One of six-armed group coalition in CAR vows to leave the rebel coalition
Unity for Peace in Central Africa, which is mainly active in the Central African Republic’s east, says it will quit a rebel coalition aiming to unseat President Faustin Archange Touadéra.
CAPE TOWN, April 6 (ANA) – One of the most powerful armed groups in the Central African Republic has committed to withdraw from a six-member coalition formed last December against President Faustin Archange Touadéra’s government, AFP reported on Tuesday.
The news agency quoted Ali Darassa, head of the Unity for Peace in Central Africa (UPC) which is mainly active in the east, as issuing the statement on Monday about quitting the Coalition of Patriots for Change which was founded in December ahead of general elections marred by violence.
Darassa said since the chaotic elections “the population has suffered terribly from insecurity, the health situation, famine and the lack of humanitarian assistance”.
He said the UPC was committed to the Khartoum Accord, a peace agreement signed in February 2019 between the government and 14 armed groups.
Many voters were unable to cast their ballots in December due to armed groups’ disruption of the process. Touadéra was re-elected for another five-year term after securing more than 53 percent of the votes.
Apart from reconciling the country, he is expected to intensify the fight against armed groups controlling the largest part of the country, the Cameroon Tribune reported.
The Associated Press reported that Touadéra faced a growing threat from the armed rebellion led by CAR’s former President Francois Bozize.
The conflict has been fuelled by predominantly Muslim rebels known as Seleka who removed Bozize from power in 2013, plunging the country into violence and instability when their brutal rule gave rise to anti-Balaka Christian militias.
Tensions rose in the run up to last December vote as the CPC launched a series of attacks nationwide, according to the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect.
These attacks occurred weeks after CAR’s constitutional court rejected Bozize’s candidacy, citing an international arrest warrant and United Nations sanctions against him for alleged crimes against humanity and incitement to commit genocide.
More than 30,000 people have fled the country due to the violence surrounding the elections while tens of thousands more have been internally displaced, according to the UN.
– African News Agency (ANA), Editing by Stella Mapenzauswa