Poverty and Rebellion in Africa

Poverty and Rebellion in Africa

World History Name: ______

E. Napp Date: ______

Historical Context:

“The Central African Republic (CAR) has been unstable since its independence from France in 1960 and is one of the least-developed countries in the world.

It has endured several coups and a notorious period under a self-declared emperor, Jean-Bedel Bokassa, who headed a brutal regime.

The Bokassa era ended in 1979, when he was overthrown in a coup led by David Dacko and backed by French commandos based in the country.

After just two years in office Mr. Dacko was toppled by Andre Kolingba, who eventually allowed multi-party presidential elections and was duly rejected in the first round.

Mr. Kolingba’s successor, Ange-Felix Patasse; had to contend with serious unrest which culminated in riots and looting in 1997 by unpaid soldiers.

When in that year the French pulled out, there were fears of a power vacuum, so Paris financed a group of French-speaking African countries to create a peacekeeping force. That force was then transformed into the UN Mission to the Central African Republic, or Minurca.

In 1999 Mr. Patasse beat nine other candidates to become president again, but there were allegations of electoral fraud. He was overthrown in a coup in 2003 and went into exile in Togo.

Illegal weapons proliferate across the CAR, the legacy of years of unrest. Armed groups are active in the volatile north. The unrest has displaced tens of thousands of Central Africans; many of them have crossed the border into Chad.

Some progress towards ending the conflict was made in 2008, when peace talks led to an agreement committing two of the main rebel groups to disarm. The process culminated with the creation of a national unity government incorporating two rebel leaders in early 2009.

However, another threat has appeared – the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels of neighboring Uganda, whose insurgency has spread to the wider region, including CAR. In 2009, LRA activities forced the populations of several towns and villages to flee, while government forces struggled to contain the gunmen.

The CAR possesses considerable agricultural, water and mineral resources. But corruption is rife, according to the IMF, and affects the timber and diamond industries.

The country is endowed with virgin rainforests and has some of the highest densities of lowland gorillas and forest elephants in Africa.”

~ bbc.co.uk

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The Article:Rebels at the gate; Economist Magazine, December 28, 2012, G.P., Abuja

A MONTH after starting their campaign, rebels in the Central African Republic (CAR) have toppled a string of towns in the north of the country and are now pushing towards the capital, Bangui. Some reports, quoting aid workers and military sources, say that the rebel alliance is less than 50 miles from the capital.

The rebels have given guarantees that they will not, for now, enter Bangui. Yet residents are stockpiling provisions and some are leaving. The United Nations have evacuated staff and the United States have told its citizens to leave. The CAR has appealed to France for military assistance. A demonstration outside the French embassyturned violent as protestors broke windows and tore down the French flag, accusing the former colonial power of abandoning the CAR.

The rebels are threatening to overthrow President François Bozizé’s government, which they say breached a deal that offered financial help to those of them who put down their weapons. The group also demanded that the government free rebels it has imprisoned.

The rebel alliance known as Seleka was formed in August by breakaway factions from three groups that signed a peace agreement in 2007: the Union for Democratic Forces for Unity, the Convention of Patriots for Justice and Peace and the Wa Kodro Salute Patriotic Convention.

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Chad last week sent troops to quell the rapid advance of the rebels after President Bozizé had pleaded for help. His call came after the rebel alliance had seized the diamond-mining town of Bria, killing 15 government soldiers on December 25th. The 150 Chadian soldiers are now the only real obstacle to the rebels, who have taken over several towns facing little resistance from CAR’s ill-equipped and poorly organized army.

The government in Bangui has also appealed to France to facilitate dialogue with the rebels. France has around 200 soldiers based in the country but security analysts say Paris has grown reluctant to intervene in former colonies.

The 2007 peace accord called for an immediate ceasefire and for rebel groups to lay down their arms. In return, the rebels were to be absorbed into the national army and given the right to join the country’s government. Yet the recent developments “gravely undermine the peace agreements in place and the efforts of the international community to consolidate peace in the Central African Republic,” UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said this week in a statement.

Africa’s poorest country has been rocked by rebel conflicts, coups and destabilization since the fall of dictator Jean-Bédel Bokassa in 1979. President Bozizé seized power in a coup in 2003. He has since relied on foreign intervention to fend off ethnic tensions, mutinies, banditry and spill-overs from conflicts in neighboring Chad, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In 2008 and 2009 the Ugandan Lord’s Resistance Army crossed into the troubled country. Earlier this year the Africa Union deployed a military force to hunt down the LRA’s founder, Joseph Kony, who is believed to be in the CAR.

The instability of the land-locked CAR has stifled the country’s progress. It remains the continent’s poorest nation despite its wealth of timber, gold, uranium and diamond deposits. The country’s 4.5m inhabitants are scattered across an area the size of France and survive on subsistence farming. Earlier this month Mercer, a consultancy, ranked the capital Bangui the world’s second-worst place to live. Nearly every other adult dies before he or she reaches the age of 60.

Many of the capital’s residents believe it is only a matter of time before the city is taken over by the rebels, as pleas for help are likely to fall on deaf ears.

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