Dictator of the Month: December, 2001Dictator of the Month: December, 2001
| Francisco
Macias Nguema
Take me to the picture gallery Fact Sheet Name: Francisco Macias Nguema
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Biography
Francisco
Macias Nguema was born in 1924 in Nsegayong, Rìo Muni with the name Macías
Nguema Biyogo Masie. Little information can be found about his early life.
Background
of Equatorial Guinea’ structure and politics In
1959 the territories in the Gulf of Guinea region were given similar
status to the provinces of mainland Spain, as the country was a Spanish
colony at the time; at this time the province was administered by a
Governor General, who was responsible for military and civil affairs and
the territory had representation in the Spanish Parliament. In 1963 the
province’s name was officially changed to Equatorial Guinea, when more
autonomy was granted from Spain, bearing in mind that Spain did ultimately
control the territory. Rise
to Power Nguema
was a civil employee for the Spanish government in the Gulf of Guinea
through the 1950’s and early 1960’s, having occupied several positions
that increased in importance and influence through time, including Mayor
of the city of Mongomo and member of the provincial parliament. His real
rise to prominence in the country came in 1964, when was elected Vice
President of the local government of Equatorial Guinea. In
the next few years increasing pressure from within Equatorial Guinea and
the United nations resulted in the Spanish government finally announcing
in March 1968 that sovereignty would be granted to the then-province. A
national constitution was drafted and ratified by a 63% majority of the
population by referendum on 11 August 1968. Nguema,
representing the left-wing in the country ran for president against
Bonifacio Ondo Edu, who had been the president of Equatorial Guinea under
Spain’s control between 1964-1968; Nguema defeated Edu and became the
first post-colonial president in the country in October 1968. Nguema’s
rule At
the beginning of his rule, it appeared that Nguema would allow for a free
society and democracy, but shortly thereafter relations with Spain began
to deteriorate as Nguema’s policies became increasingly autocratic. His
predecessor Edu was jailed for “political crimes” and committed
suicide in prison in 1969, although it is widely believed that Edu was in
fact murdered. Moreover, other pre-independence government officials also
mysteriously wound up killing themselves in prison while being detained
for similar crimes. Spanish
relations continued to worsen as it became evident that the Nguema regime
had no foreign currency reserves; in the meantime Nguema began a series of
accusations against Spanish businessmen and a campaign of intimidation
against the 70.000 Spanish nationals who were living in the country at the
time. This escalated into the eventual expulsion of the Spanish
ambassador, which resulted in the mobilization of the Spanish army in the
area. At this point, Nguema declared a state of emergency in the country. By
July 1970, Nguema had created a single party state in the country and by
May of 1971 parts of the national constitution had been eliminated. By
1972 Nguema had declared himself “President for Life”. Nguema’s
regime was extremely brutal, completely eliminating government social
services with exception to internal security, carrying out a pogrom of
abject terror against the population. As a result, the basic services and
infrastructure of the country such as roads and transportation, but also
water supply, basic health care and electricity transmission fell into
total ruin. Meanwhile, widespread corruption and embezzlement of the
state’s coffers further weakened the country. By
1975 public schools had been closed in the country, marking yet another
huge state program to fall to Nguema’s regime. Nguema’s
paranoia continued grew, which led to extensive purges that allowed him to
install many friends and family members into government positions, but
also led to the death or expulsion of one third of the population of the
country. With the economy on the already in absolute collapse, Nguema had
no choice but to bring in Nigerian workers, but this was short lived, as
the intolerable conditions in the country and low wages led to riots and
strikes, which were brutally quelled by the regime. This led to extremely
poor relations with the Nigerian government, which demanded to annex
Equatorial Guinea to control the situation. By 1976 the Nigerian workers,
approximately 60.000 in number, also fled the country; in fact, his own
wife fled the country due to the deplorable conditions. By
this time all skilled workers and foreigners had left the country, which
left the country absolutely in shambles. Private boats were destroyed by
the government and fishing was banned; even the word “intellectual”
was banned in the country. Nguema then africanised his name to Masie
Nguema Biyogo Ñegue Ndong and demanded that others do the same. He
created a cult of personality in the country, making the citizens of his
country believe that he had magical powers- one of his self- appointed
titles was the “Unique Miracle” By
1977 Spain broke off all diplomatic relations with the county and the
religious oppression reached the pinnacle with the closing of all
churches. On
03 August 1979, Nguema’s nephew, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, led a
military coup d’état against him, which resulted in his ouster. Nguema
fled to the woods to save himself, but was eventually caught and executed
a few weeks later. It should be noted that Morrocan troops had to be hired
to carry out his execution because superstition created by the cult of
personality around Nguema made it so that Equatoguineans refused to
participate in his execution on 29 September, 1979. Conclusion Nguema was perhaps one of the worst African dictators of all time, having absolutely destroyed his country in every way possible. At the time of his death, only about a third of the country’s population remained in the country and conditions were absolutely pathetic. Nguema has rightfully been compared to Pol Pot for his anti-intellectual pogroms, which also led to the absolute ruin of the Cambodian society and economy. Original Article written by www.dictatorofthemonth.com Sources: http://www.nationbynation.com/EquitorialGuinea/history2.html
http://reference.allrefer.com/encyclopedia/N/Nguema-F.html
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