Joe Dinga Pefok (Uncle Joe)
The UN Sacrificed A Lot To Lay A Foundation That Could Transform The War –torn CAR, To A Democratic Country. The New Constitution Of CAR Limited The Mandate Of The President To A Maximum Of Two Terms, And Instituted A Separation Of Power. It Was Thought That With The Coming To Power Of An Intellectual, The Country Will Break With Its Ugly Past.
Remember the Central African Republic, CAR, of self –proclaimed Emperor Bokassa! Certainly, not a good story for CAR and Africa. But Bokassa’s fall was not the end of trouble for CAR; a country that was classified by international organizations as one of the poorest countries in the world, but which in reality was a country that God blessed with abundant natural resources, especially minerals.
The Central African Republic was for several years plunged into a state of instability, insecurity, chaos and bloodshed caused by the presence of over a dozen rebel groups led by warlords, who all wanted to rule the country at all cost. The war lords were as usual backed by hidden foreign faces that were interested in the minerals in CAR. While the war lords and their backers were making big money from the minerals of CAR, the population was living in abject poverty; wallowing in misery.
Coup d’etat was rampant in the country. One of the last Presidents to be overthrown in CAR before the France –led UN intervention, was Ange Felix Patasse. He first fled across the border to Cameroon, where he lived for a short time, before moving to settle in Guinea Bissau on political asylum.
Cameroon Became A Second Home To Many CAR Politicians Who Ran From Insecurity
Talking about Cameroon, this country for many years, suffered the biggest effects of the instability and insecurity in neighbouring Central African Republic. Many politicians of CAR, both of the opposition and the ruling camps, for obvious reasons preferred to run to Cameroon for refuge than to other neighbouring countries, whenever the situation in CAR became too hot for them to survive. In fact quite a number of CAR politicians even took up dual nationality in Cameroon, thus becoming both citizens of CAR and Cameroon.
Interestingly enough, the Cameroonian authorities did their best to maintain the country’s position of neutrality and good neighbourliness, by ensuring that the country was not dragged into the internal politics of CAR. All CAR politicians, including those who took the Cameroonian nationality, that often ran to Cameroon to seek refuge whenever insecurity mounted in their country, or whenever there was a serious threat posed to their lives by rebel groups, were always welcomed, but on one condition – that whenever they crossed the border into Cameroon, they should obligatorily suspend all their political activities, until the day they cross back into CAR.
France – Led UN Intervention
Meanwhile, the situation in the Central African Republic, degenerated to a point where the central government often had control only over the capital, Bangui, and neighbourhoods, while the war lords and their rebel groups called the shots in other parts of the country, especially in the rural areas with the abundant minerals. With the abundant minerals, it was of course easy for the rebel groups in control of those areas, to find funds outside the country. Occasionally, some rebel groups succeeded to penetrate the country’s capital, Bangui, and cause panic.
Suffice to say the former colonial master of the Central African Republic, that is France, then under President Nicolas Sarkozy, finally mobilized the international community to intervene in CAR. There was a UN Resolution to a send peace keeping force to CAR. The forces were to come from a number of African countries, including Cameroon. There was a lot of groundwork for France to do, including securing the international airport in CAR’s capital, Bangui. Following a request by the then French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, the then US President, Barack Obama, ordered a US war plane specialized in transporting troops, to transport the UN peace keeping forces from some African countries, to Bangui.
Bangui Sees Peace Again / Designation Of Interim President
So, there was the strong military intervention of France. There was the strong and highly costly intervention of the United Nations, with a large number of peace keeping forces known as MINUSCA, drawn from a number of African countries including Cameroon. Some order was finally restored in the country’s capital, Bangui, and in some parts of the country. This of course took a number of years, and during the last part of that period, the Mayor of Bangui (a lady) was designated as the Interim President of the Central African Republic. This was to prepare the ground for the putting in a place of new Constitution in CAR to lay the foundation for a democratic country, and the holding of national elections.
