Central African Republic Governance and Political Conflict

By Mark Morrison

Central African Republic Governance and Political Conflict. The ongoing presidential and legislative elections in the Central African Republic (CAR) look set to produce a new government in early 2016. The foremost responsibility of the country’s elected leaders and the Central African people will be to stop the violence that has beset the country since the Seleka rebel coalition’s coup in 2013 and build the foundations of lasting peace. Since the coup the transitional government, civil society and international partners have launched diverse initiatives to begin the peacebuilding process at the national and local levels, and they have made some gains. Relatively peaceful elections are testament to this. To prevent a backslide, all stakeholders need to learn from their own and others’ efforts and address both the drivers and long-term underlying causes of the crisis. This Book has the complete information on Central African Republic.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Jan 26, 2017
• ISBN: 9781365710261

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Central African Republic Governance and Political Conflict

Central African Republic Governance and Political Conflict.

Political Instability and Crises.

____________________

Author

Mark Morrison

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First Printing: 2017

ISBN: 978-1-365-71026-1

Printed in the United States of America

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Central African Republic.

The state of Political Power in Central African Republic

Introduction

The Central African Republic is unarguably one of the most challenged states on the African continent, and indeed, in the modern world. With a GDP value of $2.184b and a Poverty Level of 62% of the population as at the 2012 (The World Bank), the country has been consistently listed as one of the least developed parts of the world since 1975. Since independence, the country has been bedevilled by the evil troika of seemingly intractable political instability, „unrevampable‟ economic underdevelopment and deep-seated antagonisms among various groups across the economic/class and ethnic/religious divides. Most recently, the country shifted more towards the failed state‟ appellation.

In the last two years or so, the political challenges that had been left to fester for so long, came home to roost. In the ensuing stalemate among the contending political actors, the country suffers its greatest deterioration since independence. Thousands of human lives have been lost, properties worth billions of dollars have been destroyed, in addition to the collapse of state institutions and structures. The ensued catastrophe has led to the collapse of government in the C.A.R. However, with the assistance of the international community, a new political leadership has emerged, with the mandate to turn the fortunes of the country around, within approximately twelve months. It is however noteworthy to emphasise that the new political leadership is headed by a woman.

The gender-sensitive nature of this development is coming on the heels of the fact that this is the first time a woman would occupy the highest political office in C.A.R., and equally important is that the „unusual‟ development is coming at an auspicious period in the development of a country that suffers great devastation from series of male-dominated armed groups. Thus, the question remains whether the woman can achieve what her male counterparts have been unable to achieve since independence- political stability.

The article begins with the framework of analysis, which focuses on the emergent roles of the womenfolk as a result of the agitation for gender-equilibrium by advocacy groups during the third-phase of feminism. Thereafter, the article presents an overview of the political trajectory of C.A.R, in order to draw insight from the fact of constant political instability, and furthermore, to highlight the absence of active involvement or participation of women at the highest level of political decision-making before now. Subsequently, the work presents the nature and character of the present crisis, which had led to the inauguration of three political leadership within a two-year period. In the final analysis, the paper deconstructs and reconstructs the experiences of „Mother- Courage‟ within the context of the Feminist Ideology, against the challenges she confronts in taking the Central African Republic on the path of peace and harmony within a year at the helm of affairs.

Framework of Analysis- The Feminist Ideology

The Feminist Ideology has been commanding an authoritative part of literature in both the humanities and social-sciences since the early eighteenth century. The main thrust of the ideology though, has been the agitation for gender-equilibrium in the general perception of the roles, duties and obligations of both sexes either in public or private settings. Offen (2011) submits that: It foregrounds women‟s concerns, perspectives, and efforts to be recognised as integral members of their respective societies. In contextualising the basis of the ideology, Offen (2011) contends that:

The history of feminism as political history necessarily embraces women‟s ongoing quests for educational equity, economic opportunity, civil rights, and political inclusion. It also includes controversies over women‟s claims to mobility, to control their own bodies and-very importantly- their fertility, and even their critiques of harmful patterns of male sexual behaviour.

The historical content and context of the agitations are generally referred to as waves- each wave being a reflection of the focus of the struggle as inspired by extant socio-cultural, political and economic order of different epochs.

Coming on the heels of the challenges that the womenfolk faced both domestically and publicly during the Victorian era, the first wave of feminism took the centre stage in the late 1800s and 1900s. At this point, the focus of the agitations was the determination of women to be treated as members of the human community that deserve equal respect and dignity with their male counterparts. Accordingly, the first wave emerged out of an environment of urban industrialism and liberal, socialist politics (Rampton, 2008). The struggles focussed on gaining legal rights such as the right to own personal property and the right to participate in the political process, such as the right to vote (women suffrage). Rampton (2008) elaborates further:

The goal of this wave was to open up opportunities for women, with a focus on suffrage. The wave formally began at the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848 when 300 men and women rallied to the cause of equality for women.

The first wave however came to an end with resounding success in parts of North America. Specifically, women were granted legal rights to be involved in the development of their children, and also, the right to own and inherit property. Similarly, women won the fight against their exclusion in the political process (women suffrage) between 1917 and 1920.

The origin of the second wave has been traced to the 1960s anti-war and civil rights movements in the United States. The second wave lasted till the early 1990s. According to Rampton (2008):

This wave unfolded in the context of the anti-war and civil rights movements and the growing self-consciousness of a variety of minority groups around the world. The New Left was on the rise, and the voice of the second wave was increasingly radical. In this phase, sexuality and reproductive rights were dominant issues, and much of the movement‟s energy was focussed on passing the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution guaranteeing social equality regardless of sex.

A significant aspect of the struggle was focussed on affirmative action, pay equity, rape, domestic violence, pornography and sexism in the media, and reproductive choice. The emphasis here is that the womenfolk represents a social class that should refuse to be dominated or cowed by any other class. Thus, efforts were concentrated on ridding society of the ills of „sexism‟. Instructively, it was in the second wave that a significant number of women from all over the world (developing and developed nations) focussed on a single agenda as against the experience of the first wave in which the intellectual basis of the struggle was led by middle-class white women.

The third wave is traceable to the mid-1990s when the post-colonial and post-modern thinking became dominant discourses. It was at this period that African women found expression in the ideological standpoint of equal rights and opportunities for all. The civil-wars and other wars of attritions on the continent further outlined the fragility of women as part of the vulnerable groups in crisis situations. The new challenges provided the feminist ideologists with a new platform for which their agitation was focussed. This new focus centred on the place of active political participation for women, such that they could influence political conditions and invariably be in pole-positions to limit resorts to crisis, among other laudable possibilities. In this respect, it is observed that a new emphasis on political participation and advocacy has emerged (Tripp, 2013). Tripp (2013) further identifies the formation of women‟s organisations as a tool to improve leadership skills, encourage women‟s political involvement, promote women‟s political leadership, press for legislative changes, and conduct civic education.

Africa, a continent in which the women had played the second fiddle for so long stood at the forefront of the third wave. The achievements recorded by feminist ideology groups in Africa were made possible through assistance from international organisations, such as the United Nations and the African Union. The activities of the advocacy groups and the international organisations paved the way for women in active participation in the political processes of the various African states. Indeed, the third wave of