Timothée Malendoma (1935 – 12 December 2010) was a Central African politician who served as the 12th Prime Minister of the Central African Republic from 4 December 1992 to 26 February 1993. He was the President of the Civic Forum party.

Early life

Timothée Malendoma was born in Dekoua (now in the Central African Republic) in 1935, joining the

French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (, , ), is the principal Army, land warfare force of France, and the largest component of the French Armed Forces; it is responsible to the Government of France, alongside the French Navy, Fren ...

in 1953. After fighting for France in the

First Indochina War The First Indochina War (generally known as the Indochina War in France, and as the Anti-French Resistance War in Vietnam, and alternatively internationally as the French-Indochina War) was fought between French Fourth Republic, France and Việ ...

, he was trained as a military administrator in

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Political career

He was chosen by

President 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: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Jean-Bédel Bokassa to become Minister of the National Economy in January 1966, and spent his time attempting to shut down diamond smuggling. However, the following year the influence of the smugglers proved too great and he was removed from his post. He returned to politics on 27 September 1979 when he was named Minister of State in the government of President David Dacko. He later formed his own political party in 1990. Under Malendoma's leadership, the Civic Forum party participated in the "grand national debate" initiated by President André Kolingba in 1992, although such participation was opposed by the Consultative Group of Democratic Forces, an opposition coalition of which the Civic Forum was a member, which resulting in a suspension of the party by the coalition. On 4 December 1992, Malendoma was appointed as Prime Minister of the Central African Republic by Kolingba to succeed Edouard Frank; however, in February 1993, Kolingba accused Malendoma of "blocking the democratic process" and dismissed him. Malendoma was the candidate of the Civic Forum in the August 1993 presidential election, receiving 2.03% of the vote and taking sixth place. Subsequently Malendoma was a deputy in the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

and the Civic Forum was an opposition party under President Ange-Félix Patassé. As President of the Church of Christ – the King and the Faculty of Evangelical Theology of Bangui, he sought to attend a meeting of Protestant churches in

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but was barred from leaving the Central African Republic by the government on 12 October 1999. After

François Bozizé François Bozizé Yangouvonda (born 14 October 1946) is a Central African Republic, Central African politician who was List of heads of state of the Central African Republic, President of the Central African Republic from 2003 to 2013. He was th ...

seized power in 2003, Malendoma remained in opposition. In March 2004 he objected to the presence of ousted

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an President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in the Central African Republic, arguing that Aristide was "a dictator"—"we have had our fair share and we don't need anymore"—and that the country should not be "a dumping ground". He also said that in the Central African Republic "democracy is a luxury and opposition is a foreign concept". In the 2005 parliamentary election, he ran for a seat in the National Assembly as a candidate of the Civic Forum from Mala constituency in Kémo Prefecture, but was defeated in the second round of voting by Fred Jacob Karouna.

Death

Malendoma was admitted to Bangui General Hospital in late November 2010 suffering from a hypertensive emergency, and died on 12 December at the age of 75. Following his death, the Civic Forum did not participate in the subsequent election.

Notes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Malendoma, Timothee 1935 births 2010 deaths Members of the National Assembly (Central African Republic) Prime ministers of the Central African Republic