The senior Equatorial Guinean official Baltasar Ebang Engonga, author of sex tapes which generated international buzz on social networks, was dismissed from his post by presidential decree and accused in a testimony broadcast by state television of having kept his videos without consent.
From Nigerian superstar Davido to French rapper Kaaris, the viral distribution of intimate images shot by this notable relative of the head of state has sparked cascades of comments, memes and parodies on social networks or the name « Baltasar » and the hashtag #BaltasarEbangEgonga are at the top of the most discussed subjects, alongside the American presidential election.
On Wednesday, Equatorial Guinean President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo ordered by decree “the dismissal of Baltasar Ebang Engonga as director of the National Financial Investigation Agency ANIF”.
State television TVGE, for its part, broadcast on Tuesday the indignant protests of a woman with a blurred face presenting herself as one of his partners.
“I would like to know where these videos circulating on social networks come from, I would like to know why he kept (them) without my consent”she said, thinking “humiliated” in his ” reputation “ and his ” honor “.
This woman explained that she “gave consent” to have his antics filmed, but believed the footage was “immediately deleted” after viewing.
The sex tapes filmed on unknown dates in different locations – including his office at the Ministry of Finance – and with different partners, including wives of local dignitaries, were leaked on social media while he was in preventive detention at Black Prison Beach de Malabo in a case of embezzlement of public funds.
Their viral spread pushed the Equatoguinean authorities to limit internet flow in the country to stop downloads.
But the Baltasar effect spread like wildfire outside the country, with songs, dances, photomontages awarding him the trophy of « ballon d’Or 2024 » or proposing a drug for sexual potency called « Balthazariem ».
The subject was even raised on Tuesday in the Kenyan parliament: the President of the Assembly compared a committee head with “this very kind man with whom women enjoyed having a good time”attracting the wrath of a deputy for his “misbehavior”.
Nicknamed « Bello » because of his advantageous physique, the senior civil servant, a fifty-year-old married father of a family, is the son of Baltasar Engonga Edjo, the current president of the commission of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC).
Last week, the Attorney General of the Republic Anatolio Nzang Nguema assured that if medical examinations revealed that he was “infected with a sexually transmitted disease”, he would be prosecuted for offenses against “public health”.
© With AFP
