President Teodoro Obiang of Equatorial Guinea, will run for office again in November elections, his party announced on Friday, in a bid to extend his 43-year tenure that began when he snatched power in a 1979 coup.
Obiang, 80, has been accused of torturing political opponents, sham elections, and corruption, rights groups and foreign powers say. Obiang denies such charges.
His son, Vice-President Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, a jet-setter with a love for parties, fast cars, and jewelry, and who was convicted of embezzlement by a French court in 2020, said on Twitter on Friday that his father had been nominated to run again “due to his charisma, leadership and political experience”.
Corruption, poverty, and repression continue to plague Equatorial Guinea under President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, who has been in power since 1979. Vast oil revenues fund lavish lifestyles for the small elite surrounding the president, while a large proportion of the population continues to live in poverty. Mismanagement of public funds and credible allegations of high-level corruption persist, as do other serious abuses, including torture, arbitrary detention, and unfair trials. Obiang’s eldest son and possible successor, Teodoro Nguema, was convicted in France on embezzlement and money-laundering charges. In two separate cases, the United States and Switzerland agreed to settle with Teodoro resulting in the confiscation of assets that would be used to benefit Equatorial Guinea’s people
Another term will bring fresh challenges. Widespread poverty remains. That was laid bare when a series of explosions at an army barracks flattened a part of the coastal city of Bata last year, killing about 100 people and triggering an aid response from former colonial power Spain.
Born 5 June 1942, Teodoro Obiang is an Equatorial Guinean politician and former military officer who has served as the 2nd president of Equatorial Guinea since August 1979. He is the longest-serving president of any country ever and the second-longest consecutively-serving current non-royal national leader in the world.
After graduating from military school, Obiang held numerous positions under the presidency of his uncle, Francisco Macías Nguema, including director of the notorious Black Beach prison. He ousted Macías in a 1979 military coup and took control of the country as President and chairman of the Supreme Military Council junta. After the country’s nominal return to civilian rule in 1982, he founded the Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea (PDGE) in 1987 which was the country’s sole legal party until 1992.