As a consequence of the meeting held last 25th with the Vice-President of the Republic, Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, where alarms were raised about the dysfunction and irregularities committed in the awarding of contracts and the recruitment and hiring of the personnel of the Malabo and Bocas del Bocas Ports, the Prime Minister of the Government, in charge of Administrative Coordination, Francisco Pascual Obama Asue, has met with those responsible for the administration of both ports with the aim of shedding light and transparency on this new scandal.
On the basis of the information revealed in the previous meeting, in which evidence was shown of the irregularities detected both in the awarding of maintenance contracts signed by the heads of these port administrations, and in the recruitment of personnel, there has been an increase in their number of 55%, all of them with a common denominator: they are persons close to or recommended by members of the current management who, apparently, have been hired without carrying out any selection process, to which must be added, the arbitrary establishment followed in the allocation of salaries.
The Prime Minister, in his capacity as Chairman of the Steering Committee for the Restructuring of Autonomous Bodies and Public Business Entities, has described the situation as unacceptable, as it not only undermines the efforts led by the Vice President of the Republic to “clean up” and recover the functionality of our ports, but also undermines the procedures established during the restructuring process.
Therefore, with the aim of correcting these actions and ensuring the continuity of port operations, the Administrative Co-ordination Officer, seconded by the Minister of the sector, Rufino Ovono Ondo, agreed on the establishment of the new procedure to be followed, This involves the creation of a commission to which the contracts awarded since the current management took office must be referred, and which will be responsible for directing the amendments of the imbalances caused, starting with the verification of the services provided by the companies awarded the maintenance and other contracts; These contracts will, in principle, not be executed until the committee so determines.
As far as staffing is concerned, the mandate focuses on devising an “ideal” staffing table, reflecting the functional organization chart, the estimated number of employees, the sections to be covered and the profiles required for their materialization, and consequently, any unnecessary staff will be dispensed with.