In a statement read on public radio, Security Minister Nicolas Obama Nchama said: “Mercenaries… were recruited by Equatorial Guinean militants from certain radical opposition parties with the support of certain powers.”

The plot had been prevented thanks to an operation carried out “in collaboration with the Cameroon security services”, he said.

The announcement came after Cameroon on December 27 arrested 38 heavily-armed men on the border with the tiny state.

Two days later, Equitorial Guinea’s ambassador to France, Miguel Oyono Ndong Mifumu, referred to the incident as an “invasion and destabilisation attempt”.

The suspects, taken into custody in a bus on the border, had rocket launchers, rifles and a stockpile of ammunition, according to his office.

On Saturday, the 75-year-old Obiang said “a war” was being prepared against his regime, “because they say I have spent a lot of time in power”.

Obiang has been president for more than 38 years.

He took power in a coup on August 3, 1979, ousting his own uncle, Francisco Macias Nguema, who was shot by firing squad. He was re-elected to a fifth seven-year term in 2016.

Equatorial Guinea is one of sub-Sahara’s biggest oil producers but a large proportion of its 1.2 million population still lives in poverty.

In 2004, mercenaries attempted to overthrow Obiang in a coup thought to be largely funded by British financiers.

Mark Thatcher, son of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, was reportedly involved in the funding and was convicted and fined in South Africa.

In October last year, a French court handed down a three-year suspended jail term to Obiang’s son, Teodorin, who is also vice president, after convicting him of siphoning off public money to fund a jet-set lifestyle in Paris.

He was accused of spending more than 1,000 times his official annual salary on a six-storey mansion in a posh part of the French capital, a fleet of fast cars and artworks, among other assets.

His lawyers said they would appeal the ruling.

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Source: Daily Mail

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The players all took part in qualifying for the 2016 Olympic women’s tournament in Brazil.

The latest sanctions come on top of their ban from competing at the 2020 Olympics, which was issued last year.

Fifa has also imposed a fine of $102,000 (£77,700) on the country’s football association.

An investigation by the world governing body found the 10 players were “not eligible to play for the representative team of Equatorial Guinea”.

Two more players – Muriel Linda Mendoua Abessolo and Francisca Angue Ondo Asangono – were given 10-match bans after being found to have used forged and falsified documents.

As well as missing the 2019 Women’s World Cup and the following year’s Olympics, Equatorial Guinea are also banned from the next two Women’s Africa Cup of Nations in 2018 and 2020.

The initial ban from the Olympics, announced in April 2016, came after Fifa found that Camila Maria do Carmo Nobre de Oliveira used forged documents in the preliminary competition of the 2016 games.

She was discovered with two passports with different birth dates and two birth certificates showing different parental information.

In 2016, De Oliveira also played in Women’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifying against Mali, who later made an official complaint which led to the Confederation of African Football’s Nations Cup ban.

The two-time continental champions were subsequently disqualified from the 2016 Nations Cup finals in Cameroon (replaced by Mali) as well as the next two tournaments.

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Source: BBC

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Namely, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia and Morocco.

At its meeting on September 23, 2017, CAF Executive Committee decided to complete the process of selecting a new host country for the tournament scheduled for January 2018, within 15 days. After Kenya, the initial host, failed to meet the requirements.

Total CHAN is a competition that brings together 16 national teams made up of players selected in their national championships. The 5th edition is to be held in 2018.

Source: CAF Online

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This was made known by President Akufo-Addo while on a three-day visit to Equatorial Guinea.

Speaking at a State Dinner held in his honour by President of Equatorial Guinea, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, Akufo-Addo said “my presence here is a consummation of this bilateral agreement, and represents a significant step towards matching Equatorial Guinea’s excess gas supply to Ghana’s ever growing demand.”

“It is my expectation that during this visit, we shall sign a government-to-government Heads of Agreement for the supply to Ghana of LNG from Equatorial Guinea, for a period of fifteen years, reviewable every five years. If cocoa was the first seed to nourish the relationship between our two countries, gas is going to be the second,” he added.

The MoU will see Equatorial Guinea supply the equivalent of 150 million standard cubic feet of natural gas per day to Ghana.

The MoU also provides for the building and operation of an LNG regasification terminal in Takoradi in the Western Region.

Ghana in time past had erratic power cuts which affected industries and businesses in the country.

The governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) however promised to put in place measures to ensure that Ghana becomes energy efficient.

President Akufo-Addo also at the dinner explained that his visit was also to strengthen the bilateral ties that exist between the two countries, as well as explore areas of co-operation to the mutual benefit of their respective peoples.

Akufo-Addo said the two countries have maintained strong relations for several decades, adding that he is following in the footsteps of three of his predecessors in the 4^th Republic, who also paid official visits to Equatorial Guinea.

“They have laid a solid foundation for the relations between our two countries, on which, with God’s help, I am hoping to help build a bright future of co-operation,” he said.

With the last meeting of the Permanent Joint Commission of Co-operation between the two countries held in Accra in 2010, President Akufo-Addo was also hopeful that his visit to Malabo will kick-start the re-commencement of formal sessions of the Commission, the last one of which was held in Accra.

The President was also keen to reviving the Air Services Agreement, and re-establish direct flights between Accra and Malabo.

His government, he added, has also committed itself to expanding the Tema Port into a trans-shipment hub, to improve sea trade within Africa.

Continental Integration

With Ghana and Equatorial Guinea being are two important members of the African Union (AU), President Akufo-Addo stressed that he is willing to do whatever he can to strengthen the AU.

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By: citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The purpose of this visit is to deepen the cordial bilateral relations between the two countries and explore possible areas of cooperation, according to the Flagstaff House.

Of focus will be the June 2017 Memorandum of Understanding signed between the respective Ministers for Energy of the two countries, in relation to the supply of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) from Equatorial Guinea to Ghana.

President Akufo-Addo is expected to sign a government-to-government Heads of State Agreement with his Equatorial Guinean counterpart for the supply of LNG from Equatorial Guinea to Ghana, for a period of five years.

“The execution of this agreement is intended to augment domestic supply over the period, and improve further the power situation in the country, both for local consumers and industry,” a statement from the Flagstaff House said.

President Akufo-Addo will be accompanied on this trip by the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Shirley Ayorkor Botchway; the Minister for Energy, Mr. Boakye Agyarko and officials of the Presidency and Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Energy.

President Akufo-Addo will return to Ghana on Wednesday, August 23, and in his absence, the Vice President, Alhaji Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, will serve as Head of State.

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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