Baltasar: The Anatomy of an African Sexual Scandal
How the private eccentricities of a top financial regulator in Equatorial Guinea has held Africa spellbound, in echoes of the P. Diddy Affair in the United States.
Playa Negra—Spanish for Black Beach Prison—has no obvious connection with the Metropolitan Detention Centre (MDC) in New York, if only because the prison is located in Equatorial Guinea, Central Africa.
It sits on the island of Bioko, in Malabo the capital city. The Spanish went through the trouble of building it in the 1940s, so they could use it for locking away petty, common criminals.
When Equatorial Guinea became independent in 1968, Black Beach Prison became something else; it turned into a sort of Bastille—a formidable dungeon where political opponents are confined, deprived of fresh air and freedom to annoy authorities.
Locally, the notorious prison has always been something of a fearsome celebrity. But on the 5th of November, it found a way out of its international anonymity, when a cell within its depressing walls opened up to take in a high-profile detainee, Baltasar Ebang Engonga.
Baltasar is the factor that brought echoes of the Metropolitan Detention Centre, MDC, to Black Beach Prison. But how exactly?
Back in September, the American music mogul, Sean Diddy Combs, was hauled into the MDC, where he is being held in pre-trial detention.
Conditions at the MDC are reported as being horrifying and disgusting, a stark contrast with Combs’ previous lifestyle in luxury mansions.
The P. Diddy affair—which a lot has been written about—is a spectacular fall from grace, and so is that of Baltasar Ebang as we shall discuss.
But what really places Baltasar in the same dubious league as Diddy is the sheer scale of the sex scandal that compounded some pre-existing trouble, catapulting him into instant, albeit undesirable, fame. So, what’s the scale of it all? And how did it come to light?
“Shockingly among the participants are his own brother’s wife, Equatorial Guinea president’s cousin and sister, the wife of the director general of the national police, and the spouses of about 20 government ministers.”
These Dirty Tapes
Baltasar Ebang Engonga, 54-year-old, was a big shot in Equatorial Guinea. As Director General of the country’s National Financial Investigation Agency (ANIF), he was a member of the elite.
That alone was enough to make him untouchable. But Baltasar had further privilege—he was born into the circle of power. His father Baltasar Engonga Edjo, the current president of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC), is close to the ruling elite.
This proximity to power likely played a role in his son's career advancement. But this background gives no hint of the scandal that would eventually engulf him. We had to look elsewhere for clues.
According to a source close to the family who spoke to the African Gazette, Baltasar—the eldest of the family—studied in the United States. Despite his fortune, his father would only pay him a stipend that was enough to cover his rent. Perhaps, a way to push his son to earn his own money. And Baltasar would indeed.
One day, a roommate walked accidentally into him. He was under the shower, exposed. Probably as a way to wiggle himself out of embarrassment, the intruding friend told Baltasar that he had a generous physique which could earn him a decent living. Baltasar took the indecent proposal rather seriously.
According to the family source, the financier’s son set his sights on the porn industry, setting up his own website, and was soon making $17K to $65K monthly. And thus, he had sown the seed of the scandal that would later bring him into disrepute.
However, Baltasar’s obsession with sex remained a secret. In fact, the trigger of his downfall was anything but sex—at least officially.
The role of the Director General of the National Financial Investigation Agency (ANIF) comes with strict ethical requirements. It's the top civil servant with a duty of managing financial regulations.
If there were any national or global financial standards to comply with, the responsibilities fell on Baltasar Ebang.
In his position, he was expected to conduct investigations for the prevention of financial crimes, such as money laundering and corruption.
For some reasons however, the Director General came to place himself under the suspicion of breaching the regulations he was supposed to uphold.
In tandem with other high-ranking officials, he reportedly misappropriated public funds in excess of 1.2 billion Central African CFA francs ($1.9 million).
Earlier this month, when a criminal investigation squad made a swoop on his home and office for search, they were stunned at a bizarre discovery—a huge cache of porn footage, 400 videos featuring Baltasar Ebang in hardcore sexual acts.
