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Africa News afrol News
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Africa News afrol News
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afrol.com, 5 October - In the ongoing session of the Equatorial Guinean Parliament, several MPs criticized the Prime Minister, Angel Serafin Seriche Dougan, and other ministers on the question of corruption in public offices, AFP has reported from Bata. Parliamentary debates in Equatorial Guinea have seldom been this outspoken. The Parliamentary speakers also demanded answers from Minister of Justice, the Minister of Mining and Energy, the Minister of Health and the Minister of Industry and Commerce. They were all urged to report on the state of corruption in the ministries they represent. Corruption in Equatorial Guinea is generally been observed as permeating the entire ruling class, and the questioning of the practice is not an everyday event. Most of the questioned ministers, together with a large list of their government colleagues and high ranking officials, have been denounces for corruption various times in foreign media or by political associations and parties. The small ruling class around President Teodoro Obiang effectively controls the national budget as a private household, as has been documented by various sources. Corruption is widespread in the judiciary, a fact the Minister of Justice had to answer for. Although accusations have been published frequently abroad, it is a new and significant feature that they come from the Parliament of Equatorial Guinea itself, from Bata, and even more significant bearing in mind the recently enhanced persecution of oppositional voices in the country. In the case of the Minister of Justice, Rubén Mye Nsue, the MPs went even further, raising the delicate question of human rights. The minister was asked to brief the Parliament on the human rights situation in Equatorial Guinea. He was, in particular, questioned why justice was not applied in line with the Guinean Constitution. The MPs also enjoyed the possibility to remind Minister Nsue about the situation of various prisoners being detained in outrageous conditions just on account of the suspicion of belonging to the political opposition. Two weeks ago, Minister Rubén Mye Nsue himself made headlines in afrol.com as he had been detained without given reasons. The background for his detention and liberation remain unclear. Corruption, private disposal of public funds and failure in accountancy is seen as a major problem in Equatorial Guinea. The disappearing of funds remains the norm. In light of this, almost every international institution and NGO has pulled out of Equatorial Guinea, the last being Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in January 2000. In a large, documentary report telling the background of suspending of its operations in Equatorial Guinea, MSF cited as its reason the manipulation of humanitarian aid by the government. MSF said it found it impossible to carry out its humanitarian work in the country. The obstacles imposed by the government denied it access to "people who are suffering the direct consequences of the corruption of a regime which does not seem to care about the consequences of its greed".
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