The autocracy perpetrated by the Nguema Obiang family in Equatorial Guinea will not end anytime soon. Civil servants in that country have been banned from making foreign trips without authorisation from Vice-President Teodorin Obiang. Teodorin Obiang is the son of President Teodoro Obiang Nguema, who has ruled the small, oil-rich state with an iron fist since August 1979.
The reason for the ban has not been explained, although it comes on the heels of a crackdown following an attempted coup last December.
This is how an official at the National Institute of Social Security, Juan Mbo, graphically put the matter, “I couldn’t travel without this authorisation — I didn’t know. At the airport, they told me civil servants needed one”. His account was confirmed by other state employees.
Vice-President Obiang, who is also in charge of defence and security, sent a note recently to the Prime Minister and Minister of National Security, to the effect of the new arrangement. The note stated that all authorisations for travel that have been approved for members of government, senior officials and civil servants and which have yet to be used must be returned for confirmation by the office of the Vice- President.
The notice was meant to be distributed to all ministries, police stations, airports and seaports. The measure applies both to official and personal travel. It is generally believed that the move is linked to an attempted coup that took place last December, the details of which were announced by the government in January.
The authorities say the operation involved a group of men from Chad, the Central African Republic, CAR, and Sudan, but some of the ringleaders were civil servants who had travelled to Europe in late 2017.
