Raila hospitalized

Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga has been hospitalized, apparently due to fatigue. The 65 year-old Mr. Odinga has no publicly known health condition except for his eye problems that have seen him take several trips to Germany for treatment. His aides say that Mr. Odinga will be confined to bed rest for a few days.

Update: The Standard reports that Mr. Odinga has undergone minor surgery to ease pressure on his brain after a minor accident. The BBC says the same. The AP speculates that Mr. Odinga may be suffering from “hydrocephalus, a condition where excessive fluid builds up on the brain. If left untreated, symptoms of the condition include cognitive problems and difficulty walking.” It appears that Mr. Odinga hit his head recently and had to get a hole drilled into his skull to drain fluid that had built up too close to his brain as a result. His aides, doctor and sister in law (one Connie Sigei) insisted that the Prime Minister is in stable condition and will be back on his feet in a few days. Ms. Sigei added that she “brought him boiled maize and he ate it all, drank water and asked for more.”

Obiang is back in the news

The diminutive dictator Brig. Gen. (ret.) Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, president of  Equatorial Guinea since 1979, is back in the news. After the UNESCO fiasco which nearly earned him the title of clown of the month of June Obiang is back again in the news, this time with an American PR agent. The Times reports that Mr. Obiang is attempting to “recast his reputation as a corrupt, repressive leader in a more progressive mold.” His agent, Mr. Davis even told journalists that “If there are political prisoners and no substantive charges against them, they will be freed.”Yeah right.

I suggest that Mr. Davis and his client start by reining in on the playboy son of the president, Little Teodoro. The younger Obiang’s lavish extravagance explains why Equatorial Guinea, a country with a per capita income of US $ 36,600 and a population of just over 0.5 million, has a life expectancy of 43 years, with 77% of its citizens living below the poverty line as of 2006.

The ONE question Obiang should be asked the next time he meets the press is: how hard can it be to run a country of 500,000 people with ALL that money?