By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Equatorial Guinea will on Sunday hold its presidential, parliamentary and local elections, where the 80-year-old incumbent President Teodoro Obiang Nguema will seek re-election for the sixth time.
World longest serving leader, Obiang has spent 43 years in office amidst alleged authoritarian rule, rights abuses and corruption.
Human rights activists have expressed concern that Obiang will not create an enabling environment for citizens to exercise their democratic rights in the West African country.
“The opposition does not stand a chance,” human rights activist Tutu Alicante said. “He is going to do whatever it takes not to leave power.”
He added, “On Sunday, people will cast the vote the government expects them to, because you cannot freely speak up your mind in Equatorial Guinea”.
An oil-producing nation of about 1.5 million people, Equatorial Guinea has had only two presidents since independence from Spain in 1968; Obiang and his uncle Francisco Macias Nguema who he removed in a coup in 1979.
Obiang always “wins” with more than 90 percent of votes in polls international observers have questioned.
He is contesting against two other candidates: Andres Esono Ondo and Buenaventura Monsuy Asumu.
Oil and gas production accounts for about three-quarters of revenues in the OPEC member state. But output has dwindled in recent years to about 93,000 barrels per day (bpd), from about 160,000 bpd in 2015 due to maturing fields.
Although the tiny Gulf of Guinea nation has seen major investments in infrastructure, critics say under Obiang, oil wealth has lined the pockets of his entourage, who flash luxury lifestyles while most of the population live in poverty.
Obiang is also accused of muzzling dissent and freedom of expression. The government has denied the accusations.
Protests are mostly forbidden, media is heavily controlled, and it is not uncommon for political opponents to be arbitrarily arrested and tortured, rights groups say.
Intimidation has increased in the run-up to the polls, activists say, with authorities targeting civil society groups and critics of the regime.
His son, Vice President Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, who observers see as a potential successor, was convicted for embezzlement by a French court in 2020.
Assets that foreign powers say he bought with ill-gotten gains include a crystal-covered glove worn by Michael Jackson, an armoured Rolls-Royce limousine and a yacht.
