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Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Equatorial Guinea's President Obiang, Africa's longest-serving dictator


Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo (DOB June 05,1942) is an Equatoguinean Politician who has been  President of Equatorial Guinea since 1979.

Obiang ousted his uncle,Francisco Macias Nguema in an August 1979 military coup and has overseen Equatorial Guinea's emergence as an important oil producer, beginning in the 1990s.

After Macías ordered the murders of several members of his own family – including Obiang's brother – Obiang and others in Macías' inner circle feared the president had gone insane. Obiang overthrew his uncle on 3 August 1979 in a bloody coup d'état and placed him on trial for his activities, including the Genocide of the Bubi People, over the previous decade. He was sentenced to death and, on 29 September 1979, executed by firing squad

Equatorial Guinea nominally returned to civilian rule in 1982, with the enactment of a slightly less authoritarian constitution. At the same time, Obiang was elected to a seven-year term as president; he was the only candidate. He was reelected in 1989, again as the only candidate. After other parties were permitted to organize, he was reelected in 1996 and 2002 with 98% of the vote


Obiang  was reelected for a fourth term in 2009 with 97% of the vote, again amid accusations of voter fraud and intimidation, beating opposition leader

Equatorial Guinea is essentially a single-party state, dominated by Obiang's Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea (PDGE).


The constitution grants Obiang sweeping powers, including the power to Rule By Decree.

Although opposition parties were legalized in 1992, 99 members of the 100-seat parliament are either members of the PDGE or are aligned with it. Consequently, there is little opposition to presidential decisions.

Obiang was Chairperson of the African Union(AU)from January 31,2011 to January 29, 2012

Equatorial Guinea president Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo and his wife Constancia Mangue De Obiang, pictured arriving for a dinner hosted by President Barack Obama for the U.S. Africa Leaders Summit

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