Military of the Central African Republic
| Central African Armed Forces | |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1960 |
| Service branches |
Armée de Terre (Ground Forces) l’Armée de l’air (Air Force) Gendarmerie nationale (Gendarmerie) GR – Garde républicaine (Presidential Guard) Police Nationale (Police) |
| Headquarters | Camp Le Roux, Bangui |
| Leadership | |
| Commander-in-Chief | President Faustin-Archange Touadéra |
| Minister of Defense | Joseph Yakété |
| Manpower | |
| Conscription | Voluntary, after the age of 18 years |
| Available for military service |
males age 18–49: 853,760 (2005 est.), age 15–49 |
| Fit for military service |
males age 18–49: 416,091 (2005 est.), age 15–49 |
| Active personnel | 4,500 |
| Expenditures | |
| Budget | $15.5 million (2004) |
| Percent of GDP | 1.1 |
| Related articles | |
| History |
Lord's Resistance Army insurgency Central African Republic Bush War Central African Republic conflict |
The Central African Armed Forces (French: Forces armées centrafricaines (FACA)) are the armed forces of the Central African Republic, established after independence in 1960. Today they are a rather weak institution, dependent on international support to hold back the enemies in the current civil war. Its disloyalty to the president came to the fore during the mutinies in 1996–1997, but ever since then it has faced internal problems. It has been strongly criticised by human rights organisations due to its terror, including killings, torture and sexual violence.
It proved to be incompetent in 2013 when militants of the Séléka rebel coalition seized power and overthrew President Bozizé, committing executions of many FACA troops.
The military has played an important role in the history of Central African Republic. The immediate former president, General François Bozizé is a former army chief-of-staff and his government includes several high-level military officers. Among the country’s five presidents since independence in 1960, three have been former army chiefs-of-staff, who have taken power through coups d'état. No president with military background has however been succeeded by a new military president.
The country’s first president, David Dacko was overthrown by his army chief-of-staff, Jean-Bédel Bokassa in 1966. Following Bokassa, David Dacko was restored in 1981, only to be overthrown once again by his new army chief of staff, General André Kolingba after only a few months in power.
In 1993, Ange-Félix Patassé became the first elected president of the country. He became soon unpopular within the army, resulting in violent mutinies in 1996–1997. In May 2001, there was an unsuccessful coup attempt by Kolingba and once again Patassé had to turn to friends abroad for support, this time Libya and DR Congo were helpful. Some months later, in the end of October, Patassé sacked his army chief-of-staff, François Bozizé, and tried to arrest him. Bozizé then fled to Chad and gathered a group of rebellions. In 2002, he seized Bangui for a short period. In March 2003 Bozizé took power through a coup d’état .
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Wikipedia