18.11.2014
Once more, Equatorial Guinea is again the target of the criticism, from the interested sectors, that take any opportunity to try to stain the image of the President of the Republic and of all the Equatoguineans. On this occasion, it has been the organization of the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations that served as the trigger for making accusation that affirm that Equatorial Guinea is a dictatorship, that it only hosts the championship for reasons of publicity, or to attack the Government of the country, brandishing the threat of Ebola. 
To those that continue accusing Equatorial Guinea of being a dictatorship, we invite them to take as a reference the Fifth Political Dialogue, which was just held in Malabo. During it, the political actors of the country and of the diaspora have worked jointly to continue advancing on the democratic path. Everyone was able to raise discrepancies, in order to reach different agreements that will strengthen the democracy that is experienced in the countries, whether some like it or not.
Another of the absurd accusations is that the President of the Republic has accepted this organization only to give himself publicity; an accusation that does not take into account that this has not been an initiative of H.E. Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, but rather it was the President of the African Football Confederation (CAF), Issa Hayatou, who, having travelled to Malabo, requested from the Head of State his help in view of the problem created by the refusal of Morocco.
The President of the Republic, demonstrating once against his pan-Africanist spirit accepted this request for help from an African organization, which in a communiqué issued to all the media thanked this gesture of our President: “The Executive Committee of the CAF and Issa Hayatou take this solemn opportunity to express their most sincere thanks and their profound recognition to the people of Equatorial Guinea, to their Government and, particularly, to His Excellency, the Head of State and President of the Republic of Guinea Equatorial, Teodoro Obiang.”
Furthermore, the Head of State does not need any publicity, since the facts are what endorse him, not only as the principal person responsible for the growth and development that the country is experiencing, but also one of the principal political leaders on the international and, of course, African level.
If the President of the CAF has asked the help of Equatorial Guinea, it also has to do with the successful holding of the 2012 CAN, held in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon from January 21 to February 12, 2012, which was a complete success, both on the sports level as on the organizational level.
It is possible that some international media are interested in this championship being held in Qatar, a country that had been suggested as organizer, but H.E. Obiang Nguema Mbasogo has made it clear that Africans have the capacity and sufficient desire to move ahead with the events of our continent, without having to bow to outside interests.
Finally, the terrible epidemic of Ebola has been another of the motives used to attack the holding of this championship in Equatorial Guinean territory. The Government of Equatorial Guinea is aware of the seriousness of this disease, and, already in the month of August the President of the Republic, through the Decree 113/2014, constituted the National Technical Committee for the Surveillance and Control of Ebola, which is presided over by Tomas Mecheba Fernandez Galilea and whose vice chairman is Diosdado Vicente Nsue Milang.
Among the attributions and competences of this committee is that of organizing all the measures necessary for the control and epidemiological vigilance in the entries to the countries; informing the people on the means of protection; training the border personnel and air services on the necessary prophylaxis; placement of isolation centers for suspicious cases or to distribute the use of the protection equipment.
In addition, as the Ministry of Information, Press and Radio already informed, by means of a communiqué on September 19 of this year, the Government has made a heavy economic expenditure in the acquisition of health material, with ambulatory hospitals, ambulances, thermographic chambers for the airports of Malabo and Bata, protection suits, disinfection material and laser thermometers, among other articles; all for the purpose of confronting a possible presence of cases of Ebola in our country. Two quarantine zones and especially equipped isolation chambers have been prepared both in Malabo and in Bata.
The Government of Equatorial Guinea has demonstrated that it is aware of the severity of this disease and for months has been taking the necessary measures to prevent its appearance in the country and, should it happen, to confront it.
What is more, the World Health Organization (WHO) indicated on October 23 that it does not consider it necessary to cancel international events for fear of the propagation of Ebola, and also noted that it will not exclude in a general way participants or delegations coming from countries with Ebola, and it will not impose a travel prohibition for citizens of the States affected by the virus.
Equatorial Guinea is helping in the fight against Ebola with different donations such as the two million U.S. dollars offered to the WHO, as a grant to the programs fighting the virus, which was communicated at the UNESCO-Equatorial Guinea Awards and it will take the measures necessary, in collaboration with the international organizations, to safeguard the health of all the participants in the CAN 2015 and, of course, of the people of Equatorial Guinea.
Text: Filiberto Nseme Nsue (D. G. Base Internet)
Equatorial Guinea’s Press and Information Office
Cross-posted from guineaecuatorialpress.com.
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