world�s highest under-5 mortality rates: about 20% of its children die before the age of five. Many of the remaining 80% of the children don�t have access to quality educational and healthcare facilities. Meanwhile, the first son of the president, Teodorin Obiang (who is in line to succeed his father), spends millions of dollars of state funds financing his lavish lifestyle which includes luxurious property in Malibu, a Gulfstream jet, Michael Jackson memorabilia and a car collection that could easily make billionaires go green with envy.

Conclusion We can�all rejoice knowing that the �11.5bn�our Government spends on foreign aid goes to a good cause – keeping Africa’s brutal kleptocrats in the luxury to which they’ve become accustomed.