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Crisis in the Central African Republic:
Is it a religious war in a godforsaken country or something else?
TOMOLYA János
1
The Central African Republic is a landlocked country located in the centre of Afri- ca. Bordered by seven other
countries in the heart of the African continent, it was ruled for most of the years after independence from
France in 1960 by the self– styled “Emperor”, Jean–Bédel Bokassa. A series of coups followed, with power
changing hands frequently. With more than 80 different ethnic groups, a mix of Christians, Muslims and
followers of indigenous faiths, the country is notoriously difficult to rule, despite having a population of only 4.6
million. Despite significant deposits of gold, diamonds and uranium, and vast troves of timber, it is among
the poorest nations on Earth, sitting just seven places from the bottom of the UN’s human development index.
Chronic poor governance and lack of an efficient state has denied the wider population the benefits of the
country’s potential riches. [1] Chaos in the Central African Republic (CAR) is about power, not religion, this is
neither jihad nor crusade. Fighting in CAR is over political power and money, with the capitol city Bangui as the
prize.
Keywords: Central African Republic, diamond, gold, poor governance, inefficient
state, political power, rebels, anti–rebels, humanitarian crisis;
Introduction
The Central African Republic is a landlocked country in central Africa, with a population of 4.5 million. The Central
African Republic is often called a forgotten country, but that not quite right. It has had a long and substantial international
presence and sizable foreign invest- ment. It is just that those efforts not made much difference. As the country rapidly
descends into greater violence, the difficult truth is that more — and much better — international and regional
involvement is its only hope.
The former French colony of Ubangi–Shari became the Central African Republic upon independence in 1960. [2]
When the long–running civil war in the Central African Republic (CAR) ended in 2007, observers hoped that peace
would usher in a new era of economic recovery and development. Instead the country, already one of the world’s
poorest, faces a devastating humanitarian crisis that threatens to plunge the population even deeper into misery. Despite
these mineral resources, including gold and diamond, CAR remains one of Africa’s poorest states. The country’s history
has been marked by political instability. It has seen five coups and several rebellions since independence from France
in 1960. [3] Sadly
1
Colonel, Engineer, Ph.D., email: tomolyaj@hotmail.com
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TOMOLYA János: Crisis in the Central African Republic
there is nothing new about the atrocities being inflicted against civilians in the Central Afri- can Republic. What is new
is the scale of the violence and widespread and arbitrary targeting of people solely because of their religion.
Illegal weapons, as Bordas has described in her work, are awash in what many describe as a failed state where weak
government authority, pervasive impunity, ethnic tensions, and rebel activity have driven instability and displacement
for decades. [4: 312] [5: 10] One of the world’s “forgotten” crises has forced its way back into the headlines now
that reb- els have swept across CAR, overthrowing the Government, forcing the president into exile and sending alarm
throughout the international community. In 2013, a major security and humanitarian crisis ravaged the country. The
area that is now the Central African Republic has been settled for at least 8,000 years; the earliest inhabitants were the
probable ancestors of today’s Aka (Pygmy) peoples, who live in the western and southern forested regions of the
country. The slave state of Dar al–Kuti occupied the northern reaches until the various regions of the Central African
Republic were brought under French colonial rule late in the
19
th
century. [6] Colonial administrators favoured some ethnic groups over others, resulting in political rivalries that
persisted after independence in 1960. Following periods of civil strife and dictatorial government, including the
infamous regime of the self–styled Emperor Bokassa I (who renamed the country the Central African Empire), the
country embarked on a course of democracy that was threatened, at the end of the 20
th
century, by interethnic civil war in
neighbouring countries as well as by attempted coups d’état.
Weary of social chaos and shifting allegiances among contending elements of the power elite, the country’s citizens
quote a regional proverb, “When elephants fight, the grass suffers; when elephants make love, the grass still suffers.” [7]
Geographical situation of CAR
The Central African Republic is roughly the size of France and is bordered by Chad to the north, Sudan and South
Sudan to the north and east, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Congo–Kinshasa) and the Republic of the
Congo (Brazzaville) to the south, and Cameroon to the west. The capital, Bangui, is situated on the southern bounder,
formed by the Ubangi River, a tributary of the Congo River.
The Central African Republic occupies an immense rolling plateau that forms, along a crest that trends southwest to
northeast, the major drainage divide is between the Lake Chad and the Congo River basins. The country is well supplied
with waterways. Tributaries of the Chari River occupy the northern third of the country’s territory. The remaining two–
thirds of the terrain drains southward into the Ubangi River, which forms the Central African Repub- lic’s southern
border with Congo (Kinshasa).
The vast central plains rise gradually in the northeast to the Bongos (Bongo) Massif, extending to an elevation of
4,360 feet (1,330 meters) at Mount Toussoro, and to the Tondou Massif in the east. In the west they rise toward the high
granite range of the Karre Mountains, reaching nearly 4,625 feet (1,410 meters) at Mount Ngaoui, the country’s highest
point, be- fore declining eastward into sandstone plateaus. In the north the most significant mountains are those of the
Dar Challa range, which rise to 4,350 feet (1,326 meters) at Mount Ngaya near the border with Sudan. In the southeast is
a plain cut by a number of rivers. [8]