Africa's New Wabenzi Tribe (Benz People)

Posted by www.eMercedesBenz.com on October 12, 2005 at 11:30 AM CST


It's not everyday I get to bring you political news, but today is a  
rare exception.  While browsing AllAfrica.com today, I found an  
interesting story detailing what may be one of Africa's largest  
problems (more on that at the end of the story).

According to the story, it seems that many of Africa's political  
leaders are infatuated with the Mercedes-Benz brand (we can  
understand this infatuation; we are, after all, a website dedicated  
entirely to Mercedes). This infatuation is well documented among the  
African people - musicians have written songs about it; the masses  
have written folk tales about it. The African people have even  
bestowed a title on their political leaders: the "WaBenzi!," or the  
Benz people.  In short, Mercedes has become one of Africa's largest  
status symbols.

Up to this point, you're probably not surprised about anything in the  
story.  Who cares if Mercedes is a status symbol in Africa; it's a  
status symbol in America as well, right? But what we failed to  
mention is that out of the countries and political leaders that have  
a fondness for Mercedes, most are dependent on donor funding.

In other words, the political leaders are using money lent to them by  
other countries to purchase their Mercedes. This is, at least in my  
opinion, one of the largest mistakes the government can make.

The purpose of a government is to protect the people and help the  
people in times of need.  I've never been to Africa, but I constantly  
hear stories of people in Africa starving, suffering from widespread  
disease, facing poverty... the list could go on and on.  Why then,  
when other countries try to lend their support to Africa, do the  
political officials take that money and piss it away on luxury  
vehicles?  I'm entirely supportive of Mercedes, but as the government  
of an impoverished country, purchasing a luxury vehicle should be far  
from the top on your list of necessities.

But before I end, the story did go on to point out that at least some  
African leaders are seeing the error of their ways.  Rwanda, in an  
effort to free public expenditures, recently impounded 1,000 vehicles  
and placed them up for sale at auction.  Burundi's new president,  
Pierre Nkurunziza, recently followed suit and chose to sell some of  
his countries vehicles as well.

I'm not a politician, so I'm not going to bore you with any more of  
my political views.  In closing, I'd just like to point out that I'm  
glad to see that at least some of Africa's political leaders  
understand the role of the government. And to any other African  
political leaders reading this, get your head out of your asses, take  
an example from these two countries, and quit wasting your country's  
resources.

To view more Mercedes-Benz news and information, click the link below:

http://www.emercedesbenz.com