EQUATORIAL Guinea’s long-serving President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo was sworn in yesterday for a sixth term. 

“The statistics show that the people have always supported my candidacy,” said Obiang, 80, the world’s longest-serving president currently in the 43rd year of his tenure, Anadolu Agency reported. 

“As long as I am president and with our resources, the people’s desires and needs for well-being will be fully realised,” Obiang vowed at an event in the capital Malabo, marking the beginning of his next seven-year term. 

The ceremony began after a military parade attended by top officials and a host of African foreign leaders.

Obiang promised the full implementation of outstanding projects, as well as to eradicate corruption and maintain the Central African country’s unity. 

He vouched for its peace and stability, as well as the sustainable development that he said the nation was experiencing. 

Obiang has been in power since 1979, when he toppled his predecessor Francisco Macias Nguema in a coup. 

Official results of the November 20 presidential elections showed that Obiang won with an overwhelming victory of nearly 95% in the country with a population of about two million.

According to the National Electoral Council, his Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea won all 588 seats in municipal councils, as well as all 55 seats in the Senate, and all 100 seats in the Chamber of Deputies. – Bernama, December 9, 2022.