An Unenviable, Dicey Mission

Catherine Samba-Panza took over a country almost already on its knees as a result of instability.

It is over 100 days since the Central African Republic, CAR’s Transitional President, Catherine Samba-Panza, took over the reins of power on January 24, 2014. She replaced another transitional leader, Michel Am-Nondokro Djotodia, who ruled for 10 months after his Séléka rebels overthrew President François Bozizé on March 24, 2013. Djotodia was forced to resign on January 10, 2014 by sub-regional leaders for failing to stem nation-wide violence and move the transition process forward.

A Poisoned Chalice President Samba-Panza’s takeover expectedly raised much hope for a nation already embroiled in months of bloody sectarian violence. At her inaugural, the new Head of State urged fighters to show patriotism in putting down their weapons. While she was making the appeal, looters pillaged Moslem neighbourhoods in the capital, Bangui, as sectarian tensions escalated in the country. "The ongoing disorder in the country will no longer be tolerated," she warned. More than three months on, it has become evident that her new task was indeed a poisoned chalice. Instead, the sectarian conflict in the country has taken on even greater proportions.

Anti-Balaka Leeway Though Michel Djotodia officially disbanded the largely Moslem Séléka militia in September 2013, the measure, according to an investigative mission, “compounded, rather than curbed violations against the majority Christian population.” In response, members of the Christian community, together with former soldiers from the defunct national army (ex-FACA) and Presidential Guard of deposed President Bozizé, created the anti-Balaka militia.

Turning Point After months of endless Séléka attacks on hapless Christian communities, the anti-Balaka Christian militia responded with coordinated attacks on Bangui on December 5, 2013. Amnesty International later said almost 1,000 people were killed in the two days of rampage, with war crimes committed. UN estimates had spoken of 450 killed in Bangui and another 150 elsewhere in the country. Since the attack, the anti-Balaka have gained the upper hand, mercilessly killing and uprooting thousands of Moslems from their homes in the south of the country. This was facilitated by Djotodia’s resignation that left Séléka ‘defenceless.’

Unruly Séléka The Séléka coalition of rebel groups that swept Michel Djotodia to power later became a thorn in his flesh. Exasperated by the excesses of the fighters who had not been paid for several months, the President on September 14, 2013, dissolved the militia. But this did not stop the violence. Six months after Bozizé's ouster, the picture remained bleak, with reports of widespread rape, child soldier recruitment and weapons proliferation.

In July 2013, the International Federation for Human Rights said it documented at least 400 murders by Séléka-affiliated groups since March last year. Except for a few arrests in Bangui, all the killings went unpunished.

Collapse Of Army, State Authority Catherine Samba-Panza took over with no standing army or security forces to ensure law and order or safeguard the country. François Bozizé’s overthrow had left the army in tatters. Remaining troops either vanished with their weapons or fled to neighbouring countries to escape the fury of the de facto army - the Séléka rebel coalition. Prior to this, State control over the vast country of 622,984 square km and 4.6 million people, had all but collapsed.

Even in the capital, militia men and other armed men reigned unchallenged. The deployment of the African Union-led MISCA and French ‘Operation Sangaris’ peacekeepers in December 2013, did not succeed in ending the mayhem.

Massive Displacements By December 2013, the UN reported that over 100,000 people were uprooted in Bangui alone, bringing the total number of those displaced to over half a million since Séléka launched its bush war in December 2012 to oust François Bozizé.

The UN High Commission for Refugees, UNHCR, said an estimated 108,000 people were staying in 30 locations across Bangui after being displaced by heavy fighting between Séléka and anti-Balaka. In Bossangoa, 48,500 Internally-displaced People, IDPs registered in three main camps.

Poverty, Financial Hardship CAR is one of the poorest and least developed nations in the world. Salaries of public servants were not paid for several months prior to January 2014. As a result of the ongoing conflict, the situation has not changed much – in spite of foreign financial support. According to the BBC, life expectancy is about 50 years, and two-thirds of the populations live on less than 1.25 Dollars a day (about FCFA 595).

The country’s natural resources have never been equitably shared among its citizens. Diamonds, timber, gold and uranium are either exploited illegally or remain partially untapped. With regime changes by coups d’états as the rule, the country has remained hamstrung financially.