Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue

Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue (born c.1971, nicknamed Teodorín) is the son of Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, the president of Equatorial Guinea, by his first wife, Constancia Okomo. He currently serves as the Minister of Agriculture and Forestry in his father's government. He drew criticism from the international media for spending close to R10,000,000 over a weekend in South Africa on champagne, property renovations, a black 2004 Bentley Arnage, a cream 2005 Bentley Continental R from MG Rover Cape Town and a 2005 Lamborghini Murcielago,[1] although the properties may soon be forcibly auctioned due to his failure to pay a South African businessman.[2] American law enforcement officials believe that most or perhaps all of his wealth comes from corruption connected to oil and gas reserves in Equatorial Guinea.[3]

Obiangs' foreign concerns include two houses in South Africa, worth a combined R50,000,000, a $31,000,000 compound in Malibu, California, a 5,000 square feet (460 m2) home in the affluent 16th arrondissement of Paris, and the hip hop music record label TNO Entertainment. He also owns (as of 2008) one of the 30 models of the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 sports car [4] (estimated at 1 100 000 euros) and a Maserati MC 12 at 700 000 euros.[4]

In October 2011, seven years after the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations exposed the Obiang family’s secret accounts at Riggs Bank in Washington and five years after non-profit Global Witness discovered his Malibu mansion purchase — the US Justice Department went to court to seize $70 million (£44m) of Nguema’s US assets, which include a Gulfstream jet, yachts, cars and Michael Jackson memorabilia.[5]

Contents

Ministry of Agriculture

In a November 2010 interview with PanAfrica Magazine, Nguema Obiang described his vision of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry's responsibilities, particularly in Equatorial Guinea's rural communities:

The development of agriculture is a current priority to the Equatorial Guinean Government, as one of the main pillars for the country’s sustainable economic development; therefore, for the Government the countryside is the backbone as a source of sustainable development." Further, "the Government in its agricultural policy directed towards national food self-sufficiency and the resulting improvement in the life of the men in the countryside, has conceived an action plan with an execution program for the medium and long term. This program establishes the farmers’ organization given that our farmers are used to working individually, and there is a need to group them together to instill in them the idea of collective and associated work, with the goal of being able to create cooperative productive associations. In this sense, there have been over 300 productive food associations of both sexes created currently throughout the country, to which the Government, through the Ministry of Agriculture, is offering material and financial support with reimbursable loans. The same program foresees the creation of model farms of crops where the food production associations will practice the new cultivating techniques as well as the control of new agricultural machinery that the Government has acquired in the framework of this program.[6]

Nipa Roofs Initiative

In 2011, as Minister of Agriculture, Nguema Obiang started an initiative in Equatorial Guinea to eliminate the traditional nipa roofs in homes and replace them with roofs made of zinc. The effort costs 600 million CFA francs and will begin in the mainland, particularly in the provincial capital of Centro Sur. The minister's objective is to start in record time the distribution tour of the zinc roofs which began during the first weeks of August 2011. The zinc roofs are produced in a sheet metal factory in Bata.[7]

2004 attempted coup

Main article: 2004 Equatorial Guinea coup d'état attempt

After the attempted coup involving Nick du Toit, Simon Mann and which embroiled Mark Thatcher in March 2004, he threatened to kill his uncle, Armengol Ondo Nguema for his business dealings with du Toit via TRIPLE OPTIONS. Armengol had previously opposed Teodorín's ascension to the presidency. Scattered reports of shots being fired during a meeting appeared in South African newspapers after the incident. It has been reported [8] that he is to be made vice president of Equatorial Guinea, which, according to the constitution would allow him to accede to the presidency upon his father's retirement.

References

  1. ^ Johnson, RW; Town, Cape (2006-09-03). "Playboy waits for his African throne". London: The Sunday Times. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-2340345,00.html. 
  2. ^ "Equatorial Guinea playboy's Cape homes seized". IOL. 2006-02-16. http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=594&art_id=vn20060216040234789C722016. 
  3. ^ Ian Urbina, "Taint of Corruption Is No Barrier to U.S. Visa for Millionaire", New York Times, 17 November 2009
  4. ^ a b David Servenay, Transparency porte plainte pour saisir la Ferrari d'Omar Bongo, Rue 89, 15 July 2008 (French)
  5. ^ James V. Grimaldi (26 October 2011). "Efforts against Equatorial Guinea official shows challenge for U.S. in foreign corruption cases". http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/efforts-against-equatorial-guinea-official-shows-challenge-of-us-in-foreign-corruption-cases/2011/10/25/gIQAndatWM_story.html. 
  6. ^ "Interview with H.E. Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, Minister of State of Agriculture and Forestry for the Republic of Equatorial Guinea". PanAfrica Magazine. 3 November 2010. http://www.guineaecuatorialpress.com/noticia.php?id=1025. Retrieved 1 September 2011. 
  7. ^ "The distribution tour of zinc sheets is under way". Equatorial Guinea Press. 1 August 2011. http://www.guineaecuatorialpress.com/noticia.php?id=1794&lang=en. Retrieved 26 August 2011. 
  8. ^ "Equatorial Guinea asks Angolan military aid to plan succession". afrol News. 2005-11-11. http://www.afrol.com/articles/17227. 

External links

Equatorial Guinea portal
Biography portal
Politics portal