The American presidential elections has been heating up and various issues have been raised for or against both the Democratic Party candidate, President Barack Obama, and the Republican Party candidate, Mr. Mitt Romney. One of the questions that have seemed very interesting is that of Mr. Romney's finances. People have been asking many questions about his taxes and the bank accounts he had outside America. Mr. Romney, however, has refused to come clean about these questions and has sternly pointed out that Americans are going to see only two years of taxes from him - the one for 2010 and the one for 2011, period. He has not yet shown them the one for 2011.
As I pondered about the question of Mr. Romney's finances, I noticed that the questions about his finances are questions that would not even be raised if he were running for president in most African countries, especially francophone African countries. Since Mr. Romney appears to have so far felt very uncomfortable talking about his finances, it seems that he would be more comfortable as president of an African country. In fact, in some of these countries, any journalist who raises the issue of the finances of a president is simply be placed in jail. Many of the presidents in African countries keep their money in foreign bank accounts because they do not trust their own banking institutions. The nature of the finances of many African presidents is hardly known to their people. It is not even known if some of these presidents pay taxes - how could they, when they own the country? Mr. Romney would therefore be very comfortable as president of, lets say, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Congo, the Gambia. He could even be president of Ethiopia, Chad or Central African Republic. In these countries, no one would ask about his finances, he could put as much money as he likes in foreign bank accounts and even build mansions there and no one would ask him any question.
One additional thing that would work well for Mr. Romney as an African president is that the party he belongs to, the Republican Party, does not seem excited about elections. The party appears not to want people to vote. This is the very sentiment exhibited by the parties of many African presidents. For them, elections are simply cooked to give their candidate 90% of the vote or a less suspicious 60%. Since Mr. Romney has the experience of moving from one place to run for political office in another - like he did when he moved from Utah to Massachusetts - he might think of the possibility of moving to one of the African countries named above and run for president. Running for president in America seems to be demanding too much of him - American journalists would not stop asking questions about his money. If he were in an African country, he might simply throw them in jail and get on with the important matter of winning elections and governing the people like a patron.
As I pondered about the question of Mr. Romney's finances, I noticed that the questions about his finances are questions that would not even be raised if he were running for president in most African countries, especially francophone African countries. Since Mr. Romney appears to have so far felt very uncomfortable talking about his finances, it seems that he would be more comfortable as president of an African country. In fact, in some of these countries, any journalist who raises the issue of the finances of a president is simply be placed in jail. Many of the presidents in African countries keep their money in foreign bank accounts because they do not trust their own banking institutions. The nature of the finances of many African presidents is hardly known to their people. It is not even known if some of these presidents pay taxes - how could they, when they own the country? Mr. Romney would therefore be very comfortable as president of, lets say, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Congo, the Gambia. He could even be president of Ethiopia, Chad or Central African Republic. In these countries, no one would ask about his finances, he could put as much money as he likes in foreign bank accounts and even build mansions there and no one would ask him any question.
One additional thing that would work well for Mr. Romney as an African president is that the party he belongs to, the Republican Party, does not seem excited about elections. The party appears not to want people to vote. This is the very sentiment exhibited by the parties of many African presidents. For them, elections are simply cooked to give their candidate 90% of the vote or a less suspicious 60%. Since Mr. Romney has the experience of moving from one place to run for political office in another - like he did when he moved from Utah to Massachusetts - he might think of the possibility of moving to one of the African countries named above and run for president. Running for president in America seems to be demanding too much of him - American journalists would not stop asking questions about his money. If he were in an African country, he might simply throw them in jail and get on with the important matter of winning elections and governing the people like a patron.
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