Former Central African Republic (CAR) President Francois Bozize, the leader of the country’s main rebel coalition who is in exile in Guinea-Bissau, has fired his chief of staff after declaring an end to fighting.
“General Ali Darassa Mahamat has been dismissed from his post as chief of staff of the Coalition of Patriots for Change (CPC),” said a press release dated Monday and signed by François Bozize.
The former president cited a number of reasons, including “patent indiscipline,” “insubordination to the coalition’s political body,” and “behavior and actions contrary to the goals of the coalition.”
The decision came a day after Ali Darassa Mahamat, who previously led the CAR’s most powerful armed rebel group, announced in a press release that he would “put an end to all hostilities throughout the country” and “reaffirm its openness to all negotiations with the government of the Central African Republic aimed at restoring peace, security and social cohesion.”
The general’s July 26 statement was released on August 4, two days after Central African Republic President Faustin Archange Touadera called on the group to “lay down its arms.”
“I call on all the sons and daughters of the country who have been deceived and taken the wrong path to return to the Republic and we will welcome them with open arms,” Touadera told the press last Friday.
“We will treat them well and integrate them into the army, they will be able to surrender and take up government positions, participate in local elections and, why not, become heads of state,” he continued.
Ali Darassa Mahamat has been the subject of several international condemnations and sanctions, notably by the United Nations, which considers him responsible for “numerous crimes and atrocities against the civilian population, as well as arms trafficking, predatory activities and war against the Central African authorities.”
The Central African Republic, the world’s second least developed country according to the UN, has been in civil war since 2013, although its intensity has significantly decreased since 2018.
Bozize, 77, who came to power in a 2003 coup but was ousted 10 years later by rebels and who now leads central Africa’s main uprising, has been living in exile in Guinea-Bissau since March 2023 after a spell in Chad.
Guinea-Bissau President Houmaro Sissoko Embalo said last Monday that he does not intend to extradite Francois Bozize, who is facing an arrest warrant for alleged crimes against humanity issued by a UN-sponsored court in his country.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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