teodoro obiang nguema mbasogo (born june 5 1942) has been the president of equatorial guinea since 1979. mbasongo did the military academy in zaragoza, spain. he came to power in a military coup, deposing the former leader francisco macías nguema. ngema had ruled the country for the previous decade. he was known to be very cruel. ngema was sentenced to death and executed by a firing squad. mbasonga promised to start over and to do a better job at governing the country.