USA wants to use assets confiscated from Obiang’s son to provide covid vaccines to Equato-Guineans

The U.S. government announced Monday that money from the liquidation of allegedly ill-gotten gains confiscated from Equatorial Guinea’s vice president, Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, will be used to buy medicine and coronavirus vaccines for the people of Equatorial Guinea.

Mr. Obiang Mangue, 53, is the son of President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, who has been in power since 1979.

According to a statement from the U.S. Department of Justice, the total amount of the operation is $26.6 million, or nearly 15 billion CFA francs.

The purchase of the vaccines will be managed by the United Nations to the tune of $19.25 million, or about 10.7 billion CFA francs. The remaining $6.35 million (about CFAF 3.5 billion) will be allocated to a charitable organization for the purchase of various medicines. The NGO Medical Care Development International (MCDI) has been designated for this purpose.

Based in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., MCDI is led by Dr. Joséa Ratsirarson, a former secretary general at the Ministry of Public Health in Madagascar. According to the NGO’s website, MCDI has already completed three health interventions in Equatorial Guinea for women and children, including the fight against malaria and cervical cancer.

At least 600,000 people are expected to benefit from these two operations in Equatorial Guinea, according to U.S. government estimates.