African Leader Appals World By Spending Aid Money On Medical Supplies

A small West African state shocked the world yesterday by revealing that it spent aid money on vital goods the population needs.  

Tamu Mbesa, President of The Republic of Zatoga, presented alarming evidence to the U.N. which revealed that international aid funds sent to his country had been used to purchase medical supplies such as vaccines and HIV treatment drugs. The money had also been used to purchase books for schools and to implement a national housing scheme.

Dr. Ntogo Umesi, professor of African Studies at University College London commented on this bizarre occurrence, “Nobody can understand President Mbesa’s unprecedented actions. He could have bought himself another Mercedes or a private jet but instead he chose to waste the money on medical supplies.” Dr. Umesi believes that President Mbesa’s actions could lead to distressing repercussions across the rest of Africa. “We are worried that other leaders will begin to follow suit. This will devastate the luxury car industry, much of whose business comes from African government ministers who tend to purchase fleets of cars at a time.”

Millions of pounds worth of aid is sent to Africa every year and has always been used to improve the lives of tens of government officials. With money being used to help Africa’s poorest people, government ministers will be forced to endure such hardships as flying economy class, owning just one car each and, without the money to purchase state of the art weapons, they may even have to spend the majority of their time running their countries, rather than waging war on neighbouring states.

The shock of President Mbesa’s actions has left distaste in the mouths of many. Sandra Johnson, a housewife from Milton Keynes and a regulator contributor to Oxfam is appalled. “We’ve always donated things to Oxfam, you know, when the kids grow out of clothes and that. We thought we were helping a worthy cause but then we found out that our money’s been used to buy medicines and school equipment. I think it’s disgusting that we don’t know where the money’s going, you end up feeling so helpless.”

When questioned about this unexpected turn of events, President Mbesa was less than forthcoming, “I made my motives more than clear in my U.N. address, I chose to use the money to help those who needed it most.” Dr. Umesi expects that President Mbesa will be eating his words when he realises he has effectively “shot himself in the foot.”  Dr. Umesi predicts that the President will strongly regret his actions next time he plans to take a holiday and realises that there is no money left to fund the trip. “After all,” Umesi adds, “You don’t kick a gift horse in the mouth.”