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While Afrcian leaders are
refusing to declare their assets publicly and demanding sky pay rise to add to their already allowances received Via corruption, the President of Uruguay,
José Mujica is gaining recognition world wide and respect for donating 90 percent of his earnings to charitable causes. As a result, he has earned an enviable reputation as the “poorest,” or the “most generous,”
president in the world. His nickname in his country, “
el presidente mas pobre” translates to “poorest president”.
In a recent interview, The President said, the only big item to his name is his Volkswagen Beetle car, valued at
$1,945 dollars. He earns a salary of $12,500 a month, but only keeps $1,250 for himself, donating the
rest to charity. He lives in a farmhouse which is under his wife’s name, Lucía Topolansky, a Senator, who also donates part of her salary. The 77 year-old President stated that “I do fine with that amount; I have to do fine because there are many Uruguayans who live with much less.”
According to Yahoo News
report, the President is said to have no bank accounts, no debts, and
enjoys the companionship of his dog, Manuela. When his term is over, the
President hopes to rest even more peacefully in his farmhouse, along
with his wife and his inseparable dog.
As credit to his leadership, It was also reported that under
his ruling, Uruguay has achieved and is known to have a low levels of corruption with the South American country ranking as the second least corrupt country in
Latin America in Transparency International’s global corruption index.
