Angelo TURCO, a cooperator for the monthly magazine published by the Comboni Missionaries in Italy, speaks of the Central African Republic as a void space, without any constitutive power, that is vulnerable to any military or political invasion.

The present situation can indeed show that image of the CAR. The population may appear as a defeated people. But not everybody shares this view. Master ZARAMBAUD ASSINGAMBI (in 2001 we were companions in the prison cells under PATASSÉ rule) wrote last April 25: “Whatever may happen, the Central African people will vanquish!”  And he sent a message to the new power settled in Bangui, “M. NDJOTODJA (self-proclaimed President of the Republic) should know after the agreements of the Statutes of Rome, that a military or political leader may also be pursued  as he should have known that – due to circumstances – his troops would necessarily be guilty of crimes accountable to the CPI. And such is the case.”

In 1998 Mgr Joachim NDAYEN, archbishop of Bangui until 2001 defined CAR as le Cinderella of Africa (Afriquespoir n°3, page 8). According to him, the country made a big step backward and the mutinies of 1996 and 1997 against the PATASSÉ regime proved this. Hope for the future? “In the crowd there is a glimmer – according to NDAYEN. Some people have a serene and Christian judgment on what’s taking place… there are exemplary Christians.” Mgr NDAYEN used to consider himself a “spiritual son” of Barthélemy BOGANDA, founder of the Republic, and he often used to recall his teachings. Barthélemy BOGANDA (born 1910 – died 1959 in a mysterious plane crash) supported the Pan African theses.  He wanted the independence of colonies, but in union. He proposed the “United States of Latin Africa”, which included the old colonies of Chad up to Angola. And this in order to gain political power of negotiation with big powers and means of defence against Islamized countries, who had practiced slave trade until the beginning of the 20^th century and who hoped to extend their power towards Sub-Saharan Africa. At the end of the day only CAR was born, because the ex-colonizing powers had their interest in keeping Africa divided and as such weak: pacific living and lasting development would be endangered mostly by tribalism.

Mgr NDAYEN recalled this all the time and rightly so. Indeed after the independence (Aug. 13, 1960) CAR experienced several regimes, based on ethnics: BOKASSA on the GBAKA, KOLINBA on the YAKOMA, PATASSÉ on the SARA and BOZIZE on the GBAYA. Presently DJOTODJA is based on the GOULA of the VAKAGA and the Muslims of CAR. On March 30, for example, the Muslim people of Bangui organized a march to support the new regime with surprising slogans “It’s our turn, we have suffered too much!”

Mgr NDAYEN again: he was rightly concerned with youth formation, young people of whom more than 50% were less than 20 years old. In that purpose the Bishops’ Conference created the JEAN XXIII Centre. That Centre aimed at the formation of Christian leaders in all fields: political, social, economical, cultural… Outstanding personalities worked there, such as Fr Jean Paul HOCH (future general superior of the Spiritan Fathers expelled from CAR by KOLINGBA), Fr Pierre SCHOUVER (also future head of the Spiritans - in English speaking countries : Holy Ghost Fathers) Etienne GUERKOUALE, etc.
Mgr Paulin POMODIMO, archbishop of Bangui then, after his resignation in 2009, mediator of  the Republic under the BOZIZE regime, used to say “CAR needs leaders able to guide the country, leaders like Nelson Mandela, who was a great asset to South Africa” and rightfully so. That is what CAR lacked and is still lacking. After Barthélemy BOGANDA, it’s a void, except for Mgr Joachim NDAYEN, respected by all, but at present ill and under dialysis treatment in Paris.

A number of movements against the BOZIZE regime criticizing the 2007 agreements, have gathered into a covenant called “SELEKA” to upset the power and take hold of the country. The rebels were mainly Chadians and Sudanese, all of them speak Arabic. They were supported by Idris DÉBY, Chad President, who in exchange for his support of France in Mali got a free hand for CAR. Financing and weapons came from NDJAMÉNA and from some businessmen who wanted to get oil, diamonds, uranium, etc. from CAR.

