While the leaders of some African countries have been busy figuring out how to make the living standards of their people better, those of Central African Republic (CAR), a wretched, landlocked country in central Africa and a former French colony, have instead been aggrandizing themselves in political denial. This is seen in the recent rehabilitation, by a presidential decree, of its infamous former president and one of the most notorious dictators in the world, Jean-Bedel Bokassa. A creature of the French colonialists, Bokassa enriched himself through the sweat of his people and after he was overthrown, lived in this recently auctioned château in France.
Yet, the current president of the country, Francois Bozize, who came to power through a coup, recently passed a presidential decree declaring the deceased president a "builder" (there is a strange understanding of what it means to build a country over there in CAR!) who must be honored. Such a move is in itself unsurprising given that Bozize has himself run the country into the ground and has no vision to revitalize its economy which ranks 178 on 179 in the 2008 United Nations Human Development Index (HDI). This unreasonable ideological move may suit the propaganda of the ruling elite who do not care about the harm which they or Bokassa have brought on their people. The insanity which drove Bokassa to declare himself "emperor" of I-don't-know-what is the same thing that seems to be motivating the current ruthless leaders who feast on the suffering of their people. Central African Republic is an African tragedy and a blot on the continent's desire to move toward a better future.
2 comments:
This is definitely bad news. I do not understand how someone like Bozize can seemingly intentionally blind himself to the situation of his own country. He should not be passing decrees for honoring people, especially unhelpful people from the past such as Bokassa, but instead he should pass decrees to help those still alive. Perhaps he feels helpless, with such a large responsibility before him, but he still has the opportunity to make even small changes for the better.
Dictators rarely care to build up their people or alleviate their suffering. That's the point of such a leader. They rule through keeping the people down and better only those who support their tyranny.
This is a situation in which the citizens of CAR need to stand up and help themselves. If they are unable to do so, then a leader from the people needs to seek assistance from neighboring nations or the international community in order to propagate a change.
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