Elisabeth Domitien

Elisabeth Domitien
Prime Minister of the Central African Republic
In office 2 January 1975 – 4 April 1976
President	Jean-Bédel Bokassa
Preceded by	David Dacko
Succeeded by	Ange-Félix Patassé
Personal details
Born	1925
Died	26 April 2005 (aged 79–80)
Political party	Movement for the Social Evolution of Black Africa

Elisabeth Domitien (1925 – 26 April 2005) was the prime minister of the Central African Republic from 1975 to 1976. She was the first and to date only woman to hold the position.

Elisabeth Domitien was born in Bangui. The family had a plantation, and her father was employed in the postal service while her mother was a farmer.

Elisabeth was the eldest child and the only daughter. She got only a rudimentary instruction in reading and writing in a Catholic school and learned cooking and sewing. She worked in the field and helped to sell products. She learned to deal with numbers and established herself as a farmer and business woman. She had a strong personality and was enterprising. The women gathered around her and she became an informal leader in the community. At the age of 20 she became involved in the liberation struggle.

Elisabeth Domitien mobilized the population with her speeches in Sangho, helped unite different groups and created a sense of national identity. She became head of the women's group in the independence movement, the Movement for the Social Evolution of Black Africa (MESAN). She collaborated closely with Barthélémy Boganda, the founder of the movement, and became president of the party in 1953. The country became independent in 1960 and Domitien collaborated with the first president of the Central African Republic, David Dacko, and the commander-in-chief, Jean-Bédel Bokassa. She served as a political adviser both to the leaders and to ordinary people, trying to reconcile different interests and improve the living standards of the population. Dacko ruled in an authoritarian way and the country soon became a one-party state with MESAN as the sole legal party. In 1965 Bokassa seized power in a coup, abolished the constitution, dissolved parliament and appointed himself as the head of the party, state and government with legislative and executive power.

In 1972 Bokassa declared himself president for life and made Elisabeth Domitien vice president of the party. In 1973 she led the first national congress of Central African farmers. She was clever and industrious, appealed to the population and served as a unifying force which Bokassa needed. In 1974 he declared himself as marshal. He had a cabinet in which the ministers changed constantly and on 2 January 1975 he formed a new government. Here Bokassa introduced the post of prime minister and Elisabeth Domitien was appointed to the position. It was the International Women's Year and Bokassa wanted to draw positive notice to himself internationally by appointing a woman in a leading position. She was the first woman to serve as prime minister of an African nation.

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