Central African Republic

Type of Government

By constitution the Central African Republic (CAR) is a parliamentary democracy with executive, legislative, and judiciary branches. In practice, however, it operates as a presidential regime with close ties to the military. The president, who is elected by popular vote, serves as head of state and commander of the armed forces. The prime minister, who serves as head of government, is chosen by the unicameral legislature, which is constituted through direct, popular vote. The judicial branch is constitutionally independent, although, like the rest of the government, it is subordinate to presidential policy. The nation is divided into prefectures and subprefectures, whose leaders are appointed by the president.

Background

Archaeological evidence indicates that the Central African Republic has been occupied continually since Paleolithic times. In the seventh century AD the nation was occupied by a succession of imperial dynasties. With the rise of the Islamic slave trade in neighboring nations, the Central African Republic became the site of numerous slave camps, and the native tribes were threatened with capture and exportation. By the nineteenth century the Banda, the Baya, and the Ngbandi were the primary ethnic groups.

At the same time the French were sending expeditions into the area from their outposts in the Congo. They negotiated trade agreements with local leaders and, by 1897, were claiming the CAR as French territory. As they explored the interior, they confronted Sudanese slave trader Rabih al-Zabayr (1842–1900), who had established a formidable empire in neighboring Chad. In 1899 they dispatched Ferdinand de Béhagle (1857–1899) to negotiate with Rabih, but he imprisoned De Béhagle and his party. The French retaliated with a military detachment, which was defeated in its first encounter with Rabih’s forces. The French then sent additional troops from Gabon and ended Rabih’s empire, claiming possession of all of the warlord’s territories.

In 1905 the French organized the CAR, Chad, the Congo, and Gabon into a single administrative unit known as Afrique Équatoriale Française (French Equatorial Africa), or AEF, and in the next several decades developed its agricultural production, focusing on such plantation crops as coffee, cotton, and rubber, and mining operations—the region was rich in gold and diamonds. They allowed private companies to lease and operate portions of the territory without any governmental oversight. Forced labor was common, and the natives were allowed few rights.

An underground independence movement led several failed rebellions. After the Kongo-Wara uprising of 1928–1931, led by workers groups in the South, the French forced large portions of the population into prisons and work camps. When a second rebellion erupted in 1935, France committed additional troops to the region at significant expense to its ailing economy.

During World War II CAR natives joined the Free French Movement, which was founded to resist the Vichy government that controlled France after it surrendered to the Nazis. Following the war the independence movement gained greater support among the French populace. A final rebellion in 1946 persuaded the government to allow moderate democratic reforms: It granted French citizenship to all CAR natives and allowed the formation of local assemblies.

In 1946 Roman Catholic priest Barthélemy Boganda (1910–1959) became the first African elected to the French National Assembly; from there he led the legislative effort for emancipation, working to enact a new voting system and eventually to dissolve the AEF. When the nation became an autonomous French territory in 1958, Boganda served as its first prime minister.

Boganda died in a plane crash in March 1959, shortly before the country gained its full independence. His relative and political ally David Dacko (1930–2003) took over as the nation’s second prime minister and presided over the official independence ceremonies in August 1960. After independence Dacko became the nation’s first president.

Government Structure

The Central African Republic is divided into fourteen prefectures, each of which is divided into subprefectures. The leader of each prefecture is appointed by the president of the republic. The capital region, Bangui, is considered an autonomous commune, or township, and is administered by the central government. According to the revised constitution, which was adopted in 2004, the central government operates as a parliamentary democracy, with officials chosen in two-round runoff elections: Several candidates stand for office in the first round; the two candidates who get the most votes then compete in a second round to determine a winner by simple majority.

The executive branch is the most powerful in the government. The president, who is elected by direct, popular vote for a maximum of two terms of five years, serves as head of state and commander of the armed forces. The president appoints military leaders, the judiciary, prefects, subprefects, mayors, council members, and leaders of the state-controlled industries, which include mining and some agricultural enterprises. In times of emergency the president may rule by decree, temporarily suspending the government and granting himself authority to dismiss any governmental official.

According to the constitution, the leading political party in the legislature appoints the prime minister, who serves as head of government. The prime minister then appoints the cabinet, whose members run the various executive departments. In actuality the president has significant influence over all ministerial appointments. The executive branch shares legislative responsibility with the parliament.

The unicameral National Assembly has 105 members, who serve five-year terms and can stand for re-election. The assembly has the power to originate legislation and, according to the constitution, is required to approve executive actions, treaties, and emergency orders. The executive exerts considerable control over the legislature’s efforts.

The highest court in the CAR is the Constitutional Court, which handles all cases involving constitutional law. Its justices are appointed: three by the president of the republic, three by the president of the National Assembly, and three by a committee of justices from lower courts. Below the constitutional court are the Court of Cassation, which is the final appeals court; the Court of Appeals; and the district courts. Courts in most regions of the CAR are poorly funded and operate infrequently, so most criminal cases are referred to courts in the capital region. Observers have noted that the president exerts considerable influence over the operation of the judiciary.

