Patrice Émery Trovoada (born 18 March 1962) is a São Toméan politician who was the 15th

prime minister of São Tomé and Príncipe A prime number (or a prime) is a natural number greater than 1 that is not a Product (mathematics), product of two smaller natural numbers. A natural number greater than 1 that is not prime is called a composite number. For example, 5 is prime ...

from November 2022 to 6 January 2025. He previously served as prime minister from February 2008 to June 2008, from August 2010 to December 2012 and again from November 2014 to December 2018.

Life and career

Trovoada was born in

Libreville Libreville (; ) is the capital and largest city of Gabon, located on the Gabon Estuary. Libreville occupies of the northwestern province of Estuaire Province, Estuaire. Libreville is also a port on the Gabon Estuary, near the Gulf of Guinea. A ...

Gabon Gabon ( ; ), officially the Gabonese Republic (), is a country on the Atlantic coast of Central Africa, on the equator, bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, the Republic of the Congo to the east and south, and ...

.Albertino Francisco and Nujoma Agostinho, ''Exorcising Devils from the Throne: São Tomé and Príncipe in the Chaos of Democratization'' (Algora Publishing, 2011) p81 He is the son of

Miguel Trovoada Miguel dos Anjos da Cunha Lisboa Trovoada (born 27 December 1936) is a São Toméan politician who was the Heads of Government of São Tomé and Príncipe, prime minister from 1975 to 1979 and second president of São Tomé and Príncipe from 1 ...

, who was President of São Tomé and Príncipe from 1991 to 2001,"De Menezes looks set for second term"
AFP, August 1, 2006. and was named after

Patrice Lumumba Patrice Émery Lumumba ( ; born Isaïe Tasumbu Tawosa; 2 July 192517 January 1961) was a Congolese politician and independence leader who served as the first prime minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (then known as the Republic o ...

, the first Prime Minister of

Congo (Léopoldville) Congo or The Congo may refer to: * Congo River, in central Africa * Congo Basin, the sedimentary basin of the river * Democratic Republic of the Congo, the larger country to the southeast, sometimes referred to as "Congo-Kinshasa" * Republic of ...

. He studied in Portugal and France. He served as the

Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

from September 2001 to 4 February 2002. He was also oil adviser to President

Fradique de Menezes Fradique Bandeira Melo de Menezes (born 21 March 1942) is a São Toméan politician who was the third president of São Tomé and Príncipe from 2001 to 2003 and again from 2003 to 2011. Early life Menezes was born on the then Portuguese colony ...

until Menezes fired him in May 2005, alleging that Trovoada had used his position to advance his business interests. Trovoada is Secretary-General of Independent Democratic Action (ADI), a political party. He ran for President in the July 2006 presidential election, but was defeated by Menezes, the incumbent president. Trovoada was the only major opposition candidate and he received 38.82% of the vote. On 14 February 2008, Trovoada became prime minister; he was appointed by Menezes following the resignation of Tomé Vera Cruz. On 4 March 2008, he made a brief official visit to

. Trovoada's government was defeated in a censure motion in the National Assembly on 20 May 2008 after three months in office."Parlamento são-tomense aprova moção de censura contra Governo"
Panapress, May 20, 2008 . The motion, introduced by the opposition Movement for the Liberation of São Tomé and Príncipe/Social Democratic Party (MLSTP/PSD), received 30 votes in favor, 23 opposed, and two abstaining. In June, Menezes asked the MLSTP/PSD to form a government, and it chose its leader,

Joaquim Rafael Branco Joaquim Rafael Branco (born 7 September 1953) is a São Toméan politician who was the 16th prime Minister of São Tomé and Príncipe from 2008 to 2010. He is the President of the Movement for the Liberation of São Tomé and Príncipe/Social D ...

, as prime minister. After the 2010 parliamentary election, Trovoada returned as prime minister on 14 August 2010, but left office on 13 December 2012, after his government had lost its majority in parliament. However, the parliamentary election of 2014 again produced a majority for Trovoada's Independent Democratic Action party, with 33 of the 55 seats in the National Assembly, and he was again appointed to head a new government. He left office in 2018. Trovoada became prime minister again in November 2022. On 6 January 2025, President Carlos Vila Nova dismissed Trovoada and his government, citing Trovoada's prolonged absences and his government's failure to solve multiple issues. Trovoada called his dismissal "illegal" and "unconstitutional".

References

, - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Trovoada, Patrice 1962 births Foreign ministers of São Tomé and Príncipe Prime ministers of São Tomé and Príncipe Government ministers of São Tomé and Príncipe Independent Democratic Action politicians Living people People from Libreville Children of presidents 21st-century São Tomé and Príncipe politicians