"Who is Africa's Worst Leader? Hint: Probably not Robert Mugabe."
That's what Peter Maass entitled a blog entry for Slate in June 2008. After all the media attention accorded to Mugabe's brutality and corruption, who would expect to find a head-of-state better suited for the distinction?
Teodoro Obiang gives Mugabe a run for his money - in the forms of extortion, Malibu estates and overseas bribery, according to a November 2009 Harper's piece by Ken Silverstein which Maass cites as the most thorough journalistic examination of Obiang's corruption he's seen. Obiang is the president of Equatorial Guinea. The country, situated on the Western coast of central Africa compares to the state of Maryland in its size and the city of Denver, Colorado, in terms of its population of approximately 600,000. He seized power in a 1979 coup toppling the equally bloody rule of his uncle who assumed control when Equatorial Guinea gained its independence from Spain. Obiang then had his uncle executed by firing squad.
Destitute poverty as a by-product government oppression and severe lack of infrastructure has worsened since the discovery of oil in the 1990s made Equatorial Guinea one of Sub-Saharan Africa's largest oil producers. Oil companies employing foreign workers now monopolize the economy, solidifying class barriers and widening the disparity of wealth. The Obiang family alone constitutes the upper echelon of a two-class system.
If Obiang's name isn't ringing any bells for you, you're not alone.
Maass wraps up his exposé by noting to readers the tragic likelihood that they won't be seeing more headlines about the plight of Equato-Guineans anytime soon. But Tutu Alicante has made it his mission they will hear more about his compatriots' struggle.
Alicante, an Ohio attorney, is from Annobón, Equatorial Guinea. He is founder and executive director of EG Justice, a non-profit organization mandated to promote human rights, rule of law, transparency and civil society participation by bringing the regime's injustices to public attention. By his account, a 2006 agreement contracting USAID in an advisory capacity to the Equato-Guinean government yielded no tangible progress in infrastructural development.
On February 4, Alicante attended a Senate subcommittee investigating Obiang's reported use of US financial institutions to harbor millions in suspect funds. Below, he discusses the hearing and provides some background on his country for the Pulitzer Center.