André Nzapayeké (born 20 August 1951)
was
Prime Minister of the
Central African Republic, in an interim capacity, from January to August 2014.
Early career
Nzapayeké was born on 20 August 1951 in
Bangassou
Bangassou is a city in the south eastern Central African Republic, lying on the north bank of the Mbomou River. It has a population of 24,447 (2003 census) and is the capital of the Mbomou prefecture. It is known for its wildlife, market, and near ...
,
French Equatorial Africa.
The son of a pastor who also worked as a trader, he was a bright student who received a scholarship to study social anthropology at the
University of Amsterdam.
Nzapayeké worked in Central Africa in the development sector, studying many villages of the country. Later, he worked as a consultant, and also taught at the University. In the early 1990s, he was in the Security Council of the Government.
He was briefly Minister of Rural Development under
André Kolingba.
A
technocrat, Nzapayeké rose to secretary-general of the
African Development Bank and vice president of the
Development Bank of Central African States
The Bank of Central African States (french: Banque des États de l'Afrique Centrale, BEAC) is a central bank that serves six central African countries which form the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa:
*Cameroon
*Central African ...
from 2010 to 2012.
Within the Development Bank, he worked on the implementation of the peace agreements between the various parties during the conflict in Sudan.
He also had a job at the
World Bank. He is a
Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
.
Political career
He was appointed as Prime Minister in January 2014 during the
2012–14 conflict. His appointment followed that of President
Catherine Samba-Panza
Catherine Samba-Panza (born 26 June 1954) is a Central African lawyer and politician who served as interim President of the Central African Republic from 2014 to 2016. She was the first woman to hold the post of head of state in that country, as ...
and the resignation of
Nicolas Tiangaye. Samba-Panza nominated him for the office, and he too was tasked with leading the country to the
2015 election.
Nzapayeké was little-known in the Central African Republic at the time of his appointment.
He said his first priority would be to stop the massacres and other atrocities within the country for months as the key step to restoring the writ of the state and then help the one million displaced persons.
I am going to be speaking with the different groups so that we immediately stop certain... atrocities being carried out in this country. We have to put a stop to all that quickly. There's a certain number of very clear actions the government is going to tackle starting this week. willput a team in place that's going to deal with the question of national reconciliation. We have to tackle that quickly, it will make the security question easier. e will seek help from
E, or e, is the fifth letter and the second vowel letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''e'' (pronounced ); plura ...
friends in the international community.
State radio announced Nzapayeké's resignation on 5 August 2014.
[ The reason for his resignation was the breakdown in peace talks in Brazzaville.]Mahamat Kamoun
Mahamat Kamoun (born 13 November 1961) is a Central African politician who was the List of heads of government of the Central African Republic and Central African Empire, Prime Minister of the Central African Republic, in an interim capacity, from ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nzapayeke, Andre
1951 births
Living people
Prime Ministers of the Central African Republic
People from Bangassou
Central African Republic Christians