Following the death of Queen Elizabeth in 2022, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo , the diminutive president of Equatorial Guinea, became the world’s longest serving leader.
Today, Nguema, who is 80, has declared that he will be seeking another term as president. He came to power in 1979 in a bloody coup that led to the execution of President Francia Mangue, who also happened to be his uncle.
Nguema is deputised by his son Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, who serves as the country’s . The family has been accused of embezzling public funds and stashing them abroad.
Nguema Junior is known for lavish lifestyle,and has been the subject of a number of international criminal charges and sanctions for alleged embezzlement and corruption.
In October 2011, seven years after the United States Senate Homeland Security Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations exposed the Nguema’s family secret accounts at Riggs Bank in Washington and five years after non-profit Global Witness discovered his mansion purchase in Malibu; the US Justice Department went to court to seize $70 million (£44m) of his US assets, which include a Gulfstream jet, yachts, cars and Michael Jackson memorabilia.
In February 2012, a Parisian mansion belonging to Nguema, worth around €100 million, was raided by French police and they discovered luxury goods inside worth millions of euros. In July 2012, an arrest warrant was issued for him.
On 22 July 2021, the United Kingdom imposed sanctions on Nguema over “lavish lifestyle” spending, which he spent on mansions, private jets, among other things. In retaliation, the Foreign Minister of Equatorial Guinea, Simeón Oyono Esono Angue, announced the closure of the country’s embassy in London, as the British government sanctioned Nguema.
By Newsmedia