TDY Assignment to Embassy Malabo, Equatorial Guinea

Temporary Assignment to the American Embassy in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea

I had left the OIG/Office of Inspections after  working there 16 years post retirement for a couple of reasons.  First, I was not getting any opportunities to travel out on inspections because the management division was fully staffed.  Secondly, I felt it was time to do something different if I was going to remain with the State Department.  Given my fond memories and great experinces in Africa with the Peace Corps I approached the Africa (AF) bureau about the possibility of taking a short term assignment as either a Management Officer at a small embassy or Financial Management Officer in a large one.  With the summer turnover of staff and newly assigned officers coming to posts there is always a critical need for tempoary staff, especially Retired Annuitants to fill these short term positions.  I ended spending three months (June 26 to September 28).  

                American Embassy Malabo

Staff Apartments

The embassy was a "lock and leave" post with only 12 official American Officers and no Marine Security Guards.  There were over 100 local staff most of whom were Local Security Guards.  Equatorial Guinea is the only country in Africa whose official language is Spanish which dates back to the 1700-1800s when Spain invaded the country.  Over 70% of the population speaks Spanish.  Most local employees speak a Central African tribal language and some from neighboring Cameroon speak French.  I regret that I didn't study Spanish more before going out to post, but I did enjoy speaking French with many of the employees.

My job as Acting Management Officer (MO) was to fill the position temporarily until the permament officer arrived at post. As MO I was responsible for managing adminstrative functions including Human Resources, Finance, General Services (GSO), Facility Management and Information Management.  I reported directly to the Deputy Chief of Mission, Ryan Palsrok.  As it turned out the previous Management Officer, Kevin Coats had actually just returned to post after a med-evac, was still at post when I arrived, however, the GSO position was vacant.  So for three weeks I had an overlap with Kevin while he supervised GSO which was great for me to get access to all the systems and to have a direct turnover of responsibility from Kevin to me with his guidance. 

The new TDY SGO, Chip Wollam was not due to arrive until  August 10 so I wore two hats for most of the time.   Chip was a very experienced GSO having served in several AF posts.  He had also served as an officer in the U.S. Army in Afghanistan.  

We also had a TDY Information Management Officer (IMO) for about five weeks, Randy Lea who I served with in Rabat.  He covered for IMO, Eleanor Wah who was taking leave and training.  Eleanor had been acting MO for an extended period before I arrived and was very helpful in getting me oriented and prepared for the assignment.

The new MO, Alice Caruso, was an experienced officer coming from Tunis for her first MO tour.  Before coming to post she was on home leave and also completed the financial managment course at FSI.   She was not due at post until the end of September.    

I lived in one of the six three bedroom apartments on the compound.  It was quite comfortable.  There was a food truck on the compound where I ate mostly rice, beans and chicken for lunch every day.   I  made my own breakfast and dinner in the apartment.

We had a couple of options for eating out at restuarants mostly on the weekends.  Besides a couple of restaurants downtown and a local hotel most of the other eateries were located on the Paseo Maritimo a two mile stretch along the waterfront.  Myself Chip and Randy used to go out on Sunday afternoon to walk the Paseo and then have dinner at one of the restauarants. I attended mass in French at the Cathedral every Sunday as well.  

 Paseo Maritimo

Sea Bass was a popular fish.

Cathedral Santa Isabela

Downtown Malabo suspected site of 
former U.S. Embassy 

For exercise besides walking the Paseo I played tennis with the Ambassador for about the first six weeks I was there. David Gilmour was an experienced AF Ambassador having served in Togo and Chad.  He was also an excellent saxaphone player and played with and taught several local musicians.  The only other exercise was on the stationary bicycle in the  gym.  

Chip and I at Ambassador's Representation

Ambassador's Residence

                                                                                                     event celebrating American Music

There are several oil companies in Malabo engaged in oil and gas development and production among them Chevron, Mobil and Marathon.  On Friday evenings embassy staff were always invited out to the main oil refinerery at Punta Europa for Happy Hour drinks and buffet dinner.  I don't believe I missed one Friday night the whole time I was there.  

I was only able to travel out of Malabo a couple of times to see some of the country.  Chip, Randy and I visited the Moka wildlife center located along the coast about 50 miles from Malabo.  After visiting the wildlife center we took a hike into the dense forest in the rain.