FILE PHOTO: Equatorial Guinea's Vice-President Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue addresses the 79th United Nations General Assembly at United Nations headquarters in New York, U.S., September 26, 2024. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo
(Reuters) - Equatorial Guinea on Tuesday ordered a crackdown on sex in government offices after private videos leaked on social media appeared to show a senior finance ministry official having sex with several women in various places, including his office.
The government said it was taking action because the videos had denigrated the tiny Central African country's image.
Equatorial Guinea has been ruled by the same president for decades and the scandal has been shaking the government since the videos first emerged last week.
Local media reports said hundreds of amateur videos had been found at the finance official's home during a raid associated with a corruption investigation. The women featured in the videos appeared to include wives of other powerful government figures and other family members, local media said.
Reuters could not verify the authenticity of the videos.
On Tuesday, Vice President Nguema Obiang Mangue ordered new measures to prevent judiciary and ministry officials from engaging in illicit acts at work, a government statement said. These included installing security cameras in all offices as well as stepped-up security.
"The executive is taking this decision following the videos of a sexual nature that have gone viral on social media in recent days and that denigrate the country's image," the state information agency said in the statement.
The statement said the measures were agreed during emergency meetings with the Supreme Court, attorney general and others.
It said those appearing in the sex tapes would be suspended, without providing names, while those responsible for securing the buildings in which the videos were allegedly filmed would be reprimanded for failing to do their jobs.
President Teodoro Obiang has ruled Equatorial Guinea, a nation of some 1.7 million people on the west coast of Central Africa for 45 years and is the world's longest-serving president.
(Reporting by Bernardino Ndze Biyoa and Jessica Donati; editing by Mark Heinrich)
