Political History of Equatorial Guinea: “The Rise and Entrenchment of Nguemism” (Geoffrey Wood, 2004: p. 548)

Abstract

Since the 1960s watershed events of decolonization, the African state has remained locked in monarchist’s chains, outwardly fragile and denied the opportunity of transiting into mature, predictable, stable and developing states. This has been the lived experience of Equatorial Guinea, awarded independence from Spain through the technical intervention of the United Nations in 1968, after the violent reign of two presidents over the fifty years, the incumbent, President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo has anointed his son, “Teodorin” to become the future leader. Meanwhile, several courts in the United States, Switzerland, Spain and more recently, in February 2020, a French Court found him guilty of squandering public monies through an extravagant lifestyle and following the now established international norm, confiscated and auctioned the assets luxury mansions, fast cars, yachts and airplanes in order to donate the proceeds towards impoverished Equatoguineans. The challenge is therefore that, for more than three generations, Equatorial Guinea leadership will remain in the hands of the Nguemas notwithstanding the periodic and farcical multiparty elections since 1991. Using secondary sources, country reports, academic thesis and dissertation as well as newspaper reports, this article traces the accession to power and power retention strategies and his intention of 2016 appointing his son as the First Vice President and constitutional heir after his long reign of four decades and its political implications? This research is about the nature of political leadership and democratic succession in Africa. In the case of Equatorial Guinea, this reveals a case of arrested political transition under the tutelage of family rule that appears to have marginalised constitutional institutions while creating a parallel power consolidation leadership typology and culture.