Madagascan president sacks minister for wanting to hand out $2m worth of sweets to kids

MADAGASCAR'S President Andry Rajoelina has sacked the country's education minister Rijasoa Andriamanana for planning to spend $2m purchasing sweets and handing them to children to ameliorate the taste of Covid Organics.

In a bid to combat the Covid-19 virus, Madagascar has come up with the herbal remedy Covid Organics, which it claims acts as both a vaccine and cure. It is currently undergoing clinical trials in several African countries and World Health Organisation officials have also agreed to see if the remedy is effective.

To negate the bitter taste of the remedy, Mr Andriamanana planned to order £$2m worth of sweets, which he planned distributing among Madagascar's children. He said school children would be given three lollipop sweets each to mask the bitter aftertaste of Covid Organics but President Rajoelina objected to the plan and called it off.

With it looking like the minister was hell-bent on continuing with the plan, President Rajoelina decided to sack him immediately. WHO has very stringent guidelines for drug approvals, which includes that any medicine or remedy must be subjected to clinical and human trials.

Covid Organics, which contains artemisa, a plant used in treating malaria, was developed by the Malagasy Institute of Applied Research. As a result of the island's long isolation from neighbouring continents, Madagascar is home to various plants and animals found nowhere else on planet earth.