A few days ago, I wrote an exceptionally long post about debt relief for Africa. Being some 1800 plus words in length it was, of course, soundly ignored by all.

Bastards.

That’s not my point, though. My point is that in it I questioned whether freeing the poor African nations from their debt servicing would actually result in money being directed at health, infrastructure, education, and food. This report from IRIN serves to underline my point rather nicely.

Plans to purchase a US $545,000 limousine for President Bingu wa Mutharika have sparked heated debate in Malawi, which faces yet another year of acute food shortages. 

Finance Minister Goodall Gondwe told parliament on Wednesday that the Maybach 62, made by Mercedes-Benz, was necessary, as the president was without an official vehicle. The car used by former president Bakili Muluzi was involved in an accident last year, and the government intended to pay for the new vehicle in instalments.

The Malawi Economic Justice Network (MEJN) said the purchase was “unnecessary and a waste of money”, given ongoing food shortages in the country. Crop estimates indicate that Malawi’s harvest could drop by around 25 percent this season, with the number of people in need of food aid climbing beyond last year’s 1.3 million.

“It is unfortunate that government needs such an expensive vehicle, at a time when people in the country are facing food shortages. Sixty-five million Kwacha [$545,000] would buy 45,000 50 kg-bags of maize,” MEJN national coordinator Collins Magalasi told IRIN.

To be sure, the President of Malawi should have a car. But he probably doesn’t really need a car that costs more than half a million dollars. Expect an increase in purchases like this, brand new presidential palaces, and a smattering of self-named football stadiums in the near future.

Just sayin’.