Having completed more than 43 years in power, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Basogo[/B] is the longest serving leader in the world with the exception of monarchies. The President of Equatorial Guinea yesterday Saturday secured re-election for a sixth term, with 94.9% of the vote, in this small but oil-rich central African nation, one of the most isolated and authoritarian regimes in the world.
In 2016, when he was re-elected with 93.7% of the vote, he was allegedly grooming for his successor one of his sons, Vice President Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mange, known as Teodorin, a lover of opulence and luxury who has been convicted in France of "illicit gains".
The 80-year-old African head of state had limited his public appearances while Teodorin was attracting the spotlight. By mid-December last year, most people estimated that the ruling party would give Teodorin the nomination of a presidential candidate to replace his father. But it appears that Teodoro Obiang Ngema Basogo was convinced by his staff that a change of baton in power would be a risk at a time when falling hydrocarbon revenues and the COVID-19 pandemic had made the country even more dependent on foreign funding.
The Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea (PDGE) temporarily postponed the announcement of its candidate in the presidential election until the 80-year-old head of state returned to the spotlight.
The very strict Teodoro Obiang, unlike his son, is said to follow a healthy and ascetic lifestyle, and exercises daily.
Since taking power, he claims to have prevented at least ten coup or assassination attempts, blaming them on the exiled opposition and "foreign forces".
Equatorial Guinea, a very sparsely populated country, was in 2021 Africa's third richest nation in terms of GDP per capita, according to World Bank data. However, wealth is concentrated in the hands of a few families, with the vast majority of its 1.4 million people living below the poverty line.
Equatorial Guinea is among the most corrupt countries in the world, according to non-governmental organizations.
Source: CNA
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