By OCCRP
For the first time in the contest’s 13-year history, the judges have awarded a special “Lifetime Non-Achievement Award.”
The prize goes to Equatorial Guinea President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, one of the longest-serving dictators in the world. After leading a coup in 1979 to seize power from his uncle, Obiang has mercilessly repressed any dissent with unlawful arrests, forced disappearances, and torture.
While Equatorial Guinea is a small country blessed with significant oil and gas deposits that have generated considerable revenue, Obiang has stolen much of the country’s wealth together with a ruling elite. Instead of developing the country into a model for Africa, he has squandered its natural resources, living an obscenely lavish lifestyle while the rest of the population suffers in poverty. The longer he stays in power, the more his influence grows across Africa.
Ghanaian investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas was a judge in the contest this year. “Through fear, repression, and corruption, Teodoro Obiang has created a dynasty of wealth and impunity,” Anas said. “His dictatorial tendencies are being rapidly replicated by leaders across the African continent, with coup leaders today looking up to him as a godfather, harbouring similar ambitions to become godfathers of corruption like him.”
Both Assad and Obiang are examples of longtime dictatorial regimes in which corruption plays a critical role.
“Corruption is a fundamental part of capturing states and making autocratic governments powerful,” said OCCRP Publisher Drew Sullivan. “These corrupt governments violate human rights, manipulate elections, plunder natural resources, and ultimately create conflict from their inherent instability. Their only future is violent collapse or bloody revolution.”
OCCRP is one of the largest investigative journalism organizations in the world. It is headquartered in Amsterdam and has staff across six continents.
