Nchi corrupt kweli kweli. Licha kuwa ya tatu Africa kwa kuzalisha mafuta na kuwa na idadi ndogo ya rai isiyozidi laki sita wananchi wa Guinea maskini wa kutupa. Per capita income zaidi ya $ 50000 ila pesa zote zinaishia mikononi mwa wajanja wachache. Equatorial Guinea is one of the world's
wealthier nations, with a per capita gross
domestic product (GDP) greater than that
of Italy, South Korea, or Saudi Arabia. Yet
the countrys citizens live in desperate
poverty, with over 60 percent struggling to
survive on less than $1 a day. Despite
abundant natural resourcesespecially oil
and gasand the billions of dollars these
resources bring in, the country is marked
by chronic hunger, a crumbling education
system, frequent blackouts, poor
sanitation, and disease. This chasm
between the country's wealth and the
poverty of its people raises a basic
question: if money from the sale of
Equatorial Guineas natural resources is
not benefiting its citizens, where is it
going?
The Open Society Justice Initiative is
seeking to answer this question by
investigating corruption at the highest
levels of Equatoguinean government and
society. The Justice Initiative is working
with two other human rights groups,
Asociación Pro Derechos Humanos de
España in Spain, and EG Justice in the U.S.,
to pursue remedies for the resource-
related corruption wracking Equatorial
Guinea.
These efforts have launched a criminal
investigation in Spain into alleged money-
laundering perpetrated by eleven family
relatives and other close associates of
Equatorial Guineas President Teodoro
Obiang Nguema. The project has also filed
a complaint with the African Commission
on Human and Peoples' Rights accusing
Obiang and his family members and
cronies of massive spoliation"the theft
of natural resources and attendant wealth
from the people to whom they should
belong.
This paper briefly examines government
corruption in Equatorial Guinea, how it
works, and the price paid by the countrys
citizens. It is intended to provide
background information for lawyers,
human rights advocates, and journalists
interested in corruption and its
consequences in Equatorial Guinea.
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