Congo- Brazzaville leaders hotel bill: $295,000
The leader of one of Africas poorest countries paid more than £100,000 in cash towards a £169,000 hotel bill run up by his entourage during last years 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 continents governments, is negotiating with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to cancel many of his countrys 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 Manhattans 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 presidents account as room service. Congo-Brazzavilles 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 presidents entourage of more than 50 people included his butler, his personal photographer and his wifes 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-Nguessos suite. The main purpose of the presidents visit was to deliver a 15-minute speech to the general assemblys 60th anniversary summit. He was also entertained by an American oil firm.
Details of the presidents extravagance have outraged Congo-Brazzavilles creditors and raised new questions about the credibility of the countrys claim to qualify for debt relief under an agreement brokered by Tony Blair at last years 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 countrys 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-Brazzavilles 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-Nguessos hotel bills were among documents subpoenaed by Elliott lawyers.
Posted by: Pappy 2006-02-13 |