The President of Equatorial Guinea will celebrate 40 years in power

Equatorial Guinea's president, Teodoro Obiang Nguema, will celebrate his forty years of power on Saturday, underscoring his long-standing status as head of state in Africa.

Since he took control during a 1979 military coup, human rights groups have described Obiang Nguema, 77, as one of the dictators the more brutal and corrupt of the continent.

During his last reelection in 2016, he won more than 90% of the vote, according to the official count.

Opposition groups said the vote was very flawed.

Its 40th anniversary in power will be marked by a series of events in three major cities, including Bata, the economic capital, Mongomo, the hometown of the president, and Djibloho, a new city built with oil from oil in the middle of the jungle.

Last month, Amnesty International called on Obiang Nguema's government to take steps to "respect, protect, promote and realize the human rights of all in the country".

But critics say that there are few signs that Equatorial Guinea will open.

Obiang Nguema, a survivor of multiple coup attempts and badbadination, severely repressed opponents and alleged plotters in the former Spanish colony.

In December 2017, the government reported foiling a presumed coup d'etat orchestrated by foreign exiles.

In June of this year, a court sentenced more than 130 people convicted of human involvement to sentences of up to 96 years.

The largest opposition group, Citizens for Innovation (CI), was banned by the authorities in February 2018.

Twenty-one members of CI, including the only member of the party's parliament, were later sentenced to 30 years in prison for "sedition, civil unrest, attacks on authority and serious attacks on integrity." physical".

A successor?

Obiang Nguema is believed to be preparing his son, Teodorin, to succeed him as president.

Teodorin was promoted to vice president in 2016 and is responsible for defense and security.

The president's son, Teodorin, was promoted to vice president in 2016 and is considered a potential successor. By Michele Spatari (AFP)

Teodorin, renowned for his playboy lifestyle, was sentenced by a Paris court to a three-year suspended prison sentence after being convicted of embezzling public funds to buy badets in France.

He was accused of spending more than 1,000 times his official annual salary in a six-story mansion located in a posh part of the French capital, with a fleet of fast cars and works of art. art, among other badets.

He also was fined 30 million euros ($ 33.5 million) with suspended sentence.

In 2019, Swiss prosecutors dropped the prosecution for financial crimes against Teodorin, but confiscated 25 luxury cars as part of the deal.

Last October, he was promoted directly from colonel to the post of general of division, without pbading through the intermediate rank of Brigadier General.

The next month, he was chairing a cabinet meeting for the first time.

Rich but poor oil

This tiny country of West Africa is one of the main oil producers of the continent and has a population of 1.2 million inhabitants.

Equatorial Guinea hit oil in 1995, allowing the country to benefit from the world's highest GDP per capita ratio, although human rights groups point out that most Equatorial Guineans live in misery.

The country is regularly cited by NGOs as one of the most corrupt in the world.

It ranks 141st out of 189 countries according to the United Nations 2018 Human Development Index and 172nd out of 180 according to Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index.

Obiang Nguema regularly displayed contempt for what he called "Western" criticism of his country.