André Kolingba
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André-Dieudonné Kolingba (12 August 1936 – 7 February 2010) was a Central African politician, who was the fourth
President of the Central African Republic President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
(CAR), from 1 September 1981 until 1 October 1993. He took power from 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 ...
in a bloodless
coup d'état A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...
in 1981 and lost power to
Ange-Félix Patassé Ange-Félix Patassé (January 25, 1937 – April 5, 2011) was a Central African politician who was President of the Central African Republic from 1993 until 2003, when he was deposed by the rebel leader François Bozizé in the 2003 coup d'ét ...
in a democratic election held in 1993. Kolingba retained the strong support of France until the end of the
Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
in 1992, after which both internal and external pressure forced him to hold presidential elections which he lost. His twelve-year term in office saw the growing influence of the
International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster globa ...
(IMF) and
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in decisions by donor-nations regarding financial support and management of the Central African state. Many members of Kolingba's ethnic group, the
Yakoma people Yakoma are an ethnic group in the Central African Republic (CAR) who make up 4% of the population of the country. 10,000 also reside in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. They gave their name to the city of Yakoma at the confluence of the Well ...
, obtained lucrative posts in the public, private and parastatal sectors of the CAR's economy during his era. This gave rise to growing tension between so-called "southerners" (including the riverine Yakoma) and "northerners" (including the savanna Gbaya) in the CAR which led to violent confrontations between these groups during the Patassé era (1993–2003).


Biography


Early life and education

André-Dieudonné Kolingba was born on 12 August 1936 in Bangui, the capital of the French colony of
Oubangui-Chari Ubangi-Shari (french: Oubangui-Chari) was a French colony in central Africa, a part of French Equatorial Africa. It was named after the Ubangi and Chari rivers along which it was colonised. It was established on 29 December 1903, from the ...
in
French Equatorial Africa French Equatorial Africa (french: link=no, Afrique-Équatoriale française), or the AEF, was the federation of French colonial possessions in Equatorial Africa, extending northwards from the Congo River into the Sahel, and comprising what are ...
. A member of the riverine Yakoma ethnic group, Kolingba (meaning "male Buffalo") joined the French military in 1954 and was transferred to the Central African army at independence in 1960. He became a sub-lieutenant on 1 October 1964, a colonel, and then a brigadier general on 3 April 1973. As a battalion commander, he was named technical adviser to the minister of national defense, veterans and war victims on 1 March 1977, as well as aide-de-camp of Bokassa. He then served briefly as the CAR's ambassador to Canada — replacing
Sylvestre Bangui Sylvestre Bangui (15 March 1934 – 4 June 1996) was a Central African Republic, Central African general, diplomat and politician. He rose amongst the ranks of the Central African Armed Forces to become a general, and was away for military trainin ...
— and the Federal Republic of Germany before being named minister in March 1979. When Bokassa was overthrown in 1979 and David Dacko was restored to power by the French, general Kolingba gained Dacko's favor and was made army chief of staff in July 1981.


Overthrow of David Dacko

In September 1981, general Kolingba overthrew Dacko in the
1981 Central African Republic coup d'état On 1 September 1981, General André Kolingba deposed President David Dacko of the Central African Republic in a bloodless coup while Dacko was away from the country traveling to an official state visit in Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, LÄ ...
. There has been considerable speculation about who supported Kolingba's seizure of power. It has been suggested that local French military advisers helped him carry out the coup without the authorization or knowledge of
Socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...
President
François Mitterrand François Marie Adrien Maurice Mitterrand (26 October 19168 January 1996) was President of France, serving under that position from 1981 to 1995, the longest time in office in the history of France. As First Secretary of the Socialist Party, he ...
and his entourage (Delayan 1985; Kalck 2004). The French supported Kolingba until the fall of the Berlin Wall and the democratization movement in Africa during the late 1980s and early 1990s led to local, French and international pressure to hold presidential elections.


