E Guinea new govt named

2006-08-17 11:56

Malabo - Equatorial Guinea President Teodoro Obiang Nguema has named a new government led by new Prime Minister Ricardo Mangue Obama Nfubea, said reports.

It was reported that Nfubea, appointed on Monday, named Aniceto Ebiaca Muete, infrastructure minister in the government that resigned last week, the first vice prime minister for human rights.

Demetrio Elo Ndong Nsefumu, former work and social welfare minister, was appointed the second vice prime minister for domestic affairs.

A close associate of Obiang, who had been in power since 1979, Elo Ndong Nsefumu returned to a post he occupied in the 1990s.

New govt made up of 28 ministers

Micha Ondo Bile remained at the head of the foreign ministry, as did Clemente Engonga Nguema Onguene at the interior ministry and general Antonio Mba Nguema at the defence ministry.

The new government was made up of 28 ministers, compared to 51 in the previous government, and was dominated by members of Obiang's Equitorial Guinea Democratic Party.

Nfubea, 45, was the first member of the country's ethnic Fang to become prime minister since the country's independence in 1968. The Fang made up 80% of its population.

Before the formation of the government, the new prime minister pledged to "constantly battle corruption" and dedicate "all resources from oil to develop infrastructure".

The government of Miguel Abia Biteo Borico resigned en masse following persistent criticism by Obiang over the past few months for corruption and incompetence.

According to an annual report by the United Nations Development Programme, petrodollars represented 90% of state budget resources and had created two-digit economic growth since the 1990s, but the population had seen little of the benefits from the oil revenue.

- AFP