The Popular Idea of Equatorial Guinea ( es, Idea Popular de Guinea Ecuatorial, IPGE) was a nationalist political group created at the end of the 1950s with the goal of establishing independence in
Equatorial Guinea
Equatorial Guinea ( es, Guinea Ecuatorial; french: Guinée équatoriale; pt, Guiné Equatorial), officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea ( es, link=no, República de Guinea Ecuatorial, french: link=no, République de Guinée équatoria ...
. The IPGE is considered to be the first formal Equatoguinean political party.
The IPGE was founded by a group of exiles living in
Gabon
Gabon (; ; snq, Ngabu), officially the Gabonese Republic (french: République gabonaise), is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. Located on the equator, it is bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north ...
and
Cameroon
Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...
, with their official headquarters in
Ambam
Ambam is a town and commune in South Province of Cameroon on the border with Equatorial Guinea and Gabon. This frontier town is located approximately 220 km from Yaoundé and as of 2005 had a population of 1,596. Traditionally, it has traded ...
.
Early party leaders included Clemente Ateba, José Perea Epota, Antonio Eqoro, Jaime Nseng, and Enrique Nvó,
who was credited for starting the IPGE during his time in exile in Ambam. Nvo's radical political ideas and his rise to power in sections of northern
Rio Muni concerned Spanish authorities, who allegedly paid contract killers to assassinate him in 1959.
Ideology
The main goal of the movement was to unite Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon so they could gain independence through popular nationalism and progressive ideology. The internal bases of the IPGE maintained connections with the
Fang
A fang is a long, pointed tooth. In mammals, a fang is a modified maxillary tooth, used for biting and tearing flesh. In snakes, it is a specialized tooth that is associated with a venom gland (see snake venom). Spiders also have external fang ...
population in the northeast region of
Río Muni
Río Muni (called ''Mbini'' in Fang) is the Continental Region (called ''Región Continental'' in Spanish) of Equatorial Guinea, and comprises the mainland geographical region, covering . The name is derived from the Muni River, along which ...
.
Two fundamental characteristics of the IPGE were radical and eventually
Marxist
Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...
ideology and their goal to unite Cameroon with Equatorial Guinea following gaining their independence.
History
Secrecy and beginnings
The IPGE began due to a split that occurred within the MONALIGE (
Movimiento Nacional de Liberación de Guinea Ecuatorial), and was formally established in 1959 by exiled Equatorial Guineans in Cameroon at an attempt to start an interethnic movement. The party gained support from members of the
Bubis, such as Marcos Ropo Uri and Luis Maho Sicahá, the
Fernandino Gustavo Watson Bueco, and the
Fangs
A fang is a long, pointed tooth. In mammals, a fang is a modified maxillary tooth, used for biting and tearing flesh. In snakes, it is a specialized tooth that is associated with a venom gland (see snake venom). Spiders also have external fangs ...
Enrique Nvo, Pedro Ekong Andeme, Clemente Ateba, and José Nsue Angüe, among others.
Rival nationalist groups included the
Popular Union of Equatorial Guinea
The Popular Union of Equatorial Guinea () is a political party in the Equatorial Guinea. It is led by Daniel Martinez Ayecaba. The party was originally banned by the ruling Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea, the ruling party since 1987, but wa ...
(UPLGE) which was created by Ondó Edú in
Libreville
Libreville is the capital and largest city of Gabon. Occupying in the northwestern province of Estuaire, Libreville is a port on the Komo River, near the Gulf of Guinea. As of the 2013 census, its population was 703,904.
The area has been inh ...
and supported by the government of
Léon M'ba
Gabriel Léon M'ba (9 February 1902 – 28 November 1967) was a Gabonese politician who served as both the first Prime Minister of Gabon, Prime Minister (1959–1961) and President of Gabon, President (1961–1967) of Gabon.
A member of th ...
,
in addition to the MONALIGE, whose core supporters were the colony's petite bourgeoisie. Despite international help from countries such as
Ghana
Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...
,
Guinea
Guinea ( ),, fuf, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, ߖߌ߬ߣߍ߫, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the we ...
,
Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
,
Algeria
)
, image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Algiers
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, relig ...
,
Congo-Brazzaville
The Republic of the Congo (french: République du Congo, ln, Republíki ya Kongó), also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply either Congo or the Congo, is a country located in the western coast of Central Africa to the w ...
, and the
United Arab Republic
The United Arab Republic (UAR; ar, الجمهورية العربية المتحدة, al-Jumhūrīyah al-'Arabīyah al-Muttaḥidah) was a sovereign state in the Middle East from 1958 until 1971. It was initially a political union between Eg ...
, it was the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
headquarters in
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
that served as the most impactful. The first petitioners, speaking on behalf of MONALIGE and IPGE from Spanish Guinea were heard at the General Assembly's Fourth Committee in December 1962, as they denounced the strategy of assimilation the Spanish government had enforced and asked for independence.
In 1963, the Spanish government agreed to organize a referendum to determine whether or not the Equatoguinean population supported an autonomous regime.
The new political arrangement included important changes, such as a significant rise in African political awareness and participation in the colonial administration. The Regime of Autonomy was approved at the end of 1963. During the referendum campaign, political groups were allowed for the first time to publicly express their viewpoints. Most of them, with the exception of the majority of the IPGE (a group detached from the IPGE and headed by Jaime Nseng) and MONALIGE, gave their support to the new regime. The results of the referendum on 15 December were 59,280 votes in favor of the regime and 33,537 votes against.
