Bamboo Palace, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Staying with corrupt leaders, Mobutu Sese Seko, the former president of Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of Congo, was just as free and easy with other people’s money, lavishing $100 million (£80m) on his ‘Versailles in the Jungle’, a luxe palace complex that was built in his home town of Gbadolite during the 1970s.
The complex boasted three sumptuous residences, including the glitzy Bamboo Palace. Mobutu packed the interiors with paintings by Monet and Renoir, ornate Louis XVI furnishings, Carrara marble and copious gilding. Ridiculously expensive Murano chandeliers hung in almost every room.
The palace in Gbadolite had a staff of 700 to cater to the president and his family’s every whim, which were legendary. Mobutu even had an international airport built nearby just so he could charter Concorde and fly to Paris together with his aptly named first wife Marie-Antoinette for full-on designer shopping sprees.
