Encyclopedia of African History

(Note: Sample material is taken from uncorrected proofs. Changes may be made prior to publication.)

Central African Republic: Nationalism, Independence

Black nationalism developed slowly in the colonial Central African Republic (CAR), delayed by the exploitative nature of French rule, the paucity of educational facilities and the area's geographical isolation. This legacy of underdevelopment has continued to disfigure its political progress since independence, creating a palpable French neo-colonialist presence that persisted into the late 1990s and facilitating the emergence of one of the most brutal military regimes in Africa in the 1970s.

Prodded into life by World War II and the creation of the French Union in 1946, black politics evolved steadily under the leadership of the charismatic Barthélémy Boganda, who set up the Mouvement d'Evolution Sociale d'Afrique Noire (MESAN) in September 1949, in which his Mbaka ethnic group, who lived in the most developed, southern part of the colony, were to play a dominant role. Under his inspirational leadership, MESAN won all the seats in the first fully democratic election held after the 1956 loi cadre (which authorized French jurisdiction over its African colonies). The momentum towards independence quickened with the 1958 referendum, which transformed the colony into an autonomous republic within the French community. Sensing that the balkanization implicit in the devolution process would weaken his scarcely viable country, Boganda attempted to preserve the unity of the old French Equatorial Africa entity by pressing for its transformation into the "Central African Republic," but failed to win the support of his neighbors. His death the following year in a plane crash (still shrouded in mystery) robbed his country of the one leader who might have coped with the sudden thrusting of independent status upon it, as the Central African Republic, on August 13, 1960. At that stage, it was one of the poorest countries in the world, with an educational system staffed by, and a budget largely subsidized by, the departing colonial power.

David Dacko, a relative of Boganda, had succeeded to the leadership of MESAN, and took office as President of the CAR with French support. Described by many authorities as lackluster and vacillating, Dacko soon attracted criticism which he met by imprisoning his chief rival Abel Goumba and delaying elections until he had built up MESAN into a mass party that could safely secure a popular mandate, a goal achieved at the end of 1963 when Dacko was elected unopposed for a seven year term with 99% of the vote, followed soon afterwards by a clean sweep in the parliamentary elections. The Dacko administration rewarded its supporters with patronage, including civil service posts, while opportunities were taken to lease out for personal profit housing built with public funds. Despite increasing French aid and an increase in diamond production, the CAR's economy came under increasing strain. By late 1965, profligate expenditure resulted in a payments crisis, at which point Dacko opportunistically turned to Beijing for an interest-free loan. Alarmed, Paris looked to other figures in the CAR who might be counted upon to protect French interests. However, their main hopeful, head of the police force Jean Izamo, was forestalled by Col. Jean-Bedel Bokassa, commander-in-chief of the army, who seized power on New Year's Day 1966, placed Dacko under house arrest, and disposed of Izamo after charging him (ironically) with planning a pro-Chinese coup.

Bokassa invoked the spirit of Boganda, claimed as a relative, to legitimize his takeover, and embarked on a program of austerity and reform. This proved to be short-lived. He was swept along by the same forces that had undermined his predecessor, and expenditure on the civil service and army continued to rise, reinforcing the CAR's dependence on France. Bokassa added personal vices of his own: an intolerance of criticism, an arbitrary cruelty, an extreme vanity and a growing venality. The first vice is exemplified in his treatment of his finance minister Alexandre Banza, reputedly the only person in his cabinet who stood up to him. In April 1969, Banza was executed for allegedly plotting a coup and several of his male relatives imprisoned. Bokassa's 1972 decree, laying down the penalty of mutilation for theft, is an example of the second vice: an international outcry forced him to rescind it.

Bokassa's vanity is epitomized in his declaration of himself as the "Emperor Bokassa I," ruling over the "Central African Empire," in December 1976. He was strongly influenced by Napoleonic precedent; as a young man, he had served overseas in the French army, and had achieved commissioned rank; and as head of state, he had gathered together an extensive library on Napoleon. The French President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing supported the imperial project, providing most of the US$22 million required for his coronation, and is alleged to have received presents of diamonds on his various visits to the country.

The "Emperor's" generosity to his guest is indicative of the wealth he managed to obtain through his various business interests. One of these contributed indirectly to his eventual downfall. In January 1979, he ordered that high school students should buy uniforms, available only from a business owned by his wife. Students staged a protest, in which several were killed, and then mounted a bigger demonstration in April, after which over a hundred young people were beaten to death in prison. Following protests by Amnesty International, a commission of enquiry from other Francophone African countries investigated and sustained these charges. Meanwhile, Bokassa had traveled to Libya (then in dispute with France) to seek financial support. This gave France the opportunity for military intervention in September 1979, and the installation of Dacko, as president of the restored republic.

Bokassa's already woeful reputation has been further vilified by stories of ritual cannibalism, of prisoners being thrown into crocodile pools and the claim that he personally killed several young people after the April 1979 student demonstration. While not denying his cruelty, vanity and venality, a recent study by Brian Titley suggests that the veracity of these lurid stories is questionable.

Murray Steele