On 1 September 1981, General

André Kolingba André-Dieudonné Kolingba (12 August 1936 – 7 February 2010) was a Central African politician, who was the fourth President of the Central African Republic (CAR), from 1 September 1981 until 1 October 1993. He took power from President Davi ...

deposed President

David Dacko David Dacko (; 1927 – 21 November 2003) was a Central African politician who served as the first president of the Central African Republic from 14 August 1960 to 1 January 1966, and 3rd President from 21 September 1979 to 1 September 1981. Af ...

of the

Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR; ; , RCA; , or , ) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to the north, Sudan to the northeast, South Sudan to the southeast, the DR Congo to the south, the Republic of th ...

in a bloodless coup while Dacko was away from the country traveling to an official state visit in

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...

. The day after the coup a "Military Committee for National Recovery" (french: Comite Militaire pour le Redressement National, CMRN) was established and was led by Kolingba. The CMRN then suspended the constitution and limited political party activity. Kolingba's military regime promised to hold election and get rid of corruption but over the next four years corruption increased and the CMRN repeatedly pushed back planned election until 1987. In 1982 the regime survived a coup attempt.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1981 Central African Republic coup d'etat 1980s coups d'état and coup attempts Military coups in the Central African Republic 1981 in the Central African Republic September 1981 events in Africa Conflicts in 1981