Equatorial Guinea’s chief justice resigns over alleged bribery allegations

The president of Equatorial Guinea, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, announced Saturday that he has accepted the resignation of the president of the country’s Supreme Court, David Nguema Obiang Eyang.

David Nguema, appointed in 2018, reportedly admitted to having received 100 million CFA francs (153,000 euros) in bribes from the Santy Commercial company, the vice president, Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, son of the current head of state, tweeted.

The decree providing for the dismissal of the now former president of the Court — decree 65/2022 of July 8 — includes the president’s acceptance of the magistrate’s resignation, the media ‘Real Equatorial Guinea’ has reported.

Likewise, the text indicates the assumption of responsibilities of the lawyer for the illegal charge to intervene in the trial against the mentioned firm to avoid the closure of its establishments for the manipulation of expiration dates of consumer products.

The Equatoguinean society hopes that this case will demonstrate the effectiveness and legality of the country’s justice system, the newspaper ‘Ahora EG’ points out, while noting that the magistrate has just “swallowed his own words” because two months ago he declared that “from now on, any judge who incurs in this type of illegalities will be required to take criminal action”.