Sex scandal: Equatorial Guinea restricts WhatsApp, suspends officials

The Government of Equatorial Guinea has wielded the big stick by restricting its citizens from downloading and sharing multimedia files on WhatsApp using mobile data.

The abrupt decision was made after married director of the National Financial Investigation Agency (ANIF), Mr Baltasar Ebang Engonga, was seen in a video with various partners, including the wives of prominent officials at his office in the finance ministry having sex.

This move comes after the government issued directives to telecommunications companies, directing them to implement measures that would limit access to inappropriate content.

Baltasar Engonga, who is currently under investigation for fraud and alleged misconduct was reportedly found with over 400 explicit videos featuring sexual encounters.

The videos surfaced during a search of Engonga’s office, revealing recordings with his brother’s wife, a cousin, the President’s sister, the wife of the Director General of Police, and wives of about 20 government ministers.

Despite Engonga’s claim that the recordings were made with consent, the leaked content has caused a serious public outcry.

In response, the government imposed restrictions on WhatsApp multimedia sharing, making it impossible for users to download or share photos, videos, and audio files on mobile data.

As a result, many citizens have turned to WiFi networks to bypass these limitations.

On Monday, the country’s vice president Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue announced on X that the government would order the “immediate suspension of all civil servants who have had sexual relations in the offices of the ministries, as this constitutes a flagrant violation of the code of conduct and the law on public ethics”.

He also announced plans to install surveillance cameras in all state body offices.

This sweeping measure is part of an ongoing effort to ensure strict adherence to public service laws and combat misconduct among officials.

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