Poverty amidst wealth: craving for justice in Equatorial Guinea
Although one of Africa’s richest nations, Equatorial Guinea wallows in poverty and underdevelopment, outside the glare of the world’s spotlight on dictatorial and corrupt governments.
‘’Per capita wise the richest country in Africa, yet 75% of the people are destitute and living in poverty. That to me is such an injustice I can’t comprehend in my head,’’said Activist Tutu Alcante, a leading human rights activist and the Executive director of Equatorial Guinea, EG Justice group,
With oil accounting for 97% of its export, the country’s total export in 2010 total US$102 billion, with timber and other things accounting for the balance 3%.
This country, with a population of 668, 225, it ranks 117 out of 168 countries in the 2011 UNDP Human Development Report 2011
Equatorial Guinea, which recently hosted the African Cup of Nations, might as well be having some dirty linens that the world has yet to focus on and call for transparent and accountable governance, with participation of the people in the running of their national affairs.
Human rights Activist Tutu Alcante, executive director of Equatorial Guinea, EG Justice group, was one the panelists who spoke on Politics and Corruption at the OpenForum 2012 in Cape Town, South Africa.
The forum was organized by four Open Society foundations in Cape Town, South Africa on the future of Africa.
In an interview with WADR’s Peter Kahler, Alcante said there is virtually a dictorship in Equatorial Guinea, as the country has been under the rule of one man, Teodoro Obiang Nguema for the past 33 years.
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