CAR: President Touadera Takes Oath Of Office Today

The President of the Central African Republic Faustin Archange Touadera will today take oath of office after emerging winner of the December 27, 2020 presidential elections. According to results made public by the Independent Electoral Commission and confirmed by the country’s highest judicial institution, Mr Toudera a former Mathematics Professor, grabbed 53.16% of the votes cast during the first round of the election.

It will be Mr Touadera’s second five-year-term in office in a country that has witnessed incessant civil wars. Over the past decades, fighting between Muslim and Christian militias has killed thousands and displaced more than 500,000 people. The conflict broke out in 2012 when Muslim Seleka militias ousted then President François Bozize, a Christian. Touadera, a Christian who served as Prime Minister under Bozize, was the surprise winner in run-off elections in February 14, 2016 and has been tasked with rebuilding the country. But since taking office, nothing seems to be moving towards the positive direction as the country is facing more challenges than ever before despite his efforts to reconstruct the army, increase educational standards, free care for pregnant women and children up to five years old, more regular payment of civil servants, the heavy presence of international peace keepers and Russian troops.

Though today’s inauguration ceremony is being considered by many political gurus as a giant step towards stabilizing the country, there are enormous difficulties that lie ahead for Faustin-Archange Touadera with the most urgent being to deal with militias, undisciplined soldiers and armed vigilante groups. Here, Mr Touadera must not only find a way of disarmin...