A Constitution That Was Designed For A Democratic Country
Talking about a new Constitution, in March 2016, a new Constitution was adopted by the representatives of the people of CAR, with the collaboration of the United Nations. The new Constitution was designed to make CAR a country governed by the rule of Law, with an independent Judiciary – something that does not exist in most African countries. The Constitution also laid a foundation for CAR to grow as a democratic country, with a limitation to the mandate of the President of the Republic. The duration of the mandate of the President of the Republic was to be five years, renewable only once. This meant that somebody could only be President of CAR for a maximum of 10 years.
Apparently, the United Nations, that was under the influence of CAR’s former colonial master, France, thought that the right way to go for CAR was to get the country’s intellectuals to run the country, instead of putting the country again into the hands of “dirty and bloody politicians”. The University of Bangui in the Central African Republic, served as the ‘supplier’ of the new leadership of the country. Apparently the United Nations also thought, and logically too, that it was better to put the country into the hands of ‘local intellectuals’, that is, intellectuals that braved the odds to live in their war-torn country, and thus knew the local environment well, than get CAR intellectuals in the diaspora.
Intellectuals Take Over The Running Of CAR
Meanwhile, the new Constitution of the Central African Republic was adopted in March 2016. The new Constitution of CAR clearly set out the separation of power between the Executive, Legislative and Judiciary. Elections, including the presidential election, followed. The elections could not take place in all parts of the country because of insecurity. In the presidential election, Professor Faustin Archange Touadera, who was teaching at the University of Bangui, emerged as the new President of CAR, with a strong pledge to respect and protect the 2016 Constitution.
Talking about ‘local intellectuals taking over the running of CAR, Prof Mrs Danielle Darlan, a Senior Law Professor at the University of Bangui for example, became the President of the Constitutional Council. Many people apparently thought that it was good in the interest of CAR and its people, for the country’s intellectual to come to come power, instead of the same “old dirty politicians” that led the country to ruin. It was thought that the coming to power of Prof Touadera, was thus a break with, or an end, to CAR’s ugly past.
First Mandate Of President Touadera Went Well
In fact the first mandate of President Faustin Archange Touadera went well. CAR continued to be accompanied by the United Nations, and appeared as the only little bright spot in the dark Central Africa Sub – region (the CEMAC Zone), as far as democracy was concern. At the end of his first five year mandate in 2021, President Touadera was re-elected for what was supposed to be his second and last mandate.
There was hope in the horizon at the beginning of President Touadera’s second mandate that he would respect the constitution. This hope was heightened, when Prof Touadera made a private visit to the University of Bangui, and gave a lecture. A video of Prof Touadera back in class, went viral on the social media, and generated quite some excitement. In the video, the President promised to come back to the university to teach, whenever it was possible for him to squeeze some little time from his tight schedule.
It was assumed by many that Prof Touadera was already preparing himself for life after the Presidency. This was heavily applauded in a Central Africa Sub –region, notorious for having sit-tight Presidents.
A Bright Spot Of Democracy In A Dark Sub –region?
That is why as aforementioned, the coming to power in 2016 of Prof Faustin Archange Touadera in the Central African Republic, following the presidential election organized with the strong collaboration of the United Nations, coupled with a new Constitution for the country that was designed to promote separation of power between the Executive, Legislative and Judiciary, as well as to promote democracy and good governance, there was hope that a bright spot of democracy was appearing in the dark Central African Sub –Region.
The hope was also based on the fact that the new President of the Central African Republic, Prof Faustin Archange Touadera, came to power pledging to respect and protect the Constitution, and to as well promote democracy. And that was why when during the beginning of the second mandate of President Touadera, he went to University of Bangu,i and gave a lecture, the gesture was highly applauded by many people in CAR and beyond. The gesture or act was thought by many to be an indication that Prof Touadera had started preparing for life after his second and last mandate, or better still, that he had started preparing for life after the Presidency.