Political Parties and Factions

Convergence Nationale “Kwa Na Kwa” (National Convergence Party), the dominant political organization in the 2005 election, was founded to support President François Bozizé (1946–), who ran for office as an independent candidate. The party’s platform is based on ending the rebel insurgency and initiating democratic and economic reforms.

The Mouvement pour la Libération du Peuple Centrafricain (Movement for the Liberation of the Central African People), or MLPC, was founded in 1979 by Ange-Félix Patassé (1937–), who was president of the republic from 1993 to 2003. The MLPC opposed the government of David Dacko and supported a platform of increased participation in a streamlined government. In the 2005 elections the MLPC was the primary opposition party to Bozizé and the National Convergence, winning eleven seats in the legislature.

The Rassemblement Démocratique Centraficaine (Central African Democratic Union), or RDC, was founded by former military leader André-Dieudonne Kolingba (1935–). The party was in power until Kolingba was replaced by Patassé in the 1993 elections. Like the other major parties, the RDC is democratic and centrist in basic policies. During the 2005 elections the RDC won eight seats in the legislature, placing third in terms of popular support.

The CAR has a number of minor ethnic and special-interest parties, and during the Bozizé administration, which has focused on democratization, numerous new lobbyist groups have emerged. The defining characteristics of many of them remain unclear.

Major Events

After gaining independence, the CAR kept close economic and political ties to France, which helped to maintain the nation’s agricultural export revenues. In 1962 Dacko named the Mouvement d’Évolution Sociale de l’Afrique Noire (Movement for the Social Evolution of Black Africa), or MESAN, as the nation’s sole legal political party. Other signs that he was developing an authoritarian regime led to widespread public dissatisfaction. In December 1965 Dacko was overthrown in a military coup led by Jean-Bédel Bokassa (1921–1996).

Although Bokassa initially had public support, he quickly lost that support when it became clear he intended to establish a more authoritarian regime than his predecessor’s. Bokassa abrogated the constitution and appointed a cabinet of military leaders to help him rule. In 1976 he crowned himself emperor—the ceremony cost some $200 million—and renamed the nation the Central African Empire. The regime violently stopped any attempts to form opposition groups.

For four years the French government continued its financial support of the Bokassa government in hopes of maintaining its supply of diamonds and raw materials for industry. In September 1979, however, it removed the dictator from power, largely because he was mismanaging the state’s mining industry and reducing French profits. The French government reinstated Dacko as president in 1980. Dacko’s administration was faced with the imminent threat of public uprising and was forced to rely on the French military to stay in power. In 1981 André Kolingba (1935–), at the time a general, staged a military coup that removed Dacko from power, after which Kolingba formed a provisional military government.

Kolingba’s government was led by the Comité Militaire de Redressement National (Military Committee for National Recovery), or CRMN, which functioned as an authoritarian regime but allowed some local participation in the government. Kolingba dissolved the CRMN in 1985—he remained as president—and allowed the formation of a National Assembly with limited public representation. Kolingba and the assembly drafted a new constitution that included provisions for elections. Patassé defeated Kolingba in the 1993 presidential elections, becoming the first democratically elected president since the nation gained its independence.

Patasse’s government was faced with frequent turmoil as rival leaders, many representing the military, attempted to organize rebellion. With the help of the French military Patassé avoided three attempted coups in 1996. Shortly thereafter France removed its military from the nation. Patassé was reelected in 1999; further unrest followed.

Twenty-First Century

In 2001 and 2002 two coup attempts were foiled with the assistance of the Libyan military, which intervened in defense of trade agreements between the two nations. In 2003, however, a bloodless coup by Bozizé (1946–) successfully overthrew Patassé. After suspending the constitution and abolishing the government, Bozizé immediately began a campaign to forge peace agreements with rebel leaders. He also promulgated a new constitution, which was adopted in 2004. In the elections held in 2005, Bozizé won the presidential vote, and his party held a slight majority in the newly formed legislature.

In 2006 and 2007 the government fought repeated skirmishes with insurgent groups. The administration continued to negotiate with their leaders, however, and in 2007 signed a peace agreement with the Union of Democratic Forces for Unity (UFDR), a powerful rebel organization.

The CAR is one of the most economically impoverished nations in the world. Though the region is rich in natural resources, centuries of European exploitation followed by decades of political turmoil have prevented the nation from achieving economic growth and stability. More than half of the nation’s agricultural production goes to subsistence. The CAR’s diamond mining and refinement industry accounts for more than half of the nation’s export revenue, but is underdeveloped.

O’Toole, Thomas E. The Central African Republic: The Continent’s Hidden Heart . Boulder: Westview Press, 1986.

Titley, Brian. Dark Age: The Political Odyssey of Emperor Bokassa Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2002.

Villalón, Leonardo A., and Peter VonDoepp, eds. The Fate of Africa’s Democratic Experiments: Elites and Institutions Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2005.