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Saturday 2 November 2013

The Central African Republic—ANOTHER FAILED STATE IN THE MAKING





In the eyes of the International Community, Countries such as Somalia, Afghanistan, Iraq are readily referred to as failed states (states where the central government cannot exercise effective control/governance beyond the walls of the seat of government). However, to this unwholesome list, several countries do in a sense compete for notified positions on the list! One of such countries is the Central African Republic- A landlocked country located at the heart of Central African, it is bordered by Cameroon, Chad, Sudan, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of the Congo.

Map of The CAR
Source:http://www.mapsofworld.com/central-african-republic/

The throes of the CAR can be traced to the have begun with the first coup d’etat in that country by army commander, Jean-Bedel Bokassa in 1965. In the face of economic turmoil, he stirred the country to through a tyrannical part defined by adept kleptomaniacism. He was ultimately ousted in a coup in 1979 and a circle of coups, civil discontent and unrests ravaged the country in successive trends since then.
A defining moment to the current abject crumble into a failed state began when President Ange-Felix Patasse sacked the army chief, General Francois Bozize in 2001 after accusations of his involvement in a coup d’etat. Ever since then, the story of the CAR turmoil has been woven around these two main actors backed by foreign armed groups which includes the armed forces of Chad, Libya, France, South Africa and Congolese rebel groups.
In a turn of rebellious events, General Francois Bozize stirred a rebellion invading from the North and ultimately pushed Ange-Felix Patasse out power when his forces swept South into Bangui in 2003 despite Libyan backing of CAR’s government forces. Bozize immediately installed himself into power as the head of a newly constituted transitional government and as subsequent plenipotentiary head of government after general elections in 2005.
Plagued by heavy flooding and yet to recover from the humanitarian crises as a result of the Bozize lead rebellion, peace in the CAR faced another torment as fresh rebellion/ banditry attacks resumed in the North of the country led by Abdoulaye Miskine of the People's Democratic Front. The woes of the CAR increased when the Darfur conflict in Sudan spiralled into the CAR. The vast jungles of the CAR provided a haven for refugees and armed groups in the conflict and joining them in their new found home was the Itinerant fugitive Ugandan rebel group in the Lord’s Resistance Army. In the wake of this trend, the CAR also played host to the Ugandan army who claimed to be in pursuit of the fugitive LRA group.
As such, the government of the CAR led by Francois Bozize exercised no real authority over the country save for the capital. Adding to this lax in governance, the CAR was faced with strike actions/protest from various arms of the public work force as the government complained of adept bankruptcy and hence could not meet salary demand. Even as these events raged, another rebel insurrection began and continued intermittently between 2006 and 2011.
And then in 2012, a rebel coalition called Seleka led by  Michel Djotodia who was a loyalist to ex-president Ange-Felix Patasse began to deliver the final blow to the Bozize led regime. Undeterred by peace deals and cabinet offers, the Seleka coalition forced Bozize out of CAR in March 2013 and Michel Djotodia seized power. Not even the firepower of the AU forces led by the South African Army could stop the onslaught though there was alleged Chadian backing to the rebel efforts as the French army secured the country’s main airport.
The elegy of rebellion in the CAR has taken a toll on the country. Though it has numerous natural resources in diamonds, rare earth metals and a lush jungle of rainforest, the government is cash strapped and adeptly bankrupt. The numerous fugitive armed groups roaming the countryside have in their cadre child soldiers as their frontline members.


CAR child soldiers and frontline members of armed groups
Source:http://ow.ly/gxNI2

The central government is effectively powerless to administer the country. Having a ragtag defence force and law enforcement agencies with numerous armed groups (foreign and local) roaming the countryside, the security situation is a no-no.
The activities of these armed groups are having an unwholesome effect on the CAR residents especially in terms of pillage, rape and forced conscription; hence the disbandment and criminalization of the Seleka rebels ironically by its leader, Michel Djotodia. It won’t be surprising if elements of this group begin another full scale rebellion pushing the current president out of power.

The advance of the Seleka rebels into Bangui in March 2013
Source: REUTERS
As the world watches and debate the Arab spring especially in Egypt and Syria, another country is sliding the Somalia way. Failure to nip the malignant CAR crises will result in:
  •       A haven for rebel groups who can threaten the peace of Chad, Sudan, South Sudan, DRCongo, Uganda and the wider continent of Africa
  •     A field for proliferation of light and heavy weapons
  •   Another failed state draining the world in humanitarian and peace keeping initiative
  •    Another haven for religious extremist/terrorist cells as seen especially in recent religious incited clashes.

The UN and AU should strengthen their peace resolves in the CAR and save Africa the pain of having another failed State!