A Short History of Central African Republic

Central African Republic President Francois Bozize issued a decree on July 30, 2010, postponing the country’s presidential and parliamentary elections initially set for April 18, 2010, to January 23, 2011 for the first round, and March 20, 2011 for the second round, which the political opposition coalition agreed. The results of the elections may yet provide positive changes for the country, which has undergone a series of misrule and coup d’état for a number of decades since it gained independence from France on August 13, 1960.

The first coup was led by military Colonel Jean-Bedel Bokassa on December 31, 1965 to overthrow first post-independence President David Dacko, a close aide of Barthelemy Boganda, President of the Conseil de Gouvernement, who died in a mysterious plane mishap in 1959. In 1972, Bokassa declared himself president for life and crowned himself Emperor of the country he named Central African Empire in an elaborate and expensive ceremony that drew criticism from the international community. In 1979, however, France successfully backed up a coup against Bokassa and restored Dacko to the Presidency. Another coup, this time led by General Andre Kolingba overthrew Dacko on September 1, 1981. Kolingba introduced a new Constitution in 1986, which was eventually approved in a nationwide referendum, but he was defeated in the elections of 1993 by Ange-Felix Patasse, who stripped Kolinga of his military rank of General. After ruling the country for more than nine years, Patasse was brought down from power by another coup led by General Francois Bozize, the army chief of staff, in March 2003, who went on to win the presidential election in 2005. The rest is part of history in the making.