Equatorial Guinea Govt officials who appeared in leaked videos with BALTASAR EBANG ENGONGA suspended

Wednesday, November 6, 2024 - Equatorial Guinea's government has commenced a probe into hundreds of leaked sex tapes allegedly involving the country's financial crime chief, Baltasar Ebang Engonga, having sex with various women, including wives of prominent officials in his office.

The government also announced that it was suspending officials involved in the scandal, according to a statement issued by the Equatorial Guinea Press and Information Office, published on the government’s website.

Vice-President Teodoro Mangue on Tuesday said any official found engaging in sex acts at work would be sanctioned as this was a “flagrant violation of the code of conduct.”

The government said the recent decisions had been taken in the wake of the widely circulated videos which had “denigrated the image of the country.”

“Among the decisions taken are the suspension of employment of the officials who appear in the homemade adult videos circulating on the networks, severe measures for the members assigned to the surveillance of the inmates for not fulfilling their duties and allowing such acts, as well as the reinforcement of security in all judicial offices in the country; in addition to the installation of surveillance cameras in the judicial and ministerial offices,” the statement said.

“The Executive has made this decision in the wake of the sexual videos that have gone viral on social media in recent days, which have denigrated the image of the country.

“And in order to correct this bad behaviour of some officials of the public and judicial administration of Equatorial Guinea, the Vice President of the Republic, concerned about this situation, has urgently summoned the President of the Supreme Court of Justice, the Attorney General of the Republic, and several members of the government headed by the Prime Minister, to adopt strategies to stop this type of behaviour and thus propose preventive measures,” it added.

The Equatorial Guinea’s financial crime chief and head of the National Agency for Financial Investigation (ANIF), has since been arrested over the leaked sex tapes.

The tapes, allegedly numbering over 300, depict Ebang in encounters with multiple women, some of whom are reported to be married, including the wife of the Presidential security head and his own brother’s spouse.

The videos, reportedly recorded in various locations including his office, hotels, and public spaces were found during a corruption probe.

Ebang, who is married and has six children, had initially been detained for allegations of corruption, but the investigation uncovered these recordings on his personal devices, which were subsequently leaked online.