Equatorial Guinea appoints Manuela Roka Botey as first female PM

Manuela Roka Botey as first female PM

Equatorial Guinea has appointed Manuela Roka Botey as prime minister. She became the first woman in the country to hold the position. President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, who has ruled the country since 1979, made the announcement in a decree read on state television. Ms Rotey was previously the education minister and joined the government in 2020. She replaces former premier Francisco Pascual Obama Asue, who has been in the position since 2016.

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Obiang, 80, was re-elected for a sixth term in office in November with 95% of the vote, cementing his place as the world’s longest-standing ruler. The United States said at the time it had “serious doubts about the credibility of the announced results” in the election and called on authorities to work with all stakeholders to address allegations of voter fraud. The country of around 1.5 million people has had only two presidents since independence from Spain in 1968. Obiang ousted his uncle, Francisco Macias Nguema, in a coup in August 1979.

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