List of heads of state of the Central African Republic and Central African Empire

This is a complete list of the heads of state of the Central African Republic and Central African Empire. There have been five heads of state in the history of the Central African Republic and Central African Empire since independence was obtained from the French on 13 August 1960. This list includes not only those persons who were sworn into office as President of Central African Republic but also those who served as de facto heads of state. Jean-Bédel Bokassa served as a de facto head of state, while David Dacko (who served as de facto head of state from 1979–1981), André Kolingba, Ange-Félix Patassé, and François Bozizé were elected into office at some point during their tenure.

Dacko took control of the country in 1959 after a brief internal struggle for power with Abel Goumba. After independence, Dacko served as President of the Provisional Government and later President until being deposed in a coup d'état on New Year's Day, 1966 by one of his ministers, Bokassa. He ruled for 10 years before replacing the government with a monarchy, the Central African Empire. Bokassa ruled for nearly three years before being deposed in a French-orchestrated coup, which installed Dacko as president of the renewed Central African Republic. Two years into his single-party rule, he was overthrown in a bloodless coup by his armed forces chief of staff, Kolingba. Five years into his military rule, Kolingba established himself as the President and Head of State of the Central African Republic. Under pressure to democratize the government, he formed a political party and held a referendum, in which he was elected to a six-year term in office as president. He was defeated in the next presidential election in 1993 by Patassé. Patassé served in office for almost 10 years before being overthrown in a coup by his armed forces chief of staff, Bozizé. Bozizé currently serves as the President of the Central African Republic.

Political affiliations

For heads of state with multiple affiliations, the political party listed first is the party the person was affiliated with at the beginning of his tenure.

Heads of state

Footnotes

• ^A Dacko became the official President of the Central African Republic after defeating Abel Goumba in an internal power struggle. Dacko had support from the French government.
• ^B Bokassa seized power by staging a coup d'état from 31 December 1965 until 1 January 1966. Bokassa forced Dacko to officially resign from the presidency at 03:20 WAT (02:20 UTC) on 1 January.^[4]
• ^C Bokassa staged a military coup against the Dacko government on 31 December 1965 – 1 January 1966. After becoming president, Bokassa took control of MESAN and imposed single-party rule under MESAN.
• ^D Bokassa, then-President for Life of the Central African Republic, instituted a new constitution at the session of the MESAN congress and declared the republic a monarchy, the Central African Empire (CAE). Bokassa became the emperor of the CAE as "Bokassa I".^[5]
• ^E By 1979, French support for Bokassa had all but eroded after the government's brutal suppression of rioting in Bangui and massacre of schoolchildren who had protested against wearing the expensive, government-required school uniforms. Dacko, who was Bokassa's personal adviser at the time, managed to leave for Paris where the French convinced him to cooperate in a coup to remove Bokassa from power and restore him to the presidency. The French successfully executed Operation Barracuda on 20–21 September 1979 and installed Dacko as president.^[16][17]
• ^F General Kolingba (who was also the armed forces chief of staff) overthrew Dacko from the presidency in a bloodless coup.^[11]
• ^G On 21 September 1985, Kolingba dissolved the Military Committee for National Recovery,^[18] and created the positions of Head of State and President.^[19]
• ^H A constitution was adopted by a referendum on 21 November 1986 and Kolingba was elected to a six-year term in office.^[6][11]
• ^I The country held a multiparty presidential election in August/September 1993. Patassé was the candidate from the Movement for the Liberation of the Central African People party and ran on the platform that he would pay the previously withheld salaries to soldiers and civil servants.^[20] Patassé defeated Dacko, Kolingba, Bozizé and Abel Goumba to win the election.^[21]
• ^J Bozizé's second coup attempt was successful; he seized power in Bangui on 15 March 2003.^[22]

Latest election

See also

• Emperor of Central Africa
• List of heads of government of the Central African Republic and Central African Empire
• List of colonial heads of Central Africa
• Lists of office-holders

References

General

• Appiah, K. Anthony; Gates, Henry Louis, Jr., eds. (1999), Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience, New York: Basic Books, ISBN 0-465-00071-1 .
• Kalck, Pierre (2005), Historical Dictionary of the Central African Republic (3rd English ed.), Lanham, Maryland: The Scarecrow Press, ISBN 0-8108-4913-5 .
• Marsden, Hilary, ed. (1988), Whitaker's Almanack, 1988, London: J Whitaker and Sons, ISBN 0850211786 .
• Titley, Brian (1997), Dark Age: The Political Odyssey of Emperor Bokassa, Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, ISBN 0-7735-1602-6, OCLC 36340842 .

Specific

External links

• Elections in the Central African Republic
• BBC News Timeline: Central African Republic