Crisis and splitting
In June 1963, the Coordinating Bureau was disbanded, with an amalgamation of Spanish Guinea with Cameroon after independence being one of the primary issues. The IPGE favored this policy, and they reportedly received a Cameroon subsidy during this period.
On 31 August 1963, the IPGE called an all-congress meeting at Ambam, but the meeting proved to be unsuccessful, as the IPGE's own Secretary General, Jaime Nseng, rejected the main policy of the union with Cameroon and he went on to find a splinter group, the Movimiento Nacional de Unión.
Pera Epota was one of the preliminary leaders of the movement, and in 1963 was later made leader of an anti-colonial coalition in Cameroon. Half of the movement was in favor of a federation with Cameroon, but this decree was denied during the IPGE congress of August 1963. In addition, Enrique Nvo also played a big role in the fight for independence, as he coordinated most of the communication with the United Nations.
IPGE lost some of its support because its call for unification with Cameroon did not find local support.
IPGE's Secretary General, Jesús Mba Ovono, was operating from exile when Spain granted autonomy to Guinea. On 12 October 1964, Ovono announced from Accra that they had joined forces in a new Frente Nacional y Popular de Liberación de Guinea Ecuatorial (FRENAPO).
However, this union was short-lived. Between 1965 and 1967, IPGE's leadership became increasingly Marxist and removed from reality, and ultimately separated into two wings—a more radical group in
Brazzaville
Brazzaville (, kg, Kintamo, Nkuna, Kintambo, Ntamo, Mavula, Tandala, Mfwa, Mfua; Teke: ''M'fa'', ''Mfaa'', ''Mfa'', ''Mfoa''Roman Adrian Cybriwsky, ''Capital Cities around the World: An Encyclopedia of Geography, History, and Culture'', ABC-CLI ...
headed by Jesús Mba Ovono, and a legal group within Guinea headed by Clemente Ateba.
The elections of 1968
Principal leaders of the IPGE in 1968 were Clemente Ateba, serving as the legal authority in Guinea, and Jesús Mba Owono serving as the leader in exile in Brazzaville.
In the September 1968 presidential election,
Francisco Macías Nguema
Francisco Macías Nguema ( Africanised to Masie Nguema Biyogo Ñegue Ndong; 1 January 1924 – 29 September 1979), often mononymously referred to as Macías, was an Equatoguinean politician who served as the first President of Equatorial Guinea f ...
(IPGE) received 36,716 votes (40.05%) during the first round and later received 68,310 votes (62.92%) in the second round of elections.
In addition, the IPGE was awarded 8 seats during the 21 September 1968 National Assembly election.
The party's demise
Francisco Macías Nguema became the first president of Equatorial Guinea on 12 October 1968 and was a candidate for the IPGE. However, throughout the Nguema regime, he established relatively unfavorable policies that affected the reputation of the party. Macías ordered the arrest of several leading political figures, including the former President of the pre-independence autonomous government.
In 1970, Macías established the
United National Party
The United National Party, often abbreviated as UNP ( si, එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂය, translit=Eksath Jāthika Pakshaya, ta, ஐக்கிய தேசியக் கட்சி, translit=Aikkiya Tēciyak Kaṭci), ...
(PUN).
On 7 May 1971, Macías repealed certain articles of the 1968 constitution, and gave the role of President "all direct powers of government and institutions".
On 29 July 1973, a
constitutional referendum
A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...
was held, where 99% of the votes were recorded "yes" in regards to a centralized presidential republic.
On 12 March 1979, the UN Commission on Human Rights designated a Special Rapporteur to examine the situation of
human rights in the country and report to the Commission.
The
Supreme Military Council opened Case 1/979 on 18 August 1979, and began interviewing witnesses and collecting evidence against the Macías Nguema government. The Council subsequently convened a
military tribunal
Military justice (also military law) is the legal system (bodies of law and procedure) that governs the conduct of the active-duty personnel of the armed forces of a country. In some nation-states, civil law and military law are distinct bodie ...
on 24 September to try Macías Nguema and several members of his government. The charges for the ten
defendant
In court proceedings, a defendant is a person or object who is the party either accused of committing a crime in criminal prosecution or against whom some type of civil relief is being sought in a civil case.
Terminology varies from one jurisdic ...
s included
genocide
Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people—usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group—in whole or in part. Raphael Lemkin coined the term in 1944, combining the Greek word (, "race, people") with the Latin ...
,
mass murder
Mass murder is the act of murdering a number of people, typically simultaneously or over a relatively short period of time and in close geographic proximity. The United States Congress defines mass killings as the killings of three or more pe ...
,
embezzlement
Embezzlement is a crime that consists of withholding assets for the purpose of conversion of such assets, by one or more persons to whom the assets were entrusted, either to be held or to be used for specific purposes. Embezzlement is a type ...
of public funds, violations of human rights, and
treason
Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...
.
Macías Nguema was found guilty and his
death penalty
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...
sentence, along with six other defendants, was carried out on 29 September 1979. The IPGE did not hold a seat in the Equatorial Guinean government since, and is de facto defunct.
Electoral history
Presidential elections
Chamber of Deputies elections
References
{{Equatorial Guinean political parties
1950s establishments in Spanish Guinea
1959 establishments in Africa
1970 disestablishments in Africa
1970s disestablishments in Equatorial Guinea
Defunct political parties in Africa
Defunct socialist parties
Independence movements
Marxist parties
National liberation movements in Africa
Nationalist parties in Africa
Political parties disestablished in 1970
Political parties established in 1959
Political parties in Equatorial Guinea
Socialism in Equatorial Guinea
Socialist parties in Africa