Equatorial Guinea’s president Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo re-elected
Equatorial Guinea’s president, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, has been re-elected to a sixth term as president with 94.9 per cent of the votes.
The country’s head of the electoral commission Faustino Ndong Esono Ayang confirmed the results adding that the turnout rate for the election was 98 percent.
The 80-year-old world’s longest-ruling head of state merged a winner in the Nov. 20 poll after defeating two opposition candidates: Buenaventura Monsuy Asumu, who has run in the previous five elections, and Andrés Esono Ondo, who is running for the first time.
According to the Al Jazeera report, the West African oil-producing nation has a population of around 1.5 million and has had only two presidents since independence from Spain in 1968.
The country’s first head of state, Francisco Macias Nguema, was removed from power before he was imprisoned after being kicked out of power by his nephew, Obiang, in a coup in 1979.
On September 24th that year, Nguema was brought before a military tribunal where he was charged with genocide, mass murder, embezzlement of public funds, treason, and violation of human rights before he was executed on September 29th.
Teodoro Obiang Nguema became the country’s second president after taking over from his uncle in 1979 and he has since assumed the office for 43 years.
The country has a history of fraudulent election results. In December, Obiang won more than 97% of the vote in presidential elections after opposition candidates withdrew from the poll, citing fraud and irregularities.
Similar results were also reported in the 2009 and 2016 elections.
Obiang’s regime has been tinted with accusations of corruption and he reportedly has his family members in key government roles including his son who is currently serving as the country’s Vice president.