Jean-Paul Ngoupandé

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Jean-Paul Ngoupandé (born December 6, 1948) is a former Prime Minister of the Central African Republic. Born in Dékoa, Kemo-Gribingui, he was appointed by President Ange-Félix Patassé on 6 June 1996 and resigned on 30 January 1997. Since then he ran for president of the Central African Republic twice and served as foreign minister for one year. He is president of the National Unity Party (Parti de l'unité nationale, PUN), an entity which he founded in the mid-1990s. He presents himself as an enemy of corruption and a defender of fair elections and democratic institutions.

His tenure as premier (and simultaneously as minister of finance) was marked by the implementation of an open-door economic policy through structural adjustment. Ngoupandé fell into a dispute with President Patassé over the speed of these reforms, and resigned in favour of Michel Gbezera-Bria in early 1997.

Standing as his party’s presidential candidate in the election of 19 September 1999 (won by the incumbent Patassé), he received 3.18 percent of the vote, or 31,952 total votes.

On 10 October 2004, the National Unity Party announced that Ngoupandé would contest the presidential election of 13 March 2005 under its banner. The election marked a return to democratic rule after the coup d'état of 15 March 2003, which installed Gen. François Bozizé as president of an interim government backed by Chad. In January 2005, Ngoupandé returned to Bangui from exile in Paris. In his campaign, he emphasized the need to bring peace and stability to the country, especially those areas most affected by rebel activity before the coup. His candidacy was originally disqualified on a technicality on 30 December 2004, along with six others,^[1] but it was reinstated by Bozizé along with two others on 4 January 2005.^[2] He received fourth place and 5 percent of the vote in the first round, and he also won a seat in parliament without requiring a second round, one of only 17 candidates (out of 105 seats) to do so.^[3]

He subsequently backed Bozizé for the second round of the presidential election. On 19 June 2005, Ngoupandé was named foreign minister in the government of newly-appointed Prime Minister Élie Doté.^[4] He served as foreign minister until September 2, 2006 when he lost that position in a cabinet reshuffle and instead became special advisor to Bozizé.^[5]

1 Bibliography
2 Quotations
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Bibliography

Ngoupandé, Jean-Paul. Chronique de la crise centrafricaine 1996-1997: le syndrome Barracuda. (1997) ISBN 2738458009
Ngoupandé, Jean-Paul. L'Afrique sans la France: histoire d'un divorce consommé. (2002) ISBN 2226130888
Ngoupandé, Jean-Paul. L'Afrique face à l'islam: les enjeux africains de la lutte contre le terrorisme. (2003) ISBN 2226137734

[edit] Quotations

“We are bound to live together on this CAR land. I understand the anger and the pain. However, we all have to strive and stop the cycle of violence and the settlement of scores, which could take us too far, further than we can imagine.”
“Coming up with a plan aimed at rebuilding the country … will require that we talk about the true issues, and God knows how many they are: insecurity, the sharp financial crisis, the AIDS pandemic and all its consequences, the disaster in the area of education. The issues are many.”
”This country is presenting an ugly image in Africa and in the world. It is seen as not serious.”
“Coming to power through a democratic election does not entitle anyone to commit massacres.”