Sacked minister given new position

Equatorial Guinea’s former security minister, General Manuel Nguema Mba, has been named presidential advisor on security. Nguema Mba is a maternal uncle of President Teodoro Obiang Nguema, who has ruled Equatorial Guinea with an iron fist since 1979.

(Photo: AFP)

Nguema Mba was sacked along with other leading security officials and four generals after an armed assault on the presidential palace was fought off in February 2009.

The attack was initially attributed to the Nigerian group Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, but they never claimed direct responsibility.

Eighteen people were arrested in connection with the attack, including 11 members of the opposition party in Equatorial Guinea and seven Nigerians. None have been brought to trial yet.