COUP LEADERS: ED leaves for Equatorial Guinea, as fellow coup leader extends 43-year rule

President Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa (ED) has left the country for a State visit to Equatorial Guinea.

 

This follows the re-election of that country’s President, Theodore Obiang Ngema Mbasogo in November 2022.

 

Mbasogo, the world’s longest-serving president won re-election in Equatorial Guinea to continue 43-year old rule presiding over his authoritarian regime.

 

Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, 80, secured almost 95% of votes, officials announced six days after the vote.

 

“The results prove us right again,” Vice-President Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, the president’s son, said. “We continue to be a great party.”

 

Some opposition candidates stood, but none were expected to win.

 

President Obiang has a strong grip on the oil-rich central African nation, with family members in key government roles.

 

Like Mnangagwa who came to power through military coup, Mbasogo seized power in 1979 after a military takeover and has survived several coup attempts.

 

Upon gaining office from his predecessor and uncle, Francisco Macias Nguema, he made some reforms but retained Nguema’s absolute control over the nation.