MEET THE “POOR’ FORMER PRESIDENT OF URUGUAY

Written by:	Meshack Masibo

In 2010, his annual personal wealth declaration – mandatory for officials in Uruguay – was $1,800 (£1,100), the value of his 1987 Volkswagen Beetle. Later, he added half of his wife’s assets – land, tractors and a house – reaching $215,000 (£135,000).

What do you think about when you picture a president or former president? A dozen chase cars? A hundred guards? A big mansion? Maybe large tracks of land if you are Kenyan? Someone who stands out among the people, right? Not so in Uruguay. Meet the Uruguay former president – who lives on a ramshackle farm and gives away most of his pay. When you take time to observe the picture of his house. Laundry is strung outside the house. The water comes from a well in a yard, overgrown with weeds. Only two police officers and Manuela, a three-legged dog, keep watch outside. This is the residence of the president of Uruguay, Jose Mujica, whose lifestyle clearly differs sharply from that of most other world leaders.

President Mujica has shunned the luxurious house that the Uruguayan state provides for its leaders and opted to stay at his wife’s farmhouse, off a dirt road outside the capital, Montevideo. The president and his wife work the land themselves, growing flowers. This austere lifestyle – and the fact that Mujica……Subscribe to Readmore………