The weapons started to fire on December 10, 2012. On January 11, 2013, a peace agreement was signed in Libreville (Gabon). But nobody respected it, and in the end the “SELEKA” took Bangui on March 24, 2013 with the help of Chadian Special Forces, which forced President BOZIZE to flee.
Unfortunately the ‘conquest’ of CAR by the rebels was spoiled with plundering, murders, fleeing of the population, all kinds of violence, dismantling of State structures, of works of NGOs Institutions and of Christian Churches, mainly of the Catholic Church. The Catholic Bishops reacted to face this disaster. With the support of two other bishops, Mgr Dieudonné NZAPALAINGA wrote a letter to the President of the Republic in April 2013, in which he said “The war logic superseded the methods of dialogue… Wherever “SELEKA” came by, the population is in tears and in mourning (1). Threats, terror and psychological tortures; (2) Rapes of young girls and women – some of whom committed suicide; (3) Child-soldier enlistment; (5) People moving to hide in the bush or in the forest; (6) Rise of the child mortality rate and of the post-birth deaths rate, due to malfunctioning hospital services; (11) Plundering and destruction of public buildings, hospitals or schools; (12) Thefts and confiscation of State or individuals’ vehicles, etc.  So, Central African Republic became a ghost country where the ethical values have been replaced by power, injustice, and law of the strongest.”

The archbishop then persisted in discussing the sufferings inflicted on Christian Churches and especially on the Catholic Church, which made him raise the question of the real motives of “SELEKA” and its supporters.

The rebel elements are indeed mainly Muslims, Chadians or Sudanese. The Central African Muslims were spared and they immediately gave their overt support to “SELEKA”. In a speech published in the website ‘Tree of Palaver’ on April 18, 2013 Michel SOUPOU foresees for CAR a dark future and the enforcement of the Sharia (Islamic law); because DJOTODJA, present President of CAR, has reputedly written a letter to the organization of the Islamic Conference of Saudi Arabia on April 17, 2012, in which he was asking for help to seize the country and organize there an Islamic Republic.

Mgr D.NZAPALAINGA, archbishop of Bangui, saw the behavior of the members of “SELEKA” and wonders, too, about the true intentions of the new power in CAR. He said “How can we explain the harassment the “SELEKA” towards the institutions of the Catholic Church? The results are frightening: (1) Systematic stealing of our vehicles: more than a hundred vehicles and motorcycles stolen; (2) Profanation of religious buildings and religious objects; (6) Physical aggression on priests, women and men religious. We quote the case of the Sisters of MBRÈS, the priests of ALINDAO, of Bangui, of BOSSANGOA and even on the Bishop of BAMBARI, Mgr EDOUARD MATHOS, who was hit with the butt of a Kalashnikov on December 27, 2012, etc.

The archbishop then asks the President to guarantee the security and the protection of any CAR citizen, to enforce the authority of the State, to repatriate the Chadian and Sudanese mercenaries, to create a Justice-Peace and Reconciliation Commission. These are words of common sense, dictated by the desire for peace and reconciliation, by the common search of common good for the country, after so many years of disorder, plundering and abandonment. In order to achieve all this, they need citizens up to that huge task. The project of the Bishops (launching of the Jean XXIII Centre in Bangui as a place of training for the laity of CAR) was really providential.

At present, the situation is severe and there is a serious lack of Central Africans competent in the workings of the State. Michel SOUPOU noticed it – on the website ‘Tree of Palaver’ – showing that the present governing power is still leaning, just like the previous ones, on the links of relatives and of ethnics (and now moreover on Islam).

Mrs. Calixte BEYALA, a famous Cameroun writer, who studied in Bangui at the “Lyceum des Rapids”, warns us about the danger of Islam as a means of political domination. She was asked the question on the Christian roots of France, a country that was supposed to intervene in CAR, in an interview of April 15, she responded “The economic interests have the upper hand above our humanitarian values… To grab juicy trade partnerships, they put everybody in danger: you, me, all the Christians of the planet. It’s a shame.” But we need to react. The Central Africans, as underlined by Master ZARAMBAUD ASSINGAMBI, have the courage and the capacity to react for the good of CAR and also for the Church.