Ruling years

After overthrowing Dacko in 1981, Kolingba established a military committee for national reconstruction to rule the country, but in fact he ruled as a military
dictator A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute power. A dictatorship is a state ruled by one dictator or by a small clique. The word originated as the title of a Roman dictator elected by the Roman Senate to rule the republic in times ...
, more corrupt than brutal, until 1986, when he submitted a Constitution to a national referendum. The document was approved with an implausible total of 92 percent. Under its terms, Kolingba was automatically elected president for a six-year term. It also established the
Central African Democratic Rally The Central African Democratic Rally (french: Rassemblement Démocratique Centrafricain, RDC) is a political party in the Central African Republic. History The party was established on 6 February 1987, initially as the political vehicle for Pres ...
''(Rassemblement Démocratique Centrafricain'', RDC) as the country's only legal party.
Parliamentary elections A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...
were held in 1987, in which voters were presented with a single list of RDC candidates. With all candidates effectively handpicked by Kolingba, he effectively held complete political control over the country. The end of the Cold War in 1992 made Western nations less willing to tolerate anti-communist Third World dictatorships. Internal and external pressures eventually forced Kolingba to open up the regime. In March 1991 he agreed to share power with Edouard Frank, who he named prime minister. He also established a commission to make the constitution more democratic and pluralistic. In late 1991, the donor community (most notably a very vocal US ambassador) finally pressured Kolingba to hold free elections. These took place in 1992, assisted by the UN Electoral Assistance Unit and monitored by international observers. Kolingba finished dead last, with only 10 percent of the vote. In response, he had the constitutional council declare the election invalid. His presidential mandate was due to expire on 28 November 1992, but he carried out a "constitutional coup d'état" which extended his presidential term for another 90 days.


Election of Patassé

On 3 February 1993, Kolingba established an interim organ, the
National Provisional Political Council of the Republic National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...
(Conseil National Politique Provisoire de la République). On 28 February 1993, Abel Goumba, leader of the opposition
Democratic Forces for Dialogue Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...
(Concertation des Forces Démocratiques), announced President Kolingba was no longer president. Unwilling to give in, Kolingba remained in his post but the group of local donor representatives (GIBAFOR), notably from the USA and France, forced him to hold proper elections. The same team which the UN Electoral Assistance unit had provided for the earlier election, and which Kolingba's government caused to fail, was brought in to give its support. Kolingba came in fourth, with only 12 percent of the vote - well short of a spot in the runoff. Angé Patassé won the presidency in the second round on 19 September 1993. When Kolingba turned over the presidency to Patassé a month later, it marked the first - and to date - only time since independence when an incumbent president peacefully surrendered power to the opposition.


Attempted coup

On 28 May 2001, the
2001 Central African Republic coup d'état attempt On the night of 27–28 May 2001 a coup attempt was carried out by commandos of the Central African Armed Forces who attempted to overthrow Ange-Félix Patassé. The coup attempt failed, but violence continued in the capital over the following da ...
against President Patassé but it failed. Patassé accused Kolingba and his partisans of attempting to destabilize his regime and wanted to put him on trial and so Kolingba took refuge in Uganda. Patassé was overthrown in the
2003 Central African Republic coup d'état A coup d'état occurred in March 2003 in the Central African Republic when the forces of General François Bozizé marched on Bangui, the country's capital, while President Ange-Félix Patassé was at a regional conference in Niger. Background ...
by
François Bozizé François Bozizé Yangouvonda (born 14 October 1946) is a Central African politician who was President of the Central African Republic from 2003 to 2013. Bozizé rose to become a high-ranking army officer in the 1970s, under the rule of Jean-Bà ...
, who declared an amnesty for all those involved in the attempted coup d'état of 2001. Kolingba finally returned to Bangui on 5 October 2003 during the last days of a National Conference (Dialogue National) which Bozizé sponsored to promote reconciliation and reconstruction of the country. On 7 October 2003 Kolingba attended the conference and spoke to the delegates, publicly asking for forgiveness for the excesses committed during his rule. He then left for Paris on 2 November 2003 for a prostate operation. Kolingba died in Paris on 7 February 2010.Former Central Africa president dies: party
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. Retrieved 2010-02-07.


Awards and family

Kolingba was named officier de l'Ordre de l'Opération Bokassa (Officer of the Order of the Operation Bokassa) on 1 December 1971, officier de l'Ordre de la Médaille de la Reconnaissance Centrafricaine (Officer of the Order of the Medal of Central African Gratitude) on 1 January 1972, chevalier de l'Ordre du Merite Postal (Knight of the Order of Postal Merit) on 1 December 1972, commandeur (Commander) (1 January 1975) and dignité de Grand-Croix (Grand Cross) (1 December 1981) de l'Ordre du Mérite Centrafricain (Central African Order of Merit).


References


Sources

* *Delayen, Julie Anne. "Origins and Causes of Military Rule in the Central African Republic." M.A. thesis, University of Florida, 1985. * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kolingba, Andre 1936 births 2010 deaths People from Bangui French military personnel People of French Equatorial Africa Heads of state of the Central African Republic Central African Republic exiles Leaders who took power by coup Central African Republic military personnel Central African Democratic Rally politicians Ambassadors of the Central African Republic to Canada Ambassadors of the Central African Republic to West Germany 1980s in the Central African Republic 1990s in the Central African Republic