Wycleaf Jean runs for President of Haiti

Shortly after the January 12th earthquake, singer/rapper Wycleaf Jean, a natural born native of Haiti, announces his candidacy for President. Jean was one of the first celebrities to offer aid to the Haitian community after the devastating earthquake. "I knew I'd have to take the next step,"  he said, after spending days delivering corpses to morgues in Haiti. The singer claimed that if it were not for the earthquake, he still would have ran for President of Haiti, "If it wasn't for the earthquake, I probably would have waited another ten years before doing this." He also stated, "the quake drove home for me that Haiti can't wait another ten years for us to bring it into the 21st century."

Not only is Wycleaf Jean popluar in Haiti for his music, but his charity work as chairman for the Yele Haiti Foundation. After the quake, Wycleaf was allegedly accused of mishandling funds through his non-profit organization. It was investigated that Jean was supposedly paid for performances at fundraising events, and used some of the funds to purchase advertising air-time on a television station he is co-owner of, among other suspicious irregularities. The foundation quickly hired a new accounting firm after the accusation, to whip the accounting books into shape. Jean publically denied the allegations, calling them "accounting errors," and eventually resigned as chairman, after raising more than $9 million post-earthquake.

Among Wycleaf, dozens of others announced their candidacy for President, including Jean's uncle, Raymond Joseph, who is the Haitian ambassador in Washington. Other candidates include former mayors, prime ministers, and another Haitian-born musician, Michel "Sweet Micky" Martelly. Many thought Wycleaf's candidacy for President would be a huge help to the devestated society, win or lose, given his popularity here in the United States. It was thought that the media attention would be far greater with him running for President, as well as more money being donated to help victims. On the other hand, some were worried about his lack of a political career, as well as the fact that the rapper had spent most of his time residing in the U.S. His secret weapon in his Presidential candidacy is that the "enormous youth population doesn't believe in it's politicians anymore."

Sources:
CNN World. (2010). Wycleaf Jean runs for President of Haiti.
Retrieved from
http://articles.cnn.com/2010-08-06/world/haiti.wyclef.jean.president_1_yele-haiti-foundation-jean-shot-haitian-people?_s=PM:WORLD

The Huffington Post. (2010). Wycleaf Jean to run for President of Haiti.
Retrieved from
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/03/wyclef-jean-to-run-for-pr_n_669480.html

Padgett, T. (2010). Wycleaf Jean to run for President of Haiti.
TIME news. Retrieved from
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2008588-1,00.html