Things got a lot freakier when the searching squad took interest in the Director’s sexual partners. They were not some hired porn actors from about town. As confirmed by our source close to Baltasar’s family, the women in the videos include high-profile individuals.
Shockingly among the participants are his own brother’s wife, Equatorial Guinea president’s cousin and sister, the wife of the director general of the national police, and the spouses of about 20 government ministers.
Now, did he shoot all the videos in the same place? Oh, no. Many of the encounters are reportedly filmed in government workplaces, including Engonga's own office. And there is no indication that the participants were not consenting, which adds more shock to the drama.
The parallel with P Diddy’s scandal is limited in some aspects, especially because none of the participants complained of coercion.
But like P Diddy’s scandal, it took social media platforms by storm, making it even into the US comedy show circuit, and Equatorial Guinea became trending for the wrong reasons. Inevitably, Baltasar’s sexual eccentricities became a State affair.
“Even Baltasar would be hard-pressed to know what happens to him next. But you can be sure that there are some shades of mystery in how this huge cache of porn stuff ended up in the public domain.”
The Fallout
Marriages and relationships are bound to be strained by Baltasar’s sex tapes, which have quickly spawned a black market of their own, with websites sprouting overnight to charge for full access to the 400 videos.
And with the clips so widely shared on social media platforms, the scandal is guaranteed to cause embarrassment among those couples directly affected by it. There’s been at least one report of suicide that our source couldn’t confirm.
At any rate, the Baltasar Affair has caused dismay all the way to the top, prompting the country’s Vice President, Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, to call a cabinet meeting to discuss it.
From the government’s perspective, the incident eroded public trust in officials, as it calls into question their personal conduct. So, how to avoid a repeat of such an embarrassment?
Well, authorities issued a ban on sexual relations in government workplaces and announced the installation of surveillance cameras in public offices.
The government, which has forbidden any further wilful distribution of the videos, is considering a set of regulations to strengthen data and privacy protection.
Baltasar seems to have broken no privacy law, but there is concern that he could have put his sexual partners at risk of sexually transmitted diseases.
He could be prosecuted on the grounds of public health if he tests positive for, say, HIV. At any rate, Baltasar Engonga is already in a great deal of trouble.
On the 5th of November, when law enforcement turned up to arrest the disgraced director general, they did not grant him the high-profile treatment he would normally have expected.
As though they didn't want to take any risk, they looped chains around his ankles, then put his hands in cuffs. He appeared to be dazed and distant as they led him to the awaiting squad car.
So far, he had just been suspended over the embezzlement allegations. But as the shock of the sex tapes spread further and became a hot topic of discussion online, temporary suspension appeared inadequate.
Baltasar’s own father called for him to properly face the music. And following the urgent cabinet meeting, the government announced his immediate dismissal as head of the National Financial Investigation Agency, in compliance with a direct order of President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo.
The official decree, which removed him from his position, indicates that his behaviour is incompatible with public office. In his downfall, he might have taken down his father with him.
As our source suggests, the embarrassment brought to his family's name might have spelled the end of his father's political ambitions, in a context when the regime of the 82-year-old President, Teodoro Nguema, is nearing its natural end.
But shouldn't Baltasar even fear for his life? Should he not fear some foul play from a cuckold? Well, as we understand, these are questions taken seriously.
Though Baltasar has been led to Black Beach, our source tells us that there is concern he might be assassinated there.
She suggested that he was sneaked out and held under house arrest at an undisclosed location. With the decision of officials to curb any further discussion of the scandal, we are unable to independently verify her claim.
But if all of the Baltasar investigation and sex-tape scandal were constructed as a ploy to undermine future serious contenders in the succession to the ageing president N’Guema, Baltasar may yet be safe.
He could be allowed to fly out to Spain and reunite with his wife and kids, or return to the United States where his father is said to possess a string of properties.
Even Baltasar would be hard-pressed to know what happens to him next. But you can be sure that there are some shades of mystery in how this huge cache of porn stuff ended up in the public domain.
