Achi news desk-
Two South African engineers working in the offshore oil fields of Equatorial Guinea were preparing to return home in February 2023 when they were arrested for cocaine trafficking and thrown in prison, where they remain. The two men, their families and their employer have declared their innocence. They were detained days after a South African court ordered the seizure of one of Equatorial Guinea’s Vice President Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue’s yachts.
The two incidents are related, said people familiar with the matter who declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the situation. They described the arrests — the first involving foreigners in the country’s critical oil sector — as the latest example of the vice president’s impulsive behavior, which threatens the long-term stability of the Central African state that has been ruled by his father for the past. 45 years.
Teodorin, as he is known, is next in line to succeed his 81-year-old father, President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo. Once dependent on cocoa and coffee as the main sources of revenue, the discovery of offshore oil in the 1990s made Equatorial Guinea – and in particular, the Obiangs – extremely wealthy. With cash, they built what the pro-democracy non-profit Freedom House describes as “a very repressive authoritarian regime.”
Yet since the height of the oil boom of the early 2000s, when international oil workers lived in luxury homes and had food imported from Europe, the overall crude output of the smallest OPEC member has fallen to about a fifth of what it was at its peak. The country’s economic growth is predicted to decline by 5.5% this year, making it the worst performing economy in the world, according to available IMF data. And after almost three decades in Equatorial Guinea, Exxon Mobil Corp. plans to pull out entirely, a decision the company says is part of a long-term strategy. With a void to fill after the departure of its biggest investor, the increasing severity and frequency of Teodorin Obiang’s outbursts puts the future of the small country in more doubt than ever.
The Equatorial Guinea Oil Ministry, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the country’s embassy in South Africa and the Office of the Vice President did not respond to requests for comment.
While the current leader has maintained “a veneer of stability” despite being a “desp,” human rights lawyer Tutu Alicante wrote in response to questions from Bloomberg, the son is known for his “erratic behavior and decisions arbitrary.”
Read More: Exxon Mobil to Exit Equatorial Guinea After Nearly Three Decades
“Teodorin has amassed a lot of power, and control[s] the national security apparatus,” Alicante added, predicting that Teodorin’s presidency would further destabilize the country.
In a 2023 briefing on the investment climate in Equatorial Guinea, the US Department of State highlighted cases of “government officials abusing their power or access to power to imprison or mistreat individuals with whom they have a business dispute.” The country was ranked 172 out of 180 in a public corruption study conducted the same year by Transparency International.
In the past decade, Teodorin has been the subject of lawsuits on at least three continents. He agreed to turn over more than $30 million in assets, including a hilltop mansion in Malibu, California, to the US Department of Justice, which he described as having been obtained through corruption and money laundering. He was convicted in absentia of theft in France, and tried to claim diplomatic immunity when a Paris court ordered the seizure of more than €100 million of his assets, including a mansion near the Champs-Elysees.
Over the years, the 55-year-old, who is known for flaunting his collections of luxury cars, unhealthy properties and Michael Jackson memorabilia, has become more willing to openly challenge his perceived opponents. Hours after France’s theft decision against him was upheld, police in Equatorial Guinea temporarily detained a French military helicopter that landed in the country because it was running low on fuel.
In June, Teodorin celebrated online after a court in Equatorial Guinea ordered the seizure of more than $125 million in assets belonging to Brazilian construction companies.
That was “revenge,” he wrote in a post translated on X, for a 2018 episode in which Brazilian customs authorities seized about $1.5 million in cash and $15 million worth of watches from a delegation he was traveling with. The group had failed to declare the goods and cash in advance.
Read More: World’s Longest Serving Managers Bid for Half a Century in Power
The detention of the South African engineers is the latest example of retaliatory actions taking place on Equatoguinean soil shortly after Teodorin was disciplined abroad. The men had been working on Exxon and Chevron production vessels off the country’s coast when Obiang lost a court case in South Africa and two of his properties in Cape Town were seized, along with the 67-metre yacht, the Blue Shadow , which he still belongs to the Ministry of Defense of his country. That case that triggered all of this was brought by a South African businessman who was imprisoned in Equatorial Guinea for well over a year after he fell out with a politically connected local businessman.
Days after the verdict, Peter Huxham, 55, and Frederik Potgieter, 54, were arrested.
Although Huxham and Potgieter worked for the same Dutch oil services company, the men had never met before SBM Offshore booked them into the same hotel before their flights back to South Africa.
Huxham had a sinking feeling when he was summoned to the reception. He was being accused of something, but he couldn’t say what. “Something terrible has happened,” he told his fiancee in a phone call shortly before he was arrested.
In very short order the men were found guilty of drug trafficking, sentenced to 12 years in prison and fined $5 million each. They were initially held at Black Beach, the Spanish colonial-era prison where the president’s uncle, who had led a brutal dictatorship, was detained before being executed by firing squad.
Read More: Oil Output by Smallest OPEC Member Seen to Shrink Even More
The engineers have since been transferred to a prison on the mainland for political prisoners. Huxham’s fiancé has spoken to him three times since he was arrested a year ago, and Potgieter’s wife has only spoken to her husband twice. South Africa’s Department of International Relations said when asked to comment that it had been engaging with the government of Equatorial Guinea and held meetings on the matter in March.
Chevron unit Noble Energy EG Ltd said. in a statement that it is “aware of the retention of two SBM Offshore employees in Equatorial Guinea,” adding that it “remains committed to the rule of law and ethical business standards in its operations.”
Exxon has “supported SBM in their efforts to care for Peter and Frik, who are both SBM employees,” the company said in a statement. “These are sensitive matters, and we do not comment on details relating to employees of other companies.”
The Texas oil giant is currently handing over its Equatorial Guinea assets to the government as it exits the country after nearly three decades.
“Doing business in Equatorial Guinea has never been easy because of reputational risks caused by a kleptocratic and authoritarian regime,” said Maja Bovcon, an independent Africa analyst. “Recent retaliatory measures against businesses hailing from nations that have either legally or materially challenged Teodorin suggest an increasingly challenging business environment under his expected leadership.”
Officials in Equatorial Guinea did not respond to emailed questions about the men, but its oil ministry said last month it will take over production from the Exxon field and invite American companies to increase their presence.
“The government has always expressed its willingness to privilege their positive action in the country’s economy,” the ministry said, adding that China is a continuous partner in building the country’s infrastructure.
For a country already grappling with “persistent widespread poverty, rising costs of living, and repeated high-level corruption scandals,” as Robert Besseling, chief executive of Pangea-Risk, an advisory firm focused on analyzing African economies, cases like this risk further alienating Equatorial Guinea from the international community.
“Until the government of Equatorial Guinea is satisfied, our men are not going to go out,” said Shaun Murphy, a spokesman for the Potgieter family. “We have absolutely no control over it.”
With the help of Katarina Hoije and Kevin Crowley.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